Chris Knipp
01-26-2023, 04:29 PM
Rendez-Vous with French Cinema March 2012, 2023
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VIRGINIE EFFIRA IN REVOIR PARIS
FESTIVAL COVERAGE THREAD (http://www.filmleaf.net/showthread.php?5302-Rendez-Vous-with-French-Cinema-2023&p=40930#post40930)
UNIFRANCE AND FILM AT LINCOLN CENTER ANNOUNCE
THE COMPLETE LINEUP FOR THE 28TH
RENDEZ-VOUS WITH FRENCH CINEMA, MARCH 2–12, 2023 (NYC)
Opening Night—Alice Winocour’s Revoir Paris starring Virginie Efira,
with Winocour and Efira in person
The annual French cinema showcase celebrates the latest from Arnaud Desplechin,
Louis Garrel, Rachid Hami, Christophe Honoré, Cédric Ido, Patricia Mazuy, Dominik Moll, Rebecca Zlotowski, and more, with debut features from Florent Gouëlou and Lise Akoka and Romane Gueret.
The biggest and best French new film series in the US. And because French people love New York, it's easy to get an even better delegation of the directors and actors over to present and discuss the films at the festival. These include queer French cinema icon (and director, author, and playwright) Christophe Honoré, great comedienne Virginie Effira, actor-director-charmer Louis Garrel, prolific actor Melvil Poupaud, director Nicolas Pariser, thriller filmmaker Dominik Moll, director Rebecca Zlotowski, and lots more, and some of the most celebrated will be giving free talks in addition to Q&A's at the films.
FILMS & DESCRIPTIONS
All films screen in the Walter Reade Theater (165 W. 65th St.) unless otherwise noted
Opening Night
Revoir Paris
Alice Winocour, 2022, France/Belgium, 105m
French with English subtitles
After surviving a mass shooting in a Paris restaurant, married translator Mia (Virginie Efira) is haunted, unable to resume life as usual and left with a total blackout where her memories of the traumatic incident should be. Determined to reconstruct the sequence of events and reestablish a sense of normalcy, Mia finds herself repeatedly returning to the bistro where the shooting happened. In the process she forms bonds with fellow survivors, including banker Thomas (Benoît Magimel) and teenager Félicia (Nastya Golubeva). Initially shocking and ultimately deeply moving, Revoir Paris, the latest from Rendez-Vous favorite Alice Winocour (Disorder, Proxima), is a meditation on grief and healing anchored by a career-best performance from Efira (Benedetta, NYFF59 selection). A Music Box Films release. Sept.7, 2022 French release; AlloCiné press rating 4.0 (80%).
Thursday, March 2 at 6:30pm (Introduced by Alice Winocour and Virginie Efira)
Thursday, March 2 at 9:30pm
Brother and Sister / Frère et Sœur
Arnaud Desplechin, 2022, France, 108m
French with English subtitles
One of film’s great family creations, the sprawling, perpetually at-odds Vuillards have provided the memorable characters for some of Arnaud Desplechin’s most beloved films, including Kings and Queen (2004) and A Christmas Tale (2008). His newest entry in the family’s collective saga follows novelist Louis (Melvil Poupaud) and actress Alice (Marion Cotillard), siblings who experience a falling out when Louis depicts his sister unforgivably in one of his books. Years later, after their parents are involved in a near-deadly car crash, they’re forced to try to negotiate some kind of coexistence—or at least to find ways to avoid each other at the hospital bedside. Desplechin returns to some of his pet themes—the lines between art and real life, the work of theater performers, family ties that both bind and divide—in another deeply felt drama backed by a typically eclectic soundtrack. French release May 20, 2022; AlloCinee press rating 4.1 (82%).
Sunday, March 5 at 3:30pm (Q&A with Melvil Poupaud)
Tuesday, March 7 at 9:00pm
Diary of a Fleeting Affair / Chronique d’une liaison passagère
Emmanuel Mouret, 2022, France, 100m
French with English subtitles
After happily married Simon (Vincent Macaigne) meets the equally happily single Charlotte (Sandrine Kiberlain, also in this year’s Rendez-Vous selection The Green Perfume), they agree to begin an affair devoid of heavy feelings—but love, inevitably and maybe impossibly, emerges over the course of meetups on the beautifully photographed streets of Paris and weekends in the countryside. This acutely observed comic drama from Emmanuel Mouret (Love Affair(s), Rendez-Vous 2021) is powered by the chemistry between magnetic veteran star Kiberlain and the hilariously anxious Macaigne (fresh from Olivier Assayas’s HBO update of his own Irma Vep). The soundtrack is a selection of classical music mingled with a smattering of Serge Gainsbourg staples, recalling and reviving the best of French romantic drama. French release Jan.. 24, 2022; AlloCinee press rating 4.0 (80%).
Friday, March 3 at 4:00pm
Monday, March 6 at 9:30pm
The Five Devils / Les Cinq diables
Léa Mysius, 2022, France, 96m
French with English subtitles
One of France’s most celebrated young screenwriters, whose recent collaborators include such luminaries as Jacques Audiard, Claire Denis, and Arnaud Desplechin, Léa Mysius established herself as a vibrant new directorial voice with her feature debut, Ava, a bold and daring highlight of Rendez-Vous 2018. Her sophomore feature, The Five Devils, is every bit as distinctive and stylistically audacious in telling the story of Vicky (Sally Dramé, a major discovery in her debut), who is gifted with the ability to reproduce the scent of anyone and anything she encounters. Vicky’s supernatural talent forms just one part of this wrenching family drama as mother Joanne (Adèle Exarchopoulos) struggles to maintain a rocky relationship with her husband (Moustapha Mbengue) after his enigmatic sister (Swala Emati) returns to town, against a turbulent backdrop of rural French racism and homophobia. Mysius crafts a spellbinding tale as unpredictable as it is enthralling. A MUBI release. Aug.31, 2022 French release; AlloCiné press rating 3.2 (64%).
Saturday, March 4 at 3:30pm (Q&A with Léa Mysius)
Wednesday, March 8 at 3:45pm
For My Country / Pour la France
Rachid Hami, 2022, France/Taiwan, 113m
English, French, Arabic, and Mandarin with English subtitles
After French-Algerian military recruit Aïssa (Shaïn Boumedine) dies while being hazed, older brother Ismaël (Karim Leklou) and his family converge upon the military academy to bury him and demand answers about how this tragedy occurred. Drawing upon his own family history, Rachid Hami (Orchestra Class, Rendez-Vous 2018) bravely fictionalizes the story of his brother’s death, elegantly flashing back from the present to an often contentious, globe-trotting sibling relationship during their adolescence in 1990s Algeria and time spent together in late-aughts Taipei. Integration, faith, and the sometimes difficult bonds of brotherhood are interrogated by Hami in this elegant and mournful film, which centers its finely drawn characters and their complex humanity over simple political messaging. French release Feb. 8, 2023 AlloCiné press rating 3.8 (76%)..
