It’s always great to see a broad range of cinema available, not just the usual US and UK movies. Hooray then! Because hot on the heels of the London Film Festival, we now have the French Film Festival back at Ciné Lumière in London from 3 to 13 November and in 32 other cinemas UK-wide until 15 December.
Most of the films showing at Ciné Lumière will be UK premieres and were presented at the Cannes Film Festival earlier this year, including the Palme d’Or winner Titane. But there will be some classic French movies, too.
Directors Bruno Dumont and Catherine Corsini will respectively be travelling from France for the screening of France, starring Léa Seydoux, at the Festival opening night (3 November), and The Divide (6 November).
Other highlights include Petite Maman by Céline Sciamma, Paris, 13th District by Jacques Audiard, and OSS 117: From Africa with Love starring Jean Dujardin.
Here’s a trailer and I’ll put the programme and full details after the jump, complete with trailers! Just between you and me, I feel I should point out I just copied and pasted from the web site, but I think this makes it easier to see everything at a glance.
I feel Rob would want me to point out that there will be two French TV shows screened as part of the festival as well: UFOs and All The Way Up.
France
Wed 3 – Thu 11 Nov
134 mins
in French with EN subs
FRA | 2021 | dir. Bruno Dumont, with Léa Seydoux, Benjamin Biolay, Blanche Gardin | UK Premiere
A satire of contemporary news media that steadily spirals out into something richer and darker. Never one to shy away from provoking viewers, Bruno Dumont (Ma Loute, The Life of Jesus) casts Seydoux as France de Meurs, a seemingly unflappable celebrity TV journalist whose career, homelife, and psychological stability are shaken after she carelessly drives into a young delivery man on the busy Parisian streets. This accident triggers a series of self-reckonings, as well as a strange romance that proves impossible to ignore. A film that teases at redemption while refusing to grant absolution, France is a deliciously ambivalent tragicomedy, a biting and, at times, hilarious critique of media and visual culture.
Petite maman
Thu 4 – Sun 7 Nov
72 mins
in French with EN subs
FRA | 2021 | dir. Céline Sciamma, with Joséphine Sanz, Gabrielle Sanz, Nina Meurisse
In this radiant tale, Céline Sciamma (Girlhood, Portrait of a Lady on Fire) crafts a mysterious and delicate exploration of childhood, grief and intergenerational connection.
After her grandmother dies, Nelly (Joséphine Sanz) is taken to her mother’s childhood home. While her parents go about cleaning out the house, Nelly explores the surrounding woods. She encounters Marion (Gabrielle Sanz), a girl exactly Nelly’s age and to whom she bears a striking resemblance. The pair become fast friends, constructing a hut together, sharing lunches, and talking over the life transitions both are in the midst of. Incrementally, the girls’ eerie similarities yield revelations that merge events of the past with those of the present.
The Big Hit
Thu 4 Nov
Un Triomphe
106 mins
in French with EN subs
FRA | 2021 | dir. Emmanuel Courcol | with Kad Merad, Marina Hands, Laurent Stocker | UK Premiere
Étienne (Kad Merad), an often-out-of-work but endearing actor, runs a theatre workshop in a prison, where he brings together an unlikely troupe of prisoners to stage Samuel Beckett’s seminal play Waiting for Godot. When he is allowed to take the colourful band of convicts on a tour outside the prison, Étienne finally has the chance to thrive. Each date is a new success and a unique relationship grows between this ad hoc group of actors and their director. But soon comes the final performance in Paris. Will their last night together be the biggest hit of them all? An uplifting comedy inspired by true events.
