Article by Tommaso Del Latte

Translation by Laura Cattani

The Belgian director Wannes Destoop at his debut feature, enacts in Holy Rosita, a simple, community-focused, hopeful story.

Rosita (Daphne Agten) lives in a working-class block of houses, she works a variety of jobs, and she spends most of her free time with the neighborhood children, who are the only ones capable of giving her a few carefree moments. Rosita has only one dream, to become a mother. However, just when she manages to get pregnant, she begins to be tormented by doubts, caused by the uncertainty of living up to the role, economic problems and the judgments of the community in which she lives.

The story of “Holy Rosita” is a dance of contradictions. The events of the film, the emotions felt by the characters, fluctuate between moments of joy and pain as if they were steps of an invisible choreography, steps of that same dance that Rosita performs in the saddest moments. Such contradictions can also be seen in the body of the protagonist: welcoming and captivating but also oppressive and suffocating in the close-ups. The contradiction is also evident in her being an adult and eager to become a mother, and she is yet at the same time moved by a childlike spirit unwilling to step aside.

This is a story, hence, that focuses on the search, as desired as it is tormented, for a child both desired and tormented search for a child. It is through this pregnancy that Rosita reaches a catharsis, accepting the possibility of growth, change and evolution, not only as a mother but also as a woman. This catharsis is linked to the awareness that motherhood does not limit her, but it rather pushes her to discover her own potential, to come to terms with her fears, and finally to reconcile with the parts of herself that she had perhaps repressed or ignored.