Thursday, March 9 at 6:30pm (Q&A with Rachid Hami)
Friday, March 10 at 3:45pm
Forever Young / Les Amandiers
Valeria Bruni Tedeschi, 2022, France/Belgium, 126m
English and French with English subtitles
Before he was internationally known as a filmmaker of modern classics like Queen Margot and Intimacy, the late Patrice Chéreau was a director at the famed French theater school Les Amandiers. Valeria Bruni Tedeschi, a Rendez-Vous regular both as an actress and as a director, draws upon her own memories in this fond, often rowdy group portrait of a tight-knit class navigating their first year at the school. Under the tutelage of Chéreau (Louis Garrel, himself the accomplished director of Rendez-Vous 2023 selection The Innocent), the students grow both personally and professionally during the late 1980s, studying briefly at the Actors Studio in New York City before tackling a year-end production of Chekhov’s Platonov. Among them is Stella (Nadia Tereszkiewicz), whose love affair with a talented but unstable fellow student provides a through-line across Bruni Tedeschi’s chaotic and loving recollections. Nov. 16, 2022 French release; AlloCiné press rating 4.0 (80%).
Sunday, March 5 at 9:30pm
Friday, March 10 at 1:00pm
The Gravity / La Gravité
Cédric Ido, 2022, France, 84m
French with English subtitles
As eight planets prepare to enter an auspicious alignment, drug dealer Christophe (Jean-Baptiste Anoumon) returns home to the housing projects after serving time in prison, only to find that the familiar milieu has changed in his absence. His friend Daniel (Max Gomis) has gone straight, pursuing a career as a professional runner, while Christophe’s brother, Joshua (Steve Tientcheu), now paralyzed from the waist down, has continued to sell narcotics. Shooting in his hometown of Seine-Saint-Denis, French-Burkinabe actor and writer-director Cédric Ido puts a sci-fi twist on this gritty, up-to-the-minute crime saga as the planetary configuration wreaks unexpected mental havoc on the towers’ residents. Equally evoking the aliens-versus-gangs thriller Attack the Block and Ladj Ly’s recent Palme d’Or winner Les Misérables, Ido adroitly uses genre to comment on race, class, and the struggles of the recently incarcerated to reintegrate into society.
Saturday, March 4 at 1:00pm (Q&A with Cédric Ido) Coming May 23, 2023 French release.
Monday, March 6 at 1:30pm
The Green Perfume / Le Parfum vert
Nicolas Pariser, 2022, France, 102m
English, French, and German with English subtitles
When an actor dies onstage during a performance at the Comédie-Française, his final words to fellow actor Martin (Vincent Lacoste) are to say he’s been murdered, followed by the mysterious phrase “green perfume.” So begins this knowingly Hitchcockian thriller (with a touch of Tintin creator Hergé thrown into the stylistic mix). The enigmatic events spur Martin to set off on a pan-European journey to discover the forces behind this mysterious killing. He makes his way to Brussels and eventually to Budapest alongside comic book writer Claire (Sandrine Kiberlain). Arriving at unexpected thematic resonance by way of searching dialogues about the nature of European identity and the Jewish diaspora, writer-director Nicolas Pariser (Alice and the Mayor, Rendez-Vous 2020) crafts a humorous, finely tuned, thoroughly French evocation of the master of suspense’s lighter work. AlloCiné press rating: 3,5 (70%).
32 critiques
Wednesday, March 8 at 6:15pm (Q&A with Nicolas Pariser)
Saturday, March 11 at 1:00pm
Harkis / Les Harkis
Philippe Faucon, 2022, France, 82m
French and Arabic with English subtitles
Unfolding from 1959 to 1962, as the Algerian War definitively turns against the French colonial powers, Harkis takes its title from the term given to native recruits who joined the occupying army, only to find themselves abandoned when their would-be protectors lost the war. Complexly rendered portraits of men in a difficult situation during a moment of monumental political change are punctured by tense and startling scenes of combat, but the violence and betrayals inflicted on the soldiers by their recruiters is even greater. Moroccan-born French director Philippe Faucon’s Fatima (Rendez-Vous 2016), a sensitive dramedy about a Moroccan mother struggling to connect with her daughters, was awarded Best Picture at the César Awards; here, Faucon demonstrates an equally steady hand with his outstanding ensemble cast, conjuring a vital depiction of a shameful national moment. Oct. 12, 2022 French release; AlloCiné press rating 3.9 (78%).
Friday, March 3 at 2:00pm
Thursday, March 9 at 9:30pm
The Innocent / L’Innocent
Louis Garrel, 2022, France, 98m
French with English subtitles
Long justly celebrated for his talent as an actor, Louis Garrel has emerged as an increasingly accomplished writer-director in his own right, and his latest comedy is his finest, most accomplished and surprising yet. Uptight Abel (Garrel) loves his mother, Sylvie (Anouk Grinberg), and worries when she hastily marries Michel (Roschdy Zem), a convict, just before his release from prison. Suspicious of Michel’s reformed ways, Abel follows him through the streets of Paris alongside a confidante played by Noémie Merlant (NYFF60 Main Slate selection TÁR) and soon finds himself in over his head as he attempts to navigate a world of criminal mischief. Equally fueled by Garrel’s sparring with the charismatic Zem and his charged romantic chemistry with Merlant, The Innocent places a delightful heist spin on a heartfelt mother-and-son story. A Janus Films Release. Oct. 12, 2022 French release; AlloCinee French press rating 4.1 (82%)
Saturday, March 4 at 6:30pm (Q&A with Louis Garrel)
Wednesday, March 8 at 9:15pm
Mother and Son / Un petit frère
Léonor Serraille, 2022, France, 117m
French with English subtitles
Léonor Serraille, whose debut feature, Montparnasse Bienvenüe, was a highlight of Rendez-Vous 2018, returns with this portrait of the complex, sometimes painful relationship between an African immigrant mother and her sons. Upon arriving in France from the Ivory Coast in 1989 with two young children, Rose (Annabelle Lengronne) finds work as a hotel cleaner. The loving and exuberant but erratic mother’s penchant for partying means that she has trouble attending to her job, let alone to her studious sons, Jean (played by Stéphane Bak in adulthood) and Ernest (Ahmed Sylla). Spanning 20 years of their ever-shifting relationship, Serraille demonstrates rare nuance and sensitivity in this thoughtful portrait of an Afro-French family. Feb. 1, 2023 French release; AlloCinee press rating 3.5 (70%).
