At the end of their tour of duty in Afghanistan, two young military women, Aurore and Marine, are given three days of »decompression leave« with their unit at a five-star resort in Cyprus. Here, among tourists, they are trained to leave their violent memories behind. But it’s not that easy to forget the war.

»What do you see when you go to war? Nothing. First of all, because the moments of inaction at the camp are numerous. Secondly, because when the fighting actually happens you don’t see a thing – you fight for your life. Finally because everyone sees what happened from their own perspective, which is a partial view of reality. During the decompression period, Aurore and Marine participate in debriefing sessions that are going to make them think differently about what they saw. The psychologists use virtual reality video tools to recreate images in real time that correspond to the soldiers’ narrative. The goal is for the soldiers to distance themselves from their painful memories through words and images. (…) It is impossible – and perhaps not really desirable – to forget war, these wars, whether we have participated from near or afar. We are reminded of this every day. The Stopover addresses this issue: How can we manage to live despite having experienced such a violent episode?«
– Delphine and Muriel Coulin

Awards for ›The Stopover‹
Prize for Best Screenplay – Un Certain Regard, Festival de Cannes 2016