POLISSE

Winner of the Jury Prize at the 2011 Cannes Film Festival and nominated for 13 Cesar Awards, this smash hit from France follows the daily lives of a tight-knit team of men and women working in the Child Protection Unit of the Parisian police. Basing her richly textured script on real child investigation cases, writer-director-actor Mawenn has gathered an accomplished ensemble cast of French actors including Karin Viard, Marina Foes, co-writer Emmanuelle Bercot, Nicolas Duvauchelle, and rapper-turned-actor Joeystarr who convey the emotional strain of the unit's work with gritty realism (the director herself plays the role of a photographer embedded with the unit). They not only deal with the stress of their jobs but the inevitable fall-out in their personal lives breakdowns, divorce and adulterous relations within the force. In between, there are frequent flashes of humor as the team attempts to diffuse daily realities. As the cases, confessions and interrogations pile up; the squad members have only each other as support as they face an uphill battle against both criminals and bureaucracy.