Monday, March 6 at 6:30pm (Q&A with Léonor Serraille)
Wednesday, March 8 at 1:00pm
Neneh Superstar
Ramzi Ben Sliman, 2022, France, 97m
French with English subtitles
Twelve-year-old Neneh (Oumy Bruni Garrel, as talented a young dancer as she is an actor) simply wants to dance ballet—but, as a Black girl attempting to find a foothold in a historically White cultural milieu and secure the support that her talent clearly merits, the obstacles she faces seem overwhelming. This crowd-pleasing feature by writer-director Ramzi Ben Sliman follows Neneh as she enters a ballet boarding school where the majority of administrators and teachers persist in believing that Black women have no place onstage as part of the classical repertoire. With encouragement from her patient father, Fred (Steve Tientcheu), and under the watchful gaze of teacher and legendary dancer Marianne Bellage (Maïwenn), Neneh finds herself—and her place—in this inspiring story about overcoming systemic disadvantages on the path to artistic achievement. Jan. 23, 2022 French release; AlloCiné press rating 2.9 (58%)
Tuesday, March 7 at 6:15pm (Q&A with Ramzi Ben Sliman)
Thursday, March 9 at 1:15pm
The Night of the 12th / La Nuit du 12
Dominik Moll, 2022, France/Belgium, 114m
French with English subtitles
Perhaps best known for stylish thrillers like With a Friend Like Harry… (2000) and Only the Animals (2019), Dominik Moll takes a starker turn with his latest. The Night of the 12th tracks an investigation headed by Yohan (Bastien Bouillon) and his older, recently divorced colleague Marceau (Bouli Lanners) into the murder of Clara, a young woman set on fire one night after leaving a party in a small, quiet Alpine town. That horrific story comes from one section of Pauline Guéna’s 18.3, a massive chronicle of a year of French murder investigations that was itself partly inspired by David Simon’s Homicide: A Year on the Killing Streets. Moll’s film combines a French version of Simon’s dizzyingly comprehensive overview with the sweep of Zodiac and Memories of Murder, delivering the genre hallmarks of true crime while excavating insidious strains of misogyny in contemporary French society. A Film Movement release. July 13, 2022 French release; AlloCiné press rating 4.4 (88%)
Tuesday, March 7 at 3:30pm
Friday, March 10 at 6:15pm (Q&A with Dominik Moll)
The Origin of Evil / L'Origine du mal
Sébastien Marnier, 2022, France/Canada, 123m
French with English subtitles
When Stéphane (Laure Calamy of Call My Agent!) gets in touch with wealthy Serge (Jacques Weber), announcing that she is his long-abandoned daughter, his immediate family are none too thrilled. As Stéphane embarks on an extended visit in hopes of getting to know Serge, she also becomes entangled with the hostile women who share a tense existence in his beautifully appointed mansion by the sea: the restaurateur’s wife (Dominique Blanc), his other daughter (Doria Tillier), a rebellious granddaughter (Céleste Brunnquell), and a strangely off-putting housemaid, all of whom are clearly unsettled by the arrival of Serge’s newly announced heir. But Stéphane is a confident liar with secrets of her own, which writer-director Sébastien Marnier teases out with cool assurance in this wildly entertaining thriller (featuring a number of virtuoso split-screen sequences) that will keep you guessing all the way to the end. An IFC Films release. Oct. 5, 2022 French release; AlloCiné press rating 3.5 (70%).
Friday, March 3 at 9:15pm (Q&A with Sébastien Marnier)
Saturday, March 11 at 9:15pm
Other People’s Children / Les Enfants des autres
Rebecca Zlotowski, 2022, France, 104m
French with English subtitles
Acclaimed writer-director Rebecca Zlotowski (An Easy Girl, Rendez-Vous 2020) draws from her own life to depict the emotional trajectory of Rachel (Virginie Efira), a schoolteacher whose desire for a biological child seems increasingly unlikely to be fulfilled (as she’s informed by her gynecologist in a delightful cameo from Frederick Wiseman). When Rachel enters into a relationship with car designer Ali (Roschdy Zem), he’s slow to let her know that he’s a single father, but once she finds out she quickly grows to love his precocious daughter, Leila (Callie Ferreira-Goncalves). The stresses and strains of close relationships between adults and children are thoughtfully examined in this drama that’s as romantic in its evocation of new love blossoming in Paris as it is clear-headed about the myriad pressures that societal expectations impose on the lives of middle-aged women. A Music Box Films release. Sept. 21, 2022 French release; AlloCiné press rating 4.1 (82%)
Friday, March 3 at 6:15pm (Q&A with Rebecca Zlotowski and Virginie Efira)
Sunday, March 12 at 1:00pm
The Plough / Le Grand chariot
Philippe Garrel, 2023, France, 97m
French with English subtitles
Examining family history and turmoil has fueled much of the greatest work of Philippe Garrel (Regular Lovers, The Salt of Tears), whose new film pays tribute to his late father (and regular cast member) Maurice’s background as a puppeteer. Simon (Aurélien Recoing), the head of a puppet troupe, works alongside his children, all played by Philippe’s actual children: son Louis (Louis Garrel) and daughters Martha (Esther Garrel) and Lena (Lena Garrel, making an auspicious first appearance in the Garrel family filmography). Feeling the strain of aging, Simon invites temporary assistant Peter (Damien Mongin) to join the troupe permanently—a responsibility that becomes fraught when Simon dies shortly thereafter. A rare film in color from Garrel, The Plough reaffirms his status as one of the great contemporary directors of actors, drawing on impeccably naturalistic performances while delving fearlessly into the tense dynamics of familial bonds and romantic ties. French release coming in 2023.
Saturday, March 4 at 9:30pm (Introduced by Louis Garrel)
Sunday, March 12 at 3:45pm
Saturn Bowling / Bowling Saturne
Patricia Mazuy, 2022, France/Belgium, 114m
English and French with English subtitles
Police detective Guillaume (Arieh Worthalter) decides to gift the family bowling alley to his estranged half-brother, Armand (Achille Reggiani), following the death of their father. Their already contentious relationship is further strained by a series of murders that transform a tense drama into a twisty neo-noir as Guillaume’s investigation brings him deeper into conflict with his brother. Deservedly named one of last year’s 10 best films by Cahiers du cinéma, the latest from always-original auteur Patricia Mazuy (Paul Sanchez Is Back!, Rendez-Vous 2018) marks a somber change of pace. With the filmmaker’s flair for unusual gestures firmly in place, Saturn Bowling is one of Mazuy’s darkest and most confident visions to date, a thriller with the force of a modern tragedy. A Dark Star Pictures release. Oct. 26, 2022 French release; AlloCiné press rating 3.7 (75%)
Sunday, March 5 at 6:30pm (Q&A with Patricia Mazuy)
Monday, March 6 at 3:45pm
Smoking Causes Coughing / Fumer fait tousser
Quentin Dupieux, 2022, France, 82m
French with English subtitles
The adventures of a curiously low-rent band of superheroes—the Captain Planet-esque Tobacco Force, who swear they’re actually against smoking—are merely the starting point for this gloriously goofy new outing from the relentlessly imaginative Quentin Dupieux (Mandibles, Rendez-Vous 2021). After the five fighters defeat a gigantic turtle in the middle of a desert, their chief (a puppet rat) has bad news—metadata indicates that their group cohesion skills are disastrous—and sends them off on a retreat to fix the problem. Once they arrive, in lieu of self-improvement exercises, the campfire stories begin, setting into motion a shaggy-dog series of wild, unpredictable comic sketches performed by an all-star cast that includes Adèle Exarchopoulos, Vincent Lacoste, Gilles Lellouche, Anaïs Demoustier, Alain Chabat, and one very erratic robot. A Magnolia Pictures and Magnet Releasing release. Nov. 30, 2022 French release; AlloCiné press rating 3.3 (66%)
Friday, March 10 at 9:15pm
Sunday, March 12 at 9:00pm
Three Nights a Week / Trois nuits par semaine
Florent Gouëlou, 2022, France, 103m
French with English subtitles
Baptiste (Pablo Pauly) first meets drag performer Cookie Kunty (Romain Eck) on the streets while volunteering at a public-health clinic alongside his girlfriend, Samia (The Secret of the Grain’s Hafsia Herzi). Trapped in a dead-end retail job while trying to develop his photography portfolio, Baptiste is in search of a subject for his art—but, in writer-director Florent Gouëlou’s feature debut, the choice to follow Cookie and document the rituals of the drag world ultimately leads him on a profound journey of self-discovery. Himself a drag performer under the name Javel Habibi, Gouëlou takes Baptiste and viewers on a deep dive into the world of drag performance and culture, depicted with loving, joyous accuracy thanks to the contributions of 40 French drag artists at work both in front of and behind the camera. Nov. 9, 2022 French release; AlloCiné press rating 3.1 (62%).
