as Mme. Dorner, the wife of the Deputy Mayor and casual affair of Slimane's son, Majid. Carole Franck as Guy's Neighbor Bruno Lochet as Mario Critical reception The Secret of the Grain holds an 83/100 on Metacritic and a 92% rating on Rotten Tomatoes, with the critical consensus stated by the latter aggregator as, "A complex portrait of an immigrant family, The Secret of the Grain is a sprawling, intimate film with many fine performances." The film appeared on several critics' top ten lists of the best films of 2008. A. O. Scott of The New York Times named it the 3rd best film of 2008, Andrew O'Hehir of Salon named it the 6th best film of 2008, and Scott Foundas of LA Weekly named it the 7th best film of 2008 (along with A Christmas Tale). Wesley Morris, film critic for the Boston Globe, writing for the Criterion online accompaniment to the film, notes that the film is “essentially a portrait of an extended family whose dynamics are steadily reframed in a collection of long, eventful scenes.” The cast get to play “actual people—not symbols, inmates, nannies, or the undignified other,” and “their concerns have little to do with overt oppression or xenophobia.” He praises Abdellatif Kechiche because the “narrative in this film is secondary to human nature...” He calls the belly-dance in final sequence “complexly conceived and realized, and says “the dancer uses sex and cultural exoticism to distract tables of formerly civilized but suddenly restless white natives.” Kechiche “invites us to acknowledge a fundamental truth about Arabs—or any people of color—in the history of the movies: stereotypes sell.” Awards and nominations César Award, 2008: Best French Film Best Director: Abdellatif Kechiche Best Original Screenplay: Abdellatif Kechiche Most Promising Actress: Hafsia Herzi Antalya Golden Orange Film Festival, 2007 Best Director (Eurasia Film Festival): Abdellatif Kechiche Venice Film Festival, 2007: Special Jury Prize (ex-æquo / tie, with I'm Not There) Marcello Mastroianni Prize (for actor or actress in a début role): Hafsia Herzi SIGNIS Award - Honorable Mention: Abdellatif Kechiche Nominated: Golden Lion Louis Delluc Prize, 2007 Distribution The film was released in the Criterion Collection in 2010. References External links The Secret of the Grain: No Secrets an essay by Wesley Morris at the Criterion Collection 2007 films 2007 drama films French drama films Best Film César Award winners Louis Delluc Prize winners Films about race and ethnicity