The film Divertimento portrays the real life of Zahia Ziouani, one of the few female conductors in the world. The film is set in 1995 when Zahia was 17 years old and takes place in France. Zahia and her twin sister, Fettouma, strive to pursue their dreams of becoming an orchestra conductor and cellist, respectively, despite their challenging circumstances. She faces the barriers at various crossroads, including “being a young girl,” or being bullied by other children, but still struggles to achieve her dreams.
Divertimento weaves Zahia’s relationships with those around her, shifting between the suburb of Stains, where her Algerian working-class family lives, and the prestigious high school in Paris. The film builds each note meticulously, resonating with the structure of Maurice Ravel’s Boléro, which is meaningfully inserted into the film. Particularly, in the ending sequence where Zahia’s newly formed orchestra, the Divertimento Symphony Orchestra, performs Boléro aligns perfectly with her line, “Music may not change the world, but people can,” as if it were Zahia’s declaration. [LEE Suyoung, Cinefemme]