Sabine is a Cameroonian hairdresser who runs a small salon, Jolie Coiffure, in the Matonge district of Brussels. Despite having been in Belgium for almost a decade, she is still awaiting a decision on her asylum application. This intimate portrait captures Sabine’s daily life at the salon, perfecting her craft whilst whiling away time talking and laughing with an eclectic cast of patrons and visitors, many of whom also harbour the same fears about deportation. Shot entirely within the confines of the salon, Mbakam’s engaged, attentive camera reveals the reality of life in this little known corner of the city.

UK Premiere

Screens with:
Private Black Motherhood and Public White Protest [Audio]
Stacia Brown | 2017 | USA | 13’

A Black mother counts the costs of public demonstration and political engagement for herself and her young daughter. Written, edited, produced and performed by Stacia Brown.

Supported by Wallonia-Brussels International

Followed by a Q&A with director Rosine Mbakam, hosted by Ayo Akingbade, an artist and film director based in London

Read an essay on Chez Jolie Coiffure by Tayler Montague

Nominated for the Emerging International Filmmaker Award

Rosine Mbakam grew up in Cameroon in a traditional family. She chose cinema early on and was trained in Yaoundé by the Italian NGO COE (Centro Orientamento Educativo) in 2000. In 2007 she directed her first short film You Will Be My Ally, then co-directed Mavambu with Mirko Popovitch. She founded Tandor Productions in 2014 with Geoffroy Cernaix  and directed The Two Faces of a Bamileke Woman, her first documentary feature, in 2017.