Saturday, March 11 at 3:15pm (Q&A with Florent Gouëlou)
Sunday, March 12 at 6:15pm
Winter Boy / Le Lycéen
Christophe Honoré, 2022, France, 122m
French with English subtitles
"My life has become a wild animal that I can’t approach without getting bitten," explains young Lucas (Paul Kircher) at the beginning of the latest from Rendez-Vous alumnus Christophe Honoré (last year’s Guermantes; Love Songs). In the wake of his father’s sudden death, adolescent Lucas is plunged into deep grief, leading his mother, Isabelle (Juliette Binoche), to send him to live temporarily with his brother, Quentin (Vincent Lacoste), in Paris. Manic in his mourning, Lucas tumultuously explores his queer sexuality as his brother and mother deal with their own emotional turmoil. Inspired by Honoré’s experience of losing his own father at the age of 15, Winter Boy stands as one of the director’s most autobiographical films yet, a story that he’s updated and set in the present day—rendering his past both immediate and universal in this raw, tender, and gorgeous work. Nov 30, 2022 French release; AlloCiné press rating 3.7 (74%)
Thursday, March 9 at 3:30pm
Saturday, March 11 at 6:15pm (Q&A with Christophe Honoré)
The Worst Ones / Les Pires
Lise Akoka and Romane Gueret, 2022, France, 99m
French with English subtitles
Belgian director Gabriel (Johan Heldenbergh) and his crew (including Matthias Jacquin) arrive in the small town of Boulogne-sur-Mer to cast non-professional teenagers for his debut feature. The plan is to fill out a loosely sketched script with local performers scouted from working-class northern France, and Gabriel lands on four talented teens: Lily (Mallory Wanecque), Ryan (Timéo Mahaut), Jessy (Loïc Pech), and Maylis (Melina Vanderplancke). Concerned with improving their town’s image in the media, some residents disapprove of these seemingly disreputable representatives of the housing projects being chosen for the production. Lise Akoka and Romane Gueret’s thorny, complex debut (winner of the Un Certain Regard section at last year’s Cannes) walks a remarkably fine line between fact and fiction, allowing their young performers to give star-making turns as “themselves” while considering the ways in which ostensibly well-meaning documentary and fiction films can exploit nonperformers in the name of authenticity. A Kino Lorber release. Dec. 7, 2022 French release; AlloCiné press rating 3.9 (78%).
Sunday, March 5 at 12:30pm (Q&A with Lise Akoka and Matthias Jacquin)
Tuesday, March 7 at 1:00pm
FREE TALKS
All talks are held at the Elinor Bunin Munroe Film Center (144 W. 65th St.)
Free Talk: Alice Winocour and Sophie Barthes
Alice Winocour, the acclaimed director of Proxima (Rendez-Vous 2020 selection) and Disorder (Rendez-Vous 2016 selection), returns with this year’s Opening Night selection, Revoir Paris, an urgent, visceral, and profoundly life-affirming character study that probes the inner workings of memory, grief, and hope. We’re excited to bring together Winocour and filmmaker Sophie Barthes (The Pod Generation, Cold Souls, Madame Bovary) for an extended conversation about their vibrant bodies of work, artistic influences and collaborations, and unique storytelling sensibilities.
Thursday, March 2 at 5:00pm
Free Talk: Virginie Efira
Actor Virginie Efira has attracted a dedicated following in recent years with her rigorous, singularly sensitive performances, including star-making turns in NYFF selections Benedetta (NYFF59) and Sibyl (NYFF57) and Rendez-Vous favorite Madeleine Collins (2022)—and in this year’s edition of Rendez-Vous she takes center stage, with lead roles in Alice Winocour’s Revoir Paris (the Opening Night selection) and Rebecca Zlotowski’s Other People’s Children. Join us for a wide-ranging conversation in which we’ll discuss the evolution of Efira’s craft and her approach to portraying profoundly complicated, endlessly compelling women.
Friday, March 3 at 5:00pm
Free Talk: Louis Garrel, moderated by Owen Kline
By the time multi-hyphenate talent Louis Garrel made his directorial debut with Two Friends (Rendez-Vous 2016), followed just two years later by NYFF56 selection A Faithful Man, he had already cemented his status as one of the most acclaimed French actors of his generation. In this career-spanning conversation moderated by filmmaker Owen Kline (Funny Pages), we’ll explore Garrel’s distinctive sensibility, his thematic and stylistic interests, and the ways in which his work as an actor informs, and is shaped by, his process behind the camera.
Saturday, March 4 at 5:00pm
Free Talk: Queer Identities On Screen
This special panel conversation will bring together French and American filmmakers whose work grapples in real time with urgent questions around LGBTQIA+ representation, centering and celebrating queer identities with great nuance while thoughtfully interrogating the social and political realities that their characters must navigate. Featuring Christophe Honoré (Winter Boy), Florent Gouëlou (Three Nights a Week), and more to be announced. This talk is made possible in partnership with The Gotham Film & Media Institute and French in Motion.
Friday, March 10 at 4:00pm
UNIFRANCE
Founded in 1949 and strengthened thanks to its merger with TV France International in 2021, Unifrance is the organization responsible for promoting French cinema and TV content worldwide.
Located in Paris, Unifrance employs around 50 staff members, as well as representatives based in the United States, in China, and in Japan. The organization currently brings together more than 1,000 French cinema and TV content professionals (producers, talents, agents, sales companies, and the like) working together to promote French films and TV programmes among foreign audiences, industry executives, and media.
Unifrance is supported by the French government, the CNC, the PROCIREP, and many public and private partners. Visit unifrance.org for more information and follow @unifrance on Facebook, Twitter,and Instagram.
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http://www.chrisknipp.com/images/VEfi.jpg
VIRGINIE EFFIRA IN REVOIR PARIS
FESTIVAL COVERAGE THREAD (http://www.filmleaf.net/showthread.php?5302-Rendez-Vous-with-French-Cinema-2023&p=40930#post40930)
UNIFRANCE AND FILM AT LINCOLN CENTER ANNOUNCE
THE COMPLETE LINEUP FOR THE 28TH
RENDEZ-VOUS WITH FRENCH CINEMA, MARCH 2–12, 2023 (NYC)
Opening Night—Alice Winocour’s Revoir Paris starring Virginie Efira,
with Winocour and Efira in person
The annual French cinema showcase celebrates the latest from Arnaud Desplechin,
Louis Garrel, Rachid Hami, Christophe Honoré, Cédric Ido, Patricia Mazuy, Dominik Moll, Rebecca Zlotowski, and more, with debut features from Florent Gouëlou and Lise Akoka and Romane Gueret.
The biggest and best French new film series in the US. And because French people love New York, it's easy to get an even better delegation of the directors and actors over to present and discuss the films at the festival. These include queer French cinema icon (and director, author, and playwright) Christophe Honoré, great comedienne Virginie Effira, actor-director-charmer Louis Garrel, prolific actor Melvil Poupaud, director Nicolas Pariser, thriller filmmaker Dominik Moll, director Rebecca Zlotowski, and lots more, and some of the most celebrated will be giving free talks in addition to Q&A's at the films.
FILMS & DESCRIPTIONS
All films screen in the Walter Reade Theater (165 W. 65th St.) unless otherwise noted
Opening Night
Revoir Paris
Alice Winocour, 2022, France/Belgium, 105m
French with English subtitles
After surviving a mass shooting in a Paris restaurant, married translator Mia (Virginie Efira) is haunted, unable to resume life as usual and left with a total blackout where her memories of the traumatic incident should be. Determined to reconstruct the sequence of events and reestablish a sense of normalcy, Mia finds herself repeatedly returning to the bistro where the shooting happened. In the process she forms bonds with fellow survivors, including banker Thomas (Benoît Magimel) and teenager Félicia (Nastya Golubeva). Initially shocking and ultimately deeply moving, Revoir Paris, the latest from Rendez-Vous favorite Alice Winocour (Disorder, Proxima), is a meditation on grief and healing anchored by a career-best performance from Efira (Benedetta, NYFF59 selection). A Music Box Films release. Sept.7, 2022 French release; AlloCiné press rating 4.0 (80%).
Thursday, March 2 at 6:30pm (Introduced by Alice Winocour and Virginie Efira)
Thursday, March 2 at 9:30pm
Brother and Sister / Frère et Sœur
Arnaud Desplechin, 2022, France, 108m
French with English subtitles
One of film’s great family creations, the sprawling, perpetually at-odds Vuillards have provided the memorable characters for some of Arnaud Desplechin’s most beloved films, including Kings and Queen (2004) and A Christmas Tale (2008). His newest entry in the family’s collective saga follows novelist Louis (Melvil Poupaud) and actress Alice (Marion Cotillard), siblings who experience a falling out when Louis depicts his sister unforgivably in one of his books. Years later, after their parents are involved in a near-deadly car crash, they’re forced to try to negotiate some kind of coexistence—or at least to find ways to avoid each other at the hospital bedside. Desplechin returns to some of his pet themes—the lines between art and real life, the work of theater performers, family ties that both bind and divide—in another deeply felt drama backed by a typically eclectic soundtrack. French release May 20, 2022; AlloCinee press rating 4.1 (82%).
Sunday, March 5 at 3:30pm (Q&A with Melvil Poupaud)
Tuesday, March 7 at 9:00pm
Diary of a Fleeting Affair / Chronique d’une liaison passagère
Emmanuel Mouret, 2022, France, 100m
French with English subtitles
After happily married Simon (Vincent Macaigne) meets the equally happily single Charlotte (Sandrine Kiberlain, also in this year’s Rendez-Vous selection The Green Perfume), they agree to begin an affair devoid of heavy feelings—but love, inevitably and maybe impossibly, emerges over the course of meetups on the beautifully photographed streets of Paris and weekends in the countryside. This acutely observed comic drama from Emmanuel Mouret (Love Affair(s), Rendez-Vous 2021) is powered by the chemistry between magnetic veteran star Kiberlain and the hilariously anxious Macaigne (fresh from Olivier Assayas’s HBO update of his own Irma Vep). The soundtrack is a selection of classical music mingled with a smattering of Serge Gainsbourg staples, recalling and reviving the best of French romantic drama. French release Jan.. 24, 2022; AlloCinee press rating 4.0 (80%).
Friday, March 3 at 4:00pm
Monday, March 6 at 9:30pm
The Five Devils / Les Cinq diables
Léa Mysius, 2022, France, 96m
French with English subtitles
One of France’s most celebrated young screenwriters, whose recent collaborators include such luminaries as Jacques Audiard, Claire Denis, and Arnaud Desplechin, Léa Mysius established herself as a vibrant new directorial voice with her feature debut, Ava, a bold and daring highlight of Rendez-Vous 2018. Her sophomore feature, The Five Devils, is every bit as distinctive and stylistically audacious in telling the story of Vicky (Sally Dramé, a major discovery in her debut), who is gifted with the ability to reproduce the scent of anyone and anything she encounters. Vicky’s supernatural talent forms just one part of this wrenching family drama as mother Joanne (Adèle Exarchopoulos) struggles to maintain a rocky relationship with her husband (Moustapha Mbengue) after his enigmatic sister (Swala Emati) returns to town, against a turbulent backdrop of rural French racism and homophobia. Mysius crafts a spellbinding tale as unpredictable as it is enthralling. A MUBI release. Aug.31, 2022 French release; AlloCiné press rating 3.2 (64%).
Saturday, March 4 at 3:30pm (Q&A with Léa Mysius)
Wednesday, March 8 at 3:45pm
For My Country / Pour la France
Rachid Hami, 2022, France/Taiwan, 113m
English, French, Arabic, and Mandarin with English subtitles
After French-Algerian military recruit Aïssa (Shaïn Boumedine) dies while being hazed, older brother Ismaël (Karim Leklou) and his family converge upon the military academy to bury him and demand answers about how this tragedy occurred. Drawing upon his own family history, Rachid Hami (Orchestra Class, Rendez-Vous 2018) bravely fictionalizes the story of his brother’s death, elegantly flashing back from the present to an often contentious, globe-trotting sibling relationship during their adolescence in 1990s Algeria and time spent together in late-aughts Taipei. Integration, faith, and the sometimes difficult bonds of brotherhood are interrogated by Hami in this elegant and mournful film, which centers its finely drawn characters and their complex humanity over simple political messaging. French release Feb. 8, 2023 AlloCiné press rating 3.8 (76%)..
