French Culture

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2009-10-14T21:47:44Z

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French Comedy, Gaumont Style

2010-07-06T22:15:23Z

MoMA's salute to French comedy à la Gaumont includes short works by pioneers such as Alice Guy Blaché, Émile Cohl, Jean Durand, and Louis Feuillade, and features by legendary directors like René Clair, Sacha Guitry, Yves Robert, and Francis Veber. Single works by such notable filmmakers as Jean-Jacques Annaud, Claude Autant-Lara, Michel Blanc, Jean-Luc Godard, Marcel Hazanavicius, Georges Lautner, Isabelle Mergault, Gérard Oury, Jean Vigo, and the American expatriate John Berry are also featured, running the gamut of comic expression.

Since men tend to behave more foolishly than women in these films, French Comedy, Gaumont Style is rich with male comic performances, including standout turns by Daniel Auteuil, Bourvil, Bernard Blier, Gérard Depardieu, Patrick Dewaere, Jean Dujardin, Louis de Funès, Jean Gabin, Pierre Richard, Jean Rochefort, Michel Simon, Lino Ventura, Jacques Villeret, and most surprisingly, the renowned singer Jacques Brel. All films are in French with English subtitles or intertitles, unless otherwise indicated.

Gaumont, founded in France in 1895 by Leon Gaumont, is the oldest surviving movie company, not only producing, exhibiting, and distributing films but preserving its own motion picture heritage as well. One genre that has been a constant over the company's 110-year history is comedy—hardly surprising for a nation that has given the world both Molière and Voltaire. Throughout the years Gaumont has shaped the comedic genre by partnering with gifted writer-directors, giving them a platform to create substantial bodies of work that bring laughter to audience worldwide.

View related film screenings

PHOTO: Four Bags Full. 1956. France. Directed by Claude Autant-Lara

French Comedy, Gaumont Style is organized by Laurence Kardish, Senior Curator of Film, and is made possible with the cooperation of Nicolas Seydoux, Chairman, Gaumont; Sidonie Dumas, Chief Executive Officer, Gaumont; Martine Offroy, President, Gaumont Archives; Manuela Padoan, Director General, Gaumont Archives; Agnes Bertola, head of Gaumont Silent Cinema; and Rosine Handelman, Vice-President, Gaumont. The Department of Film is grateful for loans made by The Criterion Collection, Miramax Films, and Music Box Films, and by the Archive du Film du Centre national de la cinematographie in France. Grateful acknowledgement to the Cultural Services of the French Embassy in New York.

Films on the Green Goes Musical

2010-05-13T20:34:16Z

There will be music in the air this summer, as Films on the Green presents five French musicals and the film adaptation of an opera in parks throughout New York this June and July. The Films on the Green series of free screenings is jointly organized by the Cultural Services of the French Embassy and the New York City Department of Parks and Recreation for the third year running.

Screenings will take place most Fridays of June and July at sunset (around 8:30pm, seating begins at 8:15pm), and will be free of charge.

DATE	LOCATION	MOVIE
June 11 8:30pm (rain date June 12)	Central Park – Cedar Hill (79th St & 5th Ave)	The Young Girls of Rochefort
June 18 8:30pm	Washington Square Park	8 Women
June 25 8:30pm	Washington Square Park	Same Old Songs
July 02 8:30pm	Tompkins Square Park	A Woman is a Woman
July 09 8:30pm	Tompkins Square Park	Love Songs
July 16 8:30pm	Central Park – Cedar Hill (79th St & 5th Ave)	Tosca: the Movie

The Young Girls of Rochefort is a classic of French cinema starring Gene Kelly and George Chakiris (of West Side Story fame) opposite Catherine Deneuve and Françoise Dorléac. The film's score, by Michel Legrand, was nominated for an Oscar in 1969. A dark musical comedy, 8 Women boasts a first-rate cast of many of France's finest female actresses, including Catherine Deneuve, Isabelle Huppert, and Emmanuelle Béart. This over-the-top parody of murder mysteries was nominated for 12 Césars in 2003. Same Old Songs features an interesting twist: the actors lip-synch to songs performed by the original artists, making for unusual juxtapositions (of a female character singing in a male voice, for instance). The movie won Best Film at the 1998 César Awards. One of Jean-Luc Godard's first movies, and undoubtedly one of his most playful, A Woman is a Woman is a tender tribute to childishness and to American musicals—but with a distinct New Wave flair! Love Songs , about youths coping with the loss of a loved one, also parts ways with tradition: its use of the romantic and comedic elements of the musical contrasts with its serious storyline. To cap it all off in style, the series will end with Tosca: the Movie . Tosca is not an opera performance captured on film, but rