Edition 24: 1–9 August, 2025

TERRA FEMME

Delphine’s Prayers

Les prières de Delphine

Belgium, Cameroon
2021 — 90' / Color

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Synopsis

This film is the portrait of Delphine, a young Cameroonian girl who, after the death of her mother and the abandonment of her father’s parental responsibilities, was raped at the age of 13. She sinks into prostitution to support herself and her daughter. She ends up marrying a Belgian man who is three times her age, hoping to find a better life in Europe for her and her daughter. Seven years later, the European dream has faded and her situation has only gotten worse.
Delphine, like others, is part of this generation of young African women crushed by our patriarchal societies and left with this Western sexual colonization as the only means of survival. Through her courage and strength, Delphine exposes these patterns of domination that continue to lock up African women.

Official Trailer

Director Biography

Director of fiction and documentary, Rosine Mbakam graduated from the Institut National Supérieur des Arts du Spectacle et des Techniques de Diffusion (INSAS) in 2012. Rosine Mbakam grew up in Cameroon. She chose cinema very early on and trained in Yaoundé thanks to the teams of the Italian NGO COE (Centro Orientamento Educativo) where she was introduced to image, editing and directing in 2000.

Director

Rosine Mbakam

Producer

Geoffroy Cernaix

Cinematographer

Rosine Mbakam

Editor

Geoffroy Cernaix

Sound

Loïc Villiot

Rosine Mbakam