In Bangui, Rodrigue and Reine are a couple very involved in the activities of their church. But they live with a terrible secret: they are HIV positive and carry it like a divine punishment. When Rodrigue is offered the position of assistant pastor, he has doubts: is he worthy of leading the church of Christ? Yet how can he refuse when he depends on Reine’s trade? With the pandemic, ARV drugs are becoming scarce and the rumour is spreading that HIV-positive people will die if they vaccinate against Covid19. Reine believes a miracle is possible and sets out on a quest for a miraculous cure. She takes her husband from church to pilgrimage, from prayers of repentance to spiritual fasts, in the hope of divine healing.

-- Dir. Elvis Sabin Ngaïbino - 80min - 2023 - France, Central African Republic, Democratic Republic of Congo --

"Elvis Sabin Ngaibino’s engrossing and poignant documentary is a family affair. The subject is none other than his cousin Rodrigue, who is consumed with a weighty secret: both he and his wife Reine are living with Aids. Within their deeply religious community, the condition is sorely misunderstood; in his fervid sermons, the local pastor associates Aids and HIV with witchcraft, curses, and even God’s punishment. Such superstitious and moralistic sentiments take deep root in the minds of the believers, worsening the social stigma surrounding an ongoing health crisis" - Guardian

"The director (here also serving as the project’s cinematographer) follows the couple with a rather classical – yet effective – observational approach, offering viewers the right level of intimacy. The subjects are free to be themselves in front of the camera, and we don’t feel as if we’re invading too much of their personal space." - Cineuropa

"The towering steel cross that they together hoist in the opening shot of the film is a striking symbol for both the support they find in faith and the burden they have to bear—with increasing despair" - IDFA

"If Rodrigue has been punished by God, doesn’t he now deserve mercy? As the film unfolds, it nurtures the conviction that the silence deserves to be broken—and thus the love story also becomes a story of friendship." - Cinema du Reel

"The portrait of the enduring love between Reine and Rodrigue at a time of profound uncertainty holds the narrative together. Yet the film ultimately attests to the difficulty of establishing an adequate distinction between good and evil, belief and reality, individual freedom and community values" - Viennale