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The Braid

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Smita is a Dalit woman living in a village in India. Being Dalit means she is of the lowest caste and part of a group called the "untouchables"; as a Dalit, she not only has no easy access to education, but also experiences intense cultural discrimination. Wanting a better life for her daughter Lalita, a life without dirty, inhuman toil, she embarks on a dangerous journey into the city with Lalita in tow. Her goal is to go to a temple where prayers are often answered quickly.

In another corner of the world, Giul...

Smita is a Dalit woman living in a village in India. Being Dalit means she is of the lowest caste and part of a group called the "untouchables"; as a Dalit, she not only has no easy access to education, but also experiences intense cultural discrimination. Wanting a better life for her daughter Lalita, a life without dirty, inhuman toil, she embarks on a dangerous journey into the city with Lalita in tow. Her goal is to go to a temple where prayers are often answered quickly.

In another corner of the world, Giulia works in her father's wig-making shop in Sicily . When he falls into a coma after an accident, she discovers that her family's workshop and livelihood are threatened by debts her father kept secret. Meanwhile, Canadian Sarah leads a successful life in Montreal and hopes to soon become a partner at her law firm. Her hopes are dashed when she is told she has cancer.

Head hair, and the ways it can be used, was the inspiration for director Colombani for her book of the same name on which the film is based. Hair is donated by pilgrims to an Indian temple, the story of Smita; the hair then goes abroad and is used as the basis for making wigs, the story of Giulia; a woman needs a wig after chemo, the story of Sarah. This creates a triptych for a film set in three different cultures and on three different continents.

Hair is a symbol of femininity, but also that of resistance: keratin is a very resistant material; hair is both very fine and strong. Thus, it is also a metaphor for the three women who resist to the utmost what fate has in store for them.

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