The Innocents, set in Poland in 1945, tells the true story of the Red Cross doctor Madeleine Pauliac (“Mathilde” in the film) who cared for Benedictine nuns who were violated and, in some cases, made pregnant by Soviet soldiers. The French director Anne Fontaine (Coco Before Chanel) shows the nuns going through feelings of shame, faith, love and motherhood, while a strong friendship develops between Mathilde, an atheist communist, and Maria, one of the nuns.
I met Fontaine while she was presenting The Innocents at the London Film Festival.
