A Bigger World

A French sound engineer in mourning learns that she is a shaman when she falls into a trance during a drum ceremony on a job in Mongolia.

Corine is paralysed by grief after the demise of her husband. In an attempt to help someone, she is sent to gather audio material for a documentary. Meeting a shaman named Oyon changes her life, kindling a hope in her of meeting her husband again. Fabienne Berthaud (Sky, GFF 2016, Lily Sometimes, GFF 2011) has crafted an intimate and humane film – based on actual events with elements of ethnography – about spiritual awakening, returning to nature and a kind of rebirth. Cécile de France (The Young Pope) is captivating in the lead role, as a woman firmly rooted in reality who in her grief learns that the world is much bigger than she ever imagined.

• Camilla Larsson