The Divide
Fri 5 – Sat 6 Nov
La Fracture
98 mins
in French with EN subs
FRA | 2021 | dir. Catherine Corsini with Valeria Bruni-Tedeschi, Marina Foïs, Pio Marmaï, Aissatou Diallo Sagna
Raf and Julie (Valeria Bruni-Tedeschi and Marina Foïs), a couple on the brink of breaking up, find themselves in an emergency ward after Raf slips and fractures her elbow. Yet in addition to elbows and arms, the hospital is attempting to mend its own fractured wing as the A&E falls into collapse with the Yellow Vest protest tearing through Paris. Their encounter with Yann (Pio Marmaï), an angry, injured trucker and demonstrator, will shatter certainties and prejudices. Outside, tension escalates. Under pressure, the hospital must close its doors…
The Divide, which was premiered and presented at Cannes Film Festival, conveys, through an astonishing feat of coordination and choreography, the sheer exhaustion of spending a few hours in an emergency ward, in a mix of devastating humour and sheer emotion.
Titane
Fri 5 – Mon 8 Nov
108 mins
in French with EN subs
FRA | 2021 | dir. Julia Ducournau, with Agathe Rousselle, Nathalie Boyer, Vincent Lindon, Myriem Akheddiou, Dominique Frot
The winner of the 2021 Cannes Film Festival’s Palme d’Or, Titane moves with the logic of a dream, and often the force of a nightmare. The film begins as a kind of horror movie, with a series of shocking events perpetrated by Alexia (Agathe Rouselle, in a dynamic and daring breakthrough), a dancer with a titanium plate in her skull following a childhood car accident. However, once Alexia goes into hiding from the police, and is taken in by a grief-stricken firefighter (Vincent Lindon), Julia Ducournau (Raw) reveals her deployment of genre tropes to be as fluid and destabilizing as her mercurial main character. A feverish, violent, and frequently jaw-dropping ride, Titane nevertheless exposes the beating, fragile heart at its center as it questions our assumptions about gender, family, and love itself.
Let Joy Reign Supreme
Fri 5 – Wed 10 Nov
Que la fête commence
114 mins
in French with EN subs
FRA | 1975 | dir. Bertrand Tavernier, with Philippe Noiret, Christine Pascal, Jean Rochefort, Jean-Pierre Marielle, Marina Vlady
Bertrand Tavernier’s second film after The Watchmaker of St Paul, this classic starring three of France’s grands hommes of comedy: Philippe Noiret, Jean Rochefort and Jean-Pierre Marielle, won César Awards for Best Director, Best Supporting Actor, Best Writing and Best Production Design.
Spectacular as French period films go, but never extravagant for its own sake, this is a subtle exploration of power politics in the court of the Regent Philippe of Orleans in 1719, taking in the revolutionary cause of Breton secessionists and intrigues provoked by sex commerce.
Returning to Reims (Fragments)
Fri 5 – Sat 13 Nov
Retour à Reims (Fragments)
83 mins
in French with EN subs
FRA | 2021 | dir. Jean-Gabriel Périot, narrated by Adèle Haenel | doc
A fascinating reflection on working class life in France over the past 70 years, Jean-Gabriel Périot’s documentary is a loose adaptation of fragments from Didier Eribon’s 2009 memoir Returning to Reims, in which he evokes his return to the hometown he had abandoned 30 years earlier. Adèle Haenel narrates the story of a prodigal child returning home and a reconciliation that prompts discussion of a mother’s life, marriage, and the opportunities she and other women never had.
Interlacing a mosaic of archive footage with personal testimony, Périot vividly evokes growing up in a working-class environment, together with a profound analysis of the shifting currents in the political life of France over the last decades.
Spread Your Wings
Sat 6 Nov
Donne-moi des Ailes
113 mins
in French with EN subs
FRA/NOR | 2019 | dir. Nicolas Vanier, with Jean-Paul Rouve, Mélanie Doutey, Louis Vazquez
Inspired by a true story, Spread Your Wings follows video game-addicted teenager Thomas (Louis Vazquez) who is sent by his mother, Paola (Mélanie Doutey), to spend the school holidays with his ornithologist father, Christian (Jean-Paul Rouve) in the beautiful, yet secluded, wetlands of the Camargue region in southern France. Together, father and son train birds for their first migratory flight, hoping to free them from captivity. In doing so, they also start to rebuild their own strained relationship.
