God's Offices (2008)
"Les bureaux de Dieu" (original title)

A realist dramedy about dedicated social workers who devote their long shifts to helping pregnant women.

Director:

Claire Simon

Writers:

Natalia Rodríguez, Claire Simon (story),

Stars:

Anne Alvaro, Nathalie Baye, Michel Boujenah

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Anne Alvaro	...	Le docteur Marianne
Nathalie Baye	...	Anne - une conseillère du planning familial
Michel Boujenah	...	Le docteur Lambert - un médecin du planning familial
Rachida Brakni	...	Yasmine
Isabelle Carré	...	Marta - une conseillère du planning familial
Lolita Chammah	...	Emmanuelle - une aspirante conseillère du planning familial
Béatrice Dalle	...	Milena
Nicole Garcia	...	Denise
Marie Laforêt	...	Martine
Marceline Loridan Ivens	...	Marceline (as Marceline Loridan-Ivens)
Emmanuel Mouret	...	Pierre - un aspirant conseiller du planning familial
Loredana Acquaviva	...	L'italienne
Caroline Bennequin	...	La barmaid
Mounia Dahou	...	La jeune fille d'origine algérienne
Amel Deleu	...	La jeune fille qui cache ses pilules

Storyline

Djamila, Ana Maria, Zoé and the others; Anne, Marta, Pierre and the others ... they all meet in God's offices, or in terms less metaphysical, in the premises of the Family Planning. The former are women or teenage girls who have trouble with their sexual lives; the latter are counselors or medicine doctors, who support and help them when families, partners or even the whole society tend to complicate matters...

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Plot Keywords:

abortion | sexuality | pill | pregnancy | 2000s | 

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Genres:

Comedy | Drama

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Details

Official Sites:

Shellac [fr]

Country:

France Belgium

Language:

French

Release Date:

5 November 2008 (France)

Also Known As:

Las oficinas de Dios

Filming Locations:

Paris, France

Company Credits

Production Co:

Les Films d'Ici, Ciné@, La Parti Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

122 min 122 min (Buenos Aires Festival Internacional de Cine Independiente)

Sound Mix:

Dolby SR Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Award: Prix SACD à la Quinzaine des Réalisateurs (Cannes 2008).

User Reviews

Les Bureaux de Dieu - companion piece to Entre les murs

"Entre les murs" (2008, France) wins prizes at Cannes, and is nominated for a Foreign Language Oscar while not much is heard about the very similar movie, "Les Bureaux de Dieu" (2008, also France). Both films use similar techniques - assigning documentary dialogues to non-actors, and the effect is amazing. You don't know if you're watching a documentary or a feature film! Both movies seems like documentaries, since no rosy solutions are provided to the dramatic problems the teachers/social workers have to deal with. Both films are very talky, with no escape outside the confinement of class room/social services office, but the stories and conflicts presented here are so fascinating, you willingly stay with both films to the end.