Thursday, March 9 at 6:30pm (Q&A with Rachid Hami)
Friday, March 10 at 3:45pm
Forever Young / Les Amandiers
Valeria Bruni Tedeschi, 2022, France/Belgium, 126m
English and French with English subtitles
Before he was internationally known as a filmmaker of modern classics like Queen Margot and Intimacy, the late Patrice Chéreau was a director at the famed French theater school Les Amandiers. Valeria Bruni Tedeschi, a Rendez-Vous regular both as an actress and as a director, draws upon her own memories in this fond, often rowdy group portrait of a tight-knit class navigating their first year at the school. Under the tutelage of Chéreau (Louis Garrel, himself the accomplished director of Rendez-Vous 2023 selection The Innocent), the students grow both personally and professionally during the late 1980s, studying briefly at the Actors Studio in New York City before tackling a year-end production of Chekhov’s Platonov. Among them is Stella (Nadia Tereszkiewicz), whose love affair with a talented but unstable fellow student provides a through-line across Bruni Tedeschi’s chaotic and loving recollections. Nov. 16, 2022 French release; AlloCiné press rating 4.0 (80%).
Sunday, March 5 at 9:30pm
Friday, March 10 at 1:00pm
The Gravity / La Gravité
Cédric Ido, 2022, France, 84m
French with English subtitles
As eight planets prepare to enter an auspicious alignment, drug dealer Christophe (Jean-Baptiste Anoumon) returns home to the housing projects after serving time in prison, only to find that the familiar milieu has changed in his absence. His friend Daniel (Max Gomis) has gone straight, pursuing a career as a professional runner, while Christophe’s brother, Joshua (Steve Tientcheu), now paralyzed from the waist down, has continued to sell narcotics. Shooting in his hometown of Seine-Saint-Denis, French-Burkinabe actor and writer-director Cédric Ido puts a sci-fi twist on this gritty, up-to-the-minute crime saga as the planetary configuration wreaks unexpected mental havoc on the towers’ residents. Equally evoking the aliens-versus-gangs thriller Attack the Block and Ladj Ly’s recent Palme d’Or winner Les Misérables, Ido adroitly uses genre to comment on race, class, and the struggles of the recently incarcerated to reintegrate into society.
Saturday, March 4 at 1:00pm (Q&A with Cédric Ido) Coming May 23, 2023 French release.
Monday, March 6 at 1:30pm
The Green Perfume / Le Parfum vert
Nicolas Pariser, 2022, France, 102m
English, French, and German with English subtitles
When an actor dies onstage during a performance at the Comédie-Française, his final words to fellow actor Martin (Vincent Lacoste) are to say he’s been murdered, followed by the mysterious phrase “green perfume.” So begins this knowingly Hitchcockian thriller (with a touch of Tintin creator Hergé thrown into the stylistic mix). The enigmatic events spur Martin to set off on a pan-European journey to discover the forces behind this mysterious killing. He makes his way to Brussels and eventually to Budapest alongside comic book writer Claire (Sandrine Kiberlain). Arriving at unexpected thematic resonance by way of searching dialogues about the nature of European identity and the Jewish diaspora, writer-director Nicolas Pariser (Alice and the Mayor, Rendez-Vous 2020) crafts a humorous, finely tuned, thoroughly French evocation of the master of suspense’s lighter work. AlloCiné press rating: 3,5 (70%).
32 critiques
Wednesday, March 8 at 6:15pm (Q&A with Nicolas Pariser)
Saturday, March 11 at 1:00pm
Harkis / Les Harkis
Philippe Faucon, 2022, France, 82m
French and Arabic with English subtitles
Unfolding from 1959 to 1962, as the Algerian War definitively turns against the French colonial powers, Harkis takes its title from the term given to native recruits who joined the occupying army, only to find themselves abandoned when their would-be protectors lost the war. Complexly rendered portraits of men in a difficult situation during a moment of monumental political change are punctured by tense and startling scenes of combat, but the violence and betrayals inflicted on the soldiers by their recruiters is even greater. Moroccan-born French director Philippe Faucon’s Fatima (Rendez-Vous 2016), a sensitive dramedy about a Moroccan mother struggling to connect with her daughters, was awarded Best Picture at the César Awards; here, Faucon demonstrates an equally steady hand with his outstanding ensemble cast, conjuring a vital depiction of a shameful national moment. Oct. 12, 2022 French release; AlloCiné press rating 3.9 (78%).
Friday, March 3 at 2:00pm
Thursday, March 9 at 9:30pm
The Innocent / L’Innocent
Louis Garrel, 2022, France, 98m
French with English subtitles
Long justly celebrated for his talent as an actor, Louis Garrel has emerged as an increasingly accomplished writer-director in his own right, and his latest comedy is his finest, most accomplished and surprising yet. Uptight Abel (Garrel) loves his mother, Sylvie (Anouk Grinberg), and worries when she hastily marries Michel (Roschdy Zem), a convict, just before his release from prison. Suspicious of Michel’s reformed ways, Abel follows him through the streets of Paris alongside a confidante played by Noémie Merlant (NYFF60 Main Slate selection TÁR) and soon finds himself in over his head as he attempts to navigate a world of criminal mischief. Equally fueled by Garrel’s sparring with the charismatic Zem and his charged romantic chemistry with Merlant, The Innocent places a delightful heist spin on a heartfelt mother-and-son story. A Janus Films Release. Oct. 12, 2022 French release; AlloCinee French press rating 4.1 (82%)
Saturday, March 4 at 6:30pm (Q&A with Louis Garrel)
Wednesday, March 8 at 9:15pm
Mother and Son / Un petit frère
Léonor Serraille, 2022, France, 117m
French with English subtitles
Léonor Serraille, whose debut feature, Montparnasse Bienvenüe, was a highlight of Rendez-Vous 2018, returns with this portrait of the complex, sometimes painful relationship between an African immigrant mother and her sons. Upon arriving in France from the Ivory Coast in 1989 with two young children, Rose (Annabelle Lengronne) finds work as a hotel cleaner. The loving and exuberant but erratic mother’s penchant for partying means that she has trouble attending to her job, let alone to her studious sons, Jean (played by Stéphane Bak in adulthood) and Ernest (Ahmed Sylla). Spanning 20 years of their ever-shifting relationship, Serraille demonstrates rare nuance and sensitivity in this thoughtful portrait of an Afro-French family. Feb. 1, 2023 French release; AlloCinee press rating 3.5 (70%).
Monday, March 6 at 6:30pm (Q&A with Léonor Serraille)
Wednesday, March 8 at 1:00pm
Neneh Superstar
Ramzi Ben Sliman, 2022, France, 97m
French with English subtitles
Twelve-year-old Neneh (Oumy Bruni Garrel, as talented a young dancer as she is an actor) simply wants to dance ballet—but, as a Black girl attempting to find a foothold in a historically White cultural milieu and secure the support that her talent clearly merits, the obstacles she faces seem overwhelming. This crowd-pleasing feature by writer-director Ramzi Ben Sliman follows Neneh as she enters a ballet boarding school where the majority of administrators and teachers persist in believing that Black women have no place onstage as part of the classical repertoire. With encouragement from her patient father, Fred (Steve Tientcheu), and under the watchful gaze of teacher and legendary dancer Marianne Bellage (Maïwenn), Neneh finds herself—and her place—in this inspiring story about overcoming systemic disadvantages on the path to artistic achievement. Jan. 23, 2022 French release; AlloCiné press rating 2.9 (58%)
Tuesday, March 7 at 6:15pm (Q&A with Ramzi Ben Sliman)
Thursday, March 9 at 1:15pm
The Night of the 12th / La Nuit du 12
Dominik Moll, 2022, France/Belgium, 114m
French with English subtitles
Perhaps best known for stylish thrillers like With a Friend Like Harry… (2000) and Only the Animals (2019), Dominik Moll takes a starker turn with his latest. The Night of the 12th tracks an investigation headed by Yohan (Bastien Bouillon) and his older, recently divorced colleague Marceau (Bouli Lanners) into the murder of Clara, a young woman set on fire one night after leaving a party in a small, quiet Alpine town. That horrific story comes from one section of Pauline Guéna’s 18.3, a massive chronicle of a year of French murder investigations that was itself partly inspired by David Simon’s Homicide: A Year on the Killing Streets. Moll’s film combines a French version of Simon’s dizzyingly comprehensive overview with the sweep of Zodiac and Memories of Murder, delivering the genre hallmarks of true crime while excavating insidious strains of misogyny in contemporary French society. A Film Movement release. July 13, 2022 French release; AlloCiné press rating 4.4 (88%)
Tuesday, March 7 at 3:30pm
Friday, March 10 at 6:15pm (Q&A with Dominik Moll)
The Origin of Evil / L'Origine du mal
Sébastien Marnier, 2022, France/Canada, 123m
French with English subtitles
When Stéphane (Laure Calamy of Call My Agent!) gets in touch with wealthy Serge (Jacques Weber), announcing that she is his long-abandoned daughter, his immediate family are none too thrilled. As Stéphane embarks on an extended visit in hopes of getting to know Serge, she also becomes entangled with the hostile women who share a tense existence in his beautifully appointed mansion by the sea: the restaurateur’s wife (Dominique Blanc), his other daughter (Doria Tillier), a rebellious granddaughter (Céleste Brunnquell), and a strangely off-putting housemaid, all of whom are clearly unsettled by the arrival of Serge’s newly announced heir. But Stéphane is a confident liar with secrets of her own, which writer-director Sébastien Marnier teases out with cool assurance in this wildly entertaining thriller (featuring a number of virtuoso split-screen sequences) that will keep you guessing all the way to the end. An IFC Films release. Oct. 5, 2022 French release; AlloCiné press rating 3.5 (70%).
Friday, March 3 at 9:15pm (Q&A with Sébastien Marnier)
Saturday, March 11 at 9:15pm
Other People’s Children / Les Enfants des autres
Rebecca Zlotowski, 2022, France, 104m
French with English subtitles
Acclaimed writer-director Rebecca Zlotowski (An Easy Girl, Rendez-Vous 2020) draws from her own life to depict the emotional trajectory of Rachel (Virginie Efira), a schoolteacher whose desire for a biological child seems increasingly unlikely to be fulfilled (as she’s informed by her gynecologist in a delightful cameo from Frederick Wiseman). When Rachel enters into a relationship with car designer Ali (Roschdy Zem), he’s slow to let her know that he’s a single father, but once she finds out she quickly grows to love his precocious daughter, Leila (Callie Ferreira-Goncalves). The stresses and strains of close relationships between adults and children are thoughtfully examined in this drama that’s as romantic in its evocation of new love blossoming in Paris as it is clear-headed about the myriad pressures that societal expectations impose on the lives of middle-aged women. A Music Box Films release. Sept. 21, 2022 French release; AlloCiné press rating 4.1 (82%)
Friday, March 3 at 6:15pm (Q&A with Rebecca Zlotowski and Virginie Efira)
Sunday, March 12 at 1:00pm
The Plough / Le Grand chariot
Philippe Garrel, 2023, France, 97m
French with English subtitles
Examining family history and turmoil has fueled much of the greatest work of Philippe Garrel (Regular Lovers, The Salt of Tears), whose new film pays tribute to his late father (and regular cast member) Maurice’s background as a puppeteer. Simon (Aurélien Recoing), the head of a puppet troupe, works alongside his children, all played by Philippe’s actual children: son Louis (Louis Garrel) and daughters Martha (Esther Garrel) and Lena (Lena Garrel, making an auspicious first appearance in the Garrel family filmography). Feeling the strain of aging, Simon invites temporary assistant Peter (Damien Mongin) to join the troupe permanently—a responsibility that becomes fraught when Simon dies shortly thereafter. A rare film in color from Garrel, The Plough reaffirms his status as one of the great contemporary directors of actors, drawing on impeccably naturalistic performances while delving fearlessly into the tense dynamics of familial bonds and romantic ties. French release coming in 2023.
Saturday, March 4 at 9:30pm (Introduced by Louis Garrel)
Sunday, March 12 at 3:45pm
Saturn Bowling / Bowling Saturne
Patricia Mazuy, 2022, France/Belgium, 114m
English and French with English subtitles
Police detective Guillaume (Arieh Worthalter) decides to gift the family bowling alley to his estranged half-brother, Armand (Achille Reggiani), following the death of their father. Their already contentious relationship is further strained by a series of murders that transform a tense drama into a twisty neo-noir as Guillaume’s investigation brings him deeper into conflict with his brother. Deservedly named one of last year’s 10 best films by Cahiers du cinéma, the latest from always-original auteur Patricia Mazuy (Paul Sanchez Is Back!, Rendez-Vous 2018) marks a somber change of pace. With the filmmaker’s flair for unusual gestures firmly in place, Saturn Bowling is one of Mazuy’s darkest and most confident visions to date, a thriller with the force of a modern tragedy. A Dark Star Pictures release. Oct. 26, 2022 French release; AlloCiné press rating 3.7 (75%)
Sunday, March 5 at 6:30pm (Q&A with Patricia Mazuy)
Monday, March 6 at 3:45pm
Smoking Causes Coughing / Fumer fait tousser
Quentin Dupieux, 2022, France, 82m
French with English subtitles
The adventures of a curiously low-rent band of superheroes—the Captain Planet-esque Tobacco Force, who swear they’re actually against smoking—are merely the starting point for this gloriously goofy new outing from the relentlessly imaginative Quentin Dupieux (Mandibles, Rendez-Vous 2021). After the five fighters defeat a gigantic turtle in the middle of a desert, their chief (a puppet rat) has bad news—metadata indicates that their group cohesion skills are disastrous—and sends them off on a retreat to fix the problem. Once they arrive, in lieu of self-improvement exercises, the campfire stories begin, setting into motion a shaggy-dog series of wild, unpredictable comic sketches performed by an all-star cast that includes Adèle Exarchopoulos, Vincent Lacoste, Gilles Lellouche, Anaïs Demoustier, Alain Chabat, and one very erratic robot. A Magnolia Pictures and Magnet Releasing release. Nov. 30, 2022 French release; AlloCiné press rating 3.3 (66%)
Friday, March 10 at 9:15pm
Sunday, March 12 at 9:00pm
Three Nights a Week / Trois nuits par semaine
Florent Gouëlou, 2022, France, 103m
French with English subtitles
Baptiste (Pablo Pauly) first meets drag performer Cookie Kunty (Romain Eck) on the streets while volunteering at a public-health clinic alongside his girlfriend, Samia (The Secret of the Grain’s Hafsia Herzi). Trapped in a dead-end retail job while trying to develop his photography portfolio, Baptiste is in search of a subject for his art—but, in writer-director Florent Gouëlou’s feature debut, the choice to follow Cookie and document the rituals of the drag world ultimately leads him on a profound journey of self-discovery. Himself a drag performer under the name Javel Habibi, Gouëlou takes Baptiste and viewers on a deep dive into the world of drag performance and culture, depicted with loving, joyous accuracy thanks to the contributions of 40 French drag artists at work both in front of and behind the camera. Nov. 9, 2022 French release; AlloCiné press rating 3.1 (62%).