Paris 13th District
Sat 6 Nov
Les Olympiades
105 mins
in French with EN subs
FRA | 2021 | dir. Jacques Audiard , with Noémie Merlant, Lucie Zhang, Makita Samba, Jehnny Beth
Emilie meets Camille who is attracted to Nora, who crosses paths with Amber. They’re all friends, sometimes lovers and often both. Based on three stories by cartoonist Adrian Tomine, and co-written for cinematic adaptation with Céline Sciamma and Léa Mysius, Paris 13th District sees Jacques Audiard (Rust and Bone, A Prophet) venture into new territory with a vibrant and uplifting take on modern love and Paris, as four characters cross paths and destiny in a culturally, sexually, and racially diverse contemporary city.
Vedette
Sat 6 – Tue 9 Nov
100 mins
in French with EN subs
FRA | 2021 | dir.s Claudine Bories & Patrice Chagnard | doc | UK Premiere
The fourth feature-length documentary by Claudine Bories and Patrice Chagnard (who previously graced the ACID line-up in Cannes in 2014 with Les règles du jeu), Vedette is a response to British director Andrea Arnold’s Cannes 2021 documentary Cow, a portrait of the daily life of two cows.
With her influence waning due to advancing age, the queen cow of the Alpine herds is given a new home for the summer to protect her from younger rivals.
Short Cuts
Sat 6 – Wed 10 Nov
Enjoy Short Cuts, our annual showcase of short films from rising stars in French and Francophone cinema, including a nominee from the Académie des César and winners from such festivals as Clermont-Ferrand and Angers Premiers-Plans. The 2021 selection of six short films (plus a bonus title) covers a wide range of genres, from documentary, animation to a slice-of-life realism, with some wildly experimental filmmaking and a home-grown comedy thrown in for good measure.
The selection was curated by Martine Pierquin and Sylvia Davidson and a student jury comprising Amber Blanksma (University of Glasgow); Annette Lordereau (University of Stirling); Noëmie Colin (University of Glasgow) and Sally Jordan (University of Edinburgh).
Josep
Sun 7 – Sat 13 Nov
71 min
In French, Catalan, Spanish and English with English subtitles
France/Spain/Belgium | dir. Aurel, with Sergi López, Xavier Serrano, David Marsais, Alain Cauchi | 2020 | animation | UK premiere
Part of the 2020 Cannes Film Festival Official Selection, Josep is the debut of editorial journalist Aurélien Froment, better known as Aurel and famous for his illustrations for Le Monde and his graphic novels about jazz and international politics. The title subject is Catalan artist Josep Bartolí. Rather than focusing on Bartolí’s intense and rough life, first as a soldier fighting against Franco, then as lover of Frida Kahlo and finally as a victim of the Hollywood blacklist, Aurel depicts his life in a French internment camp after the Spanish Civil War and the friendship he forged with Serge, the gendarme at the other side of the fence.
A wonderfully executed, exhilarating and unmissable poetic film that won the 2021 César for Best Feature-Length Animation Film.
OSS 117: From Africa with Love
Sun 7 – Sat 13 Nov
OSS 117 : Alerte rouge en Afrique noire
117 mins
in French with EN subs
FRA | 2021 | Dir. Nicolas Bedos, with Jean Dujardin, Pierre Niney, Fatou N’Diaye | UK Premiere
Nicolas Bedos, who made La Belle époque, takes over the reins from Michel Hazanavicius for the third chapter of the satirical adventures of Hubert Bonisseur de La Bath aka secret agent OSS 117. The action kicks off as Hubert is being held prisoner by the Soviets in Afghanistan in 1981, but makes a daring escape involving taunting a Russian baddie, pulling the pin on a grenade and leaping aboard a helicopter in flight. OSS 117 exudes confidence and might just be the luckiest idiot alive. The subtext is critical of France’s ostensibly well-meaning but ultimately exploitative and disastrous policies in Africa. Jean Dujardin suavely leads the cast as Hubert and is joined by Pierre Niney and Fatou N’Diaye.
