Chez Jolie Coiffure

Filmmaker Rosine Mbakam is invited to step inside a Brussels salon, Jolie Coiffure, where shop owner Sabine consoles some customers, provides others with support in intimate relationships, and even gets one a job. Sabine is hardworking, charismatic, and adaptable to her work’s shifting environment. The women who work and are served here come from Cameroon. Not only a salon, Jolie is a safe space, where the patterns of the African hair-braiding techniques are a daily ritual. The world outside is an alarming touristic haven where tensions mount and onlookers gaze through the glass windows in the market. This warmhearted observational chamber piece features an engaging community of characters, most notably a gizzard salesman whom Sabine advises. But it’s the relationship between director Mbakam and Sabine that elevates this charming vignette. (True/False Film Festival)