Director Madeleine Hunt-Ehrlich's background in visual art is evident throughout her feature debut, not only in the rich evocation of lush and verdant mid-century Martinique, but in the Brechtian playfulness with which she approaches the story of Suzanne Césaire, whose own work as a key anti-colonialist thinker and pioneer of the Afro-surrealism movement was overshadowed by that of her poet-politician husband, Aimé Césaire.

Reclaiming Suzanne (Zita Hanrot) from history's neglect is a project complicated by Césaire's own desire to evade the limelight even while she interacted with some of the most famous intellectuals of her time, which Hunt-Ehlich turns to her film's advantage, allowing her actors to both play their characters and play themselves reflecting on and connecting with those characters, making this ballad into a lovely trick of light that honors Césaire's legacy without robbing it of any of its mystery.

For information on the full BFF24 programme visit: www.belfastfilmfestival.org