Summer Light
Sun 7 Nov
Lumière d’été
112 mins
in French with EN subs
FRA |1942 | dir. Jean Grémillon, with Madeleine Renaud, Pierre Brasseur, Madeleine Robinson, Paul Bernard
A shimmering glass hotel at the top of a remote Provençal mountain provides the setting for a tragi-comic tapestry about an obsessive love pentangle. Scripted by Jacques Prévert and Pierre Laroche, the film was banned from cinemas for the duration of the Occupation for its dark portrayal of the hedonistic excesses of the ruling class. Today, it is often singled out as Jean Grémillon’s greatest achievement.
A Tale of Love and Desire
Tue 9 – Fri 12 Nov
Une Histoire d’amour et de désir
102 mins
in French with EN subs
FRA | 2021 | dir. Leyla Bouzid, with Sami Outalbali, Zbeida Belhajamor, Diong Keba-Tacu, Aurelia Petit, Mahia Zrouki
Ahmed (Sami Outabali from Sex Education), an 18-year-old French literature student of Algerian descent, is bright, reserved, enthusiastic, and particularly shy with girls. At the Sorbonne, Ahmed meets Farah (Zbeida Belhajamor), a young Tunisian girl full of energy, who just arrived in Paris. While discovering a collection of sensual and erotic Arab literature he never imagined existed through Farah, Ahmed falls head over heels in love with her. Although overwhelmed with desire, he will try to resist it. Bouzid cleverly explores the relationship between language, literature, and love, as well as the inner tensions that accompany the awakening of sexual desire.
The Restless
Tue 9 – Thu 11 Nov
Les Intranquilles
117 mins
FRA/ BEL | dir. Joachim Lafosse, with Damien Bonnard, Leïla Bekhti, Gabriel Merz Chammah | UK Premiere
Marking Belgian director Joachim Lafosse’s ninth feature, this heartbreaking portrait was inspired by Lafosse’s father, a photographer who lived with bipolar disorder. Leïla Bekhti and Damien Bonnard star as a couple who share a child and whose life together is impacted by bipolarism. They struggle to make the marriage work in the face of illness in a film that questions the limits of romantic commitment. She tells him over and over again that she can’t keep going. However much Leïla may love Damien, however much they might form a nucleus with their son Amine, the lives of this family of three are not an idyll.
I Want to Talk About Duras
Fri 12 – Sat 13 Nov
Vous ne désirez que moi
95 mins
in French with EN subs
FRA | 2021 | dir. Claire Simon, with Swann Arlaud, Emmanuelle Devos | UK Premiere
A man involved in a passionate relationship with a celebrated writer of over 30 years his senior needs to talk. He is fascinated by her and yet he feels he just cannot go on anymore. He opens up, in an attempt to put into words the intensity of his love and the complexity of the relationship.
The film, based on an unedited transcript of a 1982 interview between Yann Andréa and writer and journalist Michèle Manceaux, who was a long-time friend of Marguerite Duras, was published as a book, Je voudrais te parler de Duras, after all three protagonists had passed away. Claire Simon cleverly mixes a staging of the interview together with moving archival footage of Duras and her films, particularly India Song.
Unsophisticated Lady
Sat 13 Nov
La Pièce rapportée
86 mins
in French with EN subs
FRA | 2021 | dir. Antonin Peretjatko, with Josiane Balasko, Anais Demoustier, Philippe Katerine, William Lebghill, Sergi Lopez | UK Premiere
Paul Château-Têtard (Philippe Katerine), a 45-year-old bachelor from the highest of Parisian nobility, has to – for the first time in his life – take the Metro, and even buy a ticket. It is with extraordinary luck that the young, beautiful Ava (Anaïs Demoustier) happens to be sitting at the counter: a spark ignites and wedding bells start to ring in the distance. However, Paul’s mother, “Queen” Adélaïde (Josiane Balasko), thinks little of the marriage and even less of Ava. While in her opinion an heir would be most welcome, a baby is nowhere to be seen – and where does this lowly lady spend her days to begin with? With cinematic wit, Antonin Peretjatko sets shady detectives to sniff out affairs. “Nobility” and “rabble” collide over serious matters in a film full of French charm and ironic slapstick.
