Bye Bye Morons
M
France, 2020
Genre: Comedy
Language: French
Director: Albert Dupontel
Starring: Virginie Efira, Albert Dupontel, Nicolas Marie, Jackie Berroyer, Philippe Uchan, Bastien Ughetto, Marilou Aussilloux, Catherine Davenier
What's it about?
When Suze Trappet (Virginie Efira) is told she's seriously ill, she decides to search for the child she was forced to abandon almost three decades ago. This crowd-pleasing film by writer/director/actor Albert Dupontel (See You Up There) blends dark humour, social satire and tragedy into a frenetic and fast-paced story that leaves audiences delightfully giddy by its twists and turns. Exhilarating, poignant and hilarious, this urban comedy is a refreshing blast of anarchic energy.
Gagarine
M
France, 2021
Genre: Drama
Language: French
Director: Fanny Liatard, Jérémy Trouilh
Starring: Alséni Bathily, Lyna Khoudri, Jamil McCraven, Finnegan Oldfield, Farida Rahouadj, Denis Lavant
What's it about?
Teenager Youri (Alséni Bathily) has dreams of becoming an astronaut but must first battle to save his housing project home from demolition. This is a powerful story of class, race, imagination and wonder, that allows audiences to share Youri’s dreams of space and weightlessness. This film will make souls soar and hearts beat faster, as it races towards its nail-biting finale.
The Mystery of Henri Pick
M
Belgium, France, 2019
Genre: Drama, Comedy
Language: French
Director: Rémi Bezançon
Starring: Fabrice Luchini, Camille Cottin, Alice Isaaz, Bastien Bouillon, Philypa Phoenix, Louis Descols, Josiane Stoléru
What's it about?
In a bizarre Breton library that collects rejected manuscripts, a young editor discovers a novel that she considers a masterpiece. It was written by a certain Henri Pick, a cook who died two years earlier and who, according to his widow, had never read a book in his life or written anything but a shopping list... Did he have a secret life? When the book becomes a huge best-seller, Jean-Michel Rouche (Fabrice Luchini), a sceptical and stubborn literary critic, teams up with Joséphine (Camille Cottin), Pick’s daughter, to unravel the mystery.
Let the Sunshine In
MA15+
Belgium, France, 2017
Genre: Comedy, Drama, Romance
Language: French
Director: Claire Denis
Starring: Juliette Binoche, Xavier Beauvois, Philippe Katerine, Josiane Balasko, Sandrine Dumas, Nicolas Duvauchelle, Alex Descas, Laurent Grévill, Bruno Podalydès, Paul Blain, Valeria Bruni Tedeschi, Gérard Depardieu
What's it about?
Director Claire Denis (High Life) and screen icon Juliette Binoche come together for the first time. Binoche stars as Isabelle, a Parisian artist and divorced mother, who is looking for love, true love, at last. But her search for love finds only callous suitors whose actions lend her experiences an acid-laced comedic edge. The film finds bleak humour in a cutting truth: we are all, no matter our age, fools for love.
Les Misérables
MA15+
France, 2019
Genre: Crime, Drama, Thriller
Language: Bambara, French
Director: Ladj Ly
Starring: Damien Bonnard, Alexis Manenti, Djebril Zonga, Jeanne Balibar, Steve Tientcheu, Alexandre Picot, Issa Perica, Al-Hassan Ly, Sofia Lesaffre, Almamy Kanoute
What's it about?
Inspired by the 2005 riots in Paris, Stéphane (Damien Bonnard), a recent transplant to the impoverished suburb of Montfermeil, joins the local anti-crime squad. Working alongside his unscrupulous colleagues Chris (Alexis Manenti) and Gwada (Djibril Zonga), Stéphane struggles to maintain order amidst the mounting tensions between local gangs. When an arrest turns unexpectedly violent, the three officers must reckon with the aftermath and keep the neighbourhood from spiralling out of control.
[link title="Les Miserables Review" url="node/6079"]
Working Girls
MA15+
Belgium, France, 2020
Genre: Drama
Language: French
Director: Anne Paulicevich, Frederic Fonteyne
Starring: Noémie Lvovsky, Sara Forestier, Annabelle Lengronne, Jonas Bloquet, Nicolas Cazalé, Sergi López
What's it about?
Working Girls tells the story of three women, Axelle (Sara Forestier), Conso (Annabelle Lengronne) and Dominique (Noémie Lvovsky), who have nothing in common except that they are colleagues and cross the border together every day to go to work. To live decently on one side of the border, in Roubaix, they prostitute themselves on the other side, in Belgium. At the end of one particularly hot summer, all three share a secret that will bind them together forever.
Tomboy
G
France, 2011
Genre: Drama
Language: French
Director: Celine Sciamma
Starring: Zoé Héran, Malonn Lévana, Sophie Cattani, Mathieu Demy, Jeanne Disson, Yohan Vero, Noah Vero, Cheyenne Lainé, Rayan Boubekri, Christel Baras, Valérie Roucher
What's it about?
In this acclaimed drama from Girlhood and Portrait of a Lady on Fire director Celine Sciamma, ten-year-old Laure (Zoé Héran)’s family relocates to a new apartment. With cropped hair and outfits consisting of shorts and T-shirts being the norm for Laure, new neighbour Lisa (Jeanne Disson) assumes Laure is a boy and so Laure takes this opportunity for gender exploration and assumes the name Mikaël. As Mikaël, Laure has a confidence that eludes them as a girl and they are soon adopted and admired by Lisa and the local youngsters. The film is a touching and seemingly true gender study.
[link title="Tomboy Review" url="node/5795"]
[link title="This and That: ‘J.T. LeRoy’ and ‘Tomboy’" url="node/207753"]
Microbe and Gasoline
M
France, 2015
Genre: Comedy
Language: French
Director: Michel Gondry
Starring: Ange Dargent, Théophile Baquet, Diane Besnier, Audrey Tautou, Vincent Lamoureux, Agathe Peigney, Douglas Brosset, Charles Raymond, Ferdinand Roux-Balme, Marc Delarue
What's it about?
On the eve of a long, tedious summer vacation, Microbe (Ange Dargent) and Gasoline (Théophile Baquet), decide to take their own holiday in a home-made house on wheels as neither want to spend time with their own families. From visionary director Michel Gondry this is an artfully observed coming-of-age comedy featuring his trademark surrealism and is an expertly shot character study of two likeable non-conformists.
[link title="'Microbe and Gasoline': Michel Gondry's Coming-Of-Age Charmer" url="node/41949"]
The City of Lost Children
M
France, 1995
Genre: Drama, Fantasy, Adventure
Language: French
Director: Marc Caro, Jean-Pierre Jeunet
Starring: Ron Perlman, Daniel Emilfork, Judith Vittet, Dominique Pinon, Jean-Claude Dreyfus, Geneviève Brunet, Odile Mallet, Mireille Mossé, Serge Merlin, François Hadji-Lazaro, Rufus, Ticky Holgado, Jean-Louis Trintignant, Joseph Lucien
What's it about?
On a mist-shrouded rig in the sea, beyond an old minefield, Krank (Daniel Emilfork) ages prematurely because he lacks one vital function: the ability to dream. And so he kidnaps children from the harbour town, to steal their happy dreams from them. But a child he takes is also the little brother of carnival strongman One (Ron Perlman), who sets out to rescue him with the help of his precocious young, orphaned friend Miette (Judith Vittet). Directed by Jean-Pierre Jeunet (Amélie) and Marc Caro (Delicatessen) this film is dark, distinct, inventive and a memorable experience.
[link title="The City of Lost Children Review" url="node/2685"]
Plus other past festival favourites now streaming:
Bang Gang (A Modern Love Story), Beauty and the Beast, Beautiful Lies, The Connection, From the Land of the Moon, Gauguin, The Ideal Palace, In The House, The Innocents, My Summer in Provence, Only The Animals, Polina, Sibyl, Slack Bay, 2 Autumns 3 Winters and Venus in Fur.
The 2022 Alliance Française French Film Festival is playing across the country in March and April.
- SYDNEY: Tue 1 March to Wed 6 April - Encore: Thursday 7 to Sunday 10 April
- CANBERRA: Wed 2 March to Wed 6 April - Encore: Thursday 7 to Sunday 10 April
- MELBOURNE: Thu 3 March to Wed 6 April - Encore: Thursday 7 to Sunday 10 April
- PERTH: Wed 9 March to Wed 6 April – Encore: Thursday 7 to Sunday 10 April
- BRISBANE: Wed 16 March to Wed 13 April – Encore: Thursday 14 to Monday 18 April
- ADELAIDE: Thu 24 March to Tue 26 April – Encore: Wednesday 27 and Thursday 28 April
- BYRON BAY: Wed 30 March to Wed 13 April 2021 – Encore: Thursday 14 and Friday 15 April
- PARRAMATTA: Thu 7 to Sun 10 April
- HOBART: Wed 9 to Sun 20 March
More details can be found at www.affrenchfilmfestival.org
