ABOUT LORNA'S SILENCE (Belgium/France/Italy/Germany)

Lorna (Arta Dobroshi), a young Albanian woman living in Belgium, has her sights set on opening a snack bar with her boyfriend, Sokol (Alban Ukaj). In order to do so, she becomes an accomplice in a diabolical plan devised by mobster Fabio (Fabrizio Rongione). Fabio has set up a false marriage between Lorna and Claudy (Jérémie Renier) allowing Lorna to get her Belgian citizenship. However, she is then asked to marry a Russian mafioso who's ready to pay hard cash to also get his hands on those vital Belgian identity papers. Fabio intends to kill Claudy in order to speed up the second marriage. But will Lorna remain silent?

35mm print provided courtesy of Sony Pictures Classics.

In French with English subtitles. Rated R. Running time: 105 minutes.

Opens in theaters on Friday, July 31st, 2009.

To learn more about the film and to view the trailer, click here.

The internationally acclaimed filmmaking duo Jean-Pierre (born April 1951) and Luc (born March 1954) Dardenne had directed and produced documentary films for over two decades before turning to writing, directing and producing fiction films. They founded the company Dérives in 1975, through which they went on to produce over 60 documentaries, including their own. In 1994, they created Les Films du Fleuve, the company that has produced all their fiction films.
 
1996 marked the Dardenne brothers’ feature film breakthrough with the critically acclaimed release of La Promesse (The Promise), starring Jérémie Renier and Olivier Gourmet, who have both since become regular actors in the Dardenne films. Since then all their films have been selected in competition at the Cannes International Film Festival. La Promesse was followed by the 1999’s Cannes Film Festival Palme d’Or and critical smash Rosetta, starring Emilie Dequenne and Olivier Gourmet. In addition to the Palme d’Or, Rosetta garnered the Cannes Film Festival Best Actress Award for Ms. Dequenne in  her debut performance. The Son won Olivier Gourmet the Best Actor Award at Cannes in 2002. For L'Enfant, (a Sony Pictures Classics release), the Dardennes won their second Palme d’Or in 2005. Lorna's Silence won the Cannes International Film Festival’s Best Screenplay Award in 2008. Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne belong to a rare group of filmmakers, including Bille August, Francis Ford Coppola and Emir Kusturica, who have won the Cannes Film Festival’s Palme d’Or twice.

This June through August, 2009, the SCA Alumni Screening Series will host a wide array of film screenings and filmmaker Q&As, highlighting new blockbuster and independent American films, international and documentary features and recent work by our SCA Alumni. These screenings will be hosted in various SCA venues, including Norris Cinema Theatre, as well as SCA 108 and SCA 110. All screenings are free to the public but will require an electronic reservation, which can be made through the website for each individual screening. Many screenings will be overbooked to ensure that capacity is met in the theater. Some screenings will be run from digital sources.