Bitter Flowers (2017 film)

Bitter Flowers
Film poster
Directed by	Olivier Meys
Written by	Olivier Meys Maarten Loix
Starring	Chloe Maayan
Release dates	16 October 2017 (2017-10-16) (Busan) 28 March 2018 (2018-03-28)
Running time	96 minutes
Countries	Belgium France Switzerland China
Languages	French Chinese

Bitter Flowers is a 2017 internationally co-produced drama film directed by Olivier Meys in his directorial debut. It was written by Meys with Maarten Loix. The film had its world premiere at the 22nd Busan International Film Festival.[1] It was later screened at the Chicago International Film Festival and the Palm Springs International Film Festival before its theatrical release.

Plot

35-year old Lina, has the dream of a better life, so she leaves her husband and son in China to go to Paris.She wants to find work as a nanny and hopes to make about 2.000 Euros a month, to paid for her travel expenses and help her family at home. However after her arrival she soon finds out that she can only make a fraction of what she thought and she is forced to work as a prostitute to send money to her family. She lies about what she does, since she does not to give up on her dream of opening her own restaurant. But when a young relative arrives in France, hoping for easy money in childcare the story she constructed starts to fall apart. Lina's despair about misjudging the situation and the personal struggle she puts up in order to make up for her initial mistake, are the elements that function as the red thread of this drama.[2][3]

Nominations and Accolades

Bitter Flowers received four nominations at the 9th Magritte Awards, including Best Film and Best Director for Olivier Meys.[4] It went on to win Best First Feature Film.[5]

Award / Film Festival	Category	Recipients and nominees	Result
Busan International Film Festival[1]	Audience Award		Nominated
Chicago International Film Festival[6]	Gold Hugo		Nominated
Magritte Awards[4]	Best Film		Nominated
	Best Director	Olivier Meys	Nominated
	Best Screenplay	Olivier Meys and Maarten Loix	Nominated
	Best First Feature Film		Won

References

1. González, David (12 October 2017). "A strong European contingent gets ready to head to Busan". Cineuropa. Retrieved 14 January 2019.
2. "Bitter Flowers". IMDb. Retrieved 12 December 2023.
3. Rosati, Adriana (28 July 2020). "Film Review: Bitter Flowers (2017) by Olivier Meys". Asian movie pulse. Retrieved 12 December 2023.
4. Heyrendt, Hubert (11 January 2019). "Les nommés aux Magritte 2019 sont connus". La Libre Belgique (in French). Retrieved 13 January 2019.
5. Richford, Richford (2 February 2019). "Belgium's Magritte Awards: 'Our Struggles' Takes Top Prize". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 3 February 2019.
6. "Bitter Flowers d'Olivier Meys aux Festivals Internationaux de Busan & Chicago" (in French). Tarantula. Retrieved 14 January 2019.

External links

• Bitter Flowers at IMDb