La vie devant soi

Awarded an Oscar for best foreign film, as well as a César. Simone Signoret plays Madame Rosa, an elderly Jewish woman who, after a life of prostitution, opens an orphanage in a poor suburb of Paris which only admits the children of prostitutes. Here she becomes friends with the 14-year-old Momo, the Arabic son of a murdered street-walker who takes care of her if she gets sick.

Beautiful atmospheric images of Paris's Red Light District and a strong soundtrack. Adapted from the book by Emile Ajar.