Saturday, March 11 at 3:15pm (Q&A with Florent Gouëlou)
Sunday, March 12 at 6:15pm
Winter Boy / Le Lycéen
Christophe Honoré, 2022, France, 122m
French with English subtitles
"My life has become a wild animal that I can’t approach without getting bitten," explains young Lucas (Paul Kircher) at the beginning of the latest from Rendez-Vous alumnus Christophe Honoré (last year’s Guermantes; Love Songs). In the wake of his father’s sudden death, adolescent Lucas is plunged into deep grief, leading his mother, Isabelle (Juliette Binoche), to send him to live temporarily with his brother, Quentin (Vincent Lacoste), in Paris. Manic in his mourning, Lucas tumultuously explores his queer sexuality as his brother and mother deal with their own emotional turmoil. Inspired by Honoré’s experience of losing his own father at the age of 15, Winter Boy stands as one of the director’s most autobiographical films yet, a story that he’s updated and set in the present day—rendering his past both immediate and universal in this raw, tender, and gorgeous work. Nov 30, 2022 French release; AlloCiné press rating 3.7 (74%)
Thursday, March 9 at 3:30pm
Saturday, March 11 at 6:15pm (Q&A with Christophe Honoré)
The Worst Ones / Les Pires
Lise Akoka and Romane Gueret, 2022, France, 99m
French with English subtitles
Belgian director Gabriel (Johan Heldenbergh) and his crew (including Matthias Jacquin) arrive in the small town of Boulogne-sur-Mer to cast non-professional teenagers for his debut feature. The plan is to fill out a loosely sketched script with local performers scouted from working-class northern France, and Gabriel lands on four talented teens: Lily (Mallory Wanecque), Ryan (Timéo Mahaut), Jessy (Loïc Pech), and Maylis (Melina Vanderplancke). Concerned with improving their town’s image in the media, some residents disapprove of these seemingly disreputable representatives of the housing projects being chosen for the production. Lise Akoka and Romane Gueret’s thorny, complex debut (winner of the Un Certain Regard section at last year’s Cannes) walks a remarkably fine line between fact and fiction, allowing their young performers to give star-making turns as “themselves” while considering the ways in which ostensibly well-meaning documentary and fiction films can exploit nonperformers in the name of authenticity. A Kino Lorber release. Dec. 7, 2022 French release; AlloCiné press rating 3.9 (78%).
Sunday, March 5 at 12:30pm (Q&A with Lise Akoka and Matthias Jacquin)
Tuesday, March 7 at 1:00pm
FREE TALKS
All talks are held at the Elinor Bunin Munroe Film Center (144 W. 65th St.)
Free Talk: Alice Winocour and Sophie Barthes
Alice Winocour, the acclaimed director of Proxima (Rendez-Vous 2020 selection) and Disorder (Rendez-Vous 2016 selection), returns with this year’s Opening Night selection, Revoir Paris, an urgent, visceral, and profoundly life-affirming character study that probes the inner workings of memory, grief, and hope. We’re excited to bring together Winocour and filmmaker Sophie Barthes (The Pod Generation, Cold Souls, Madame Bovary) for an extended conversation about their vibrant bodies of work, artistic influences and collaborations, and unique storytelling sensibilities.
Thursday, March 2 at 5:00pm
Free Talk: Virginie Efira
Actor Virginie Efira has attracted a dedicated following in recent years with her rigorous, singularly sensitive performances, including star-making turns in NYFF selections Benedetta (NYFF59) and Sibyl (NYFF57) and Rendez-Vous favorite Madeleine Collins (2022)—and in this year’s edition of Rendez-Vous she takes center stage, with lead roles in Alice Winocour’s Revoir Paris (the Opening Night selection) and Rebecca Zlotowski’s Other People’s Children. Join us for a wide-ranging conversation in which we’ll discuss the evolution of Efira’s craft and her approach to portraying profoundly complicated, endlessly compelling women.
Friday, March 3 at 5:00pm
Free Talk: Louis Garrel, moderated by Owen Kline
By the time multi-hyphenate talent Louis Garrel made his directorial debut with Two Friends (Rendez-Vous 2016), followed just two years later by NYFF56 selection A Faithful Man, he had already cemented his status as one of the most acclaimed French actors of his generation. In this career-spanning conversation moderated by filmmaker Owen Kline (Funny Pages), we’ll explore Garrel’s distinctive sensibility, his thematic and stylistic interests, and the ways in which his work as an actor informs, and is shaped by, his process behind the camera.
Saturday, March 4 at 5:00pm
Free Talk: Queer Identities On Screen
This special panel conversation will bring together French and American filmmakers whose work grapples in real time with urgent questions around LGBTQIA+ representation, centering and celebrating queer identities with great nuance while thoughtfully interrogating the social and political realities that their characters must navigate. Featuring Christophe Honoré (Winter Boy), Florent Gouëlou (Three Nights a Week), and more to be announced. This talk is made possible in partnership with The Gotham Film & Media Institute and French in Motion.
Friday, March 10 at 4:00pm
UNIFRANCE
Founded in 1949 and strengthened thanks to its merger with TV France International in 2021, Unifrance is the organization responsible for promoting French cinema and TV content worldwide.
Located in Paris, Unifrance employs around 50 staff members, as well as representatives based in the United States, in China, and in Japan. The organization currently brings together more than 1,000 French cinema and TV content professionals (producers, talents, agents, sales companies, and the like) working together to promote French films and TV programmes among foreign audiences, industry executives, and media.
Unifrance is supported by the French government, the CNC, the PROCIREP, and many public and private partners. Visit unifrance.org for more information and follow @unifrance on Facebook, Twitter,and Instagram.
FILM AT LINCOLN CENTER
Film at Lincoln Center is dedicated to supporting the art and elevating the craft of cinema and enriching film culture.