Set in Brooklyn, New York this Dutch film is based on a true story that appeared on a New York newspaper in 1980. Desirée lives in the past. A series of flashbacks expose us to her psychologically troubled childhood very much affected by a promiscous mother.
Set in Curacao in the 1940s, Ava & Gabriel: A Love Story tells of the painter Gabriel Goedbloed, who arrives from Holland to paint a mural of the Virgin Mary in a local church. Gabriel is black, originally from Surinam. The colonial Antillian society proves less than tolerant towards him, especially after he chooses as his model a young Black teacher, Ava
During a protracted drought, Solem (Marian Rolle) uses her magical powers to protect her village from evil spirits. She also provides food, searching the wilderness for edible plants. During one foraging mission, she encounters an evil spirit who impregnates her. Solem's fellow villagers believe her power to be derived from her virginity, and when she gives birth they ostracize her. She then embarks on a quest to purify herself and restore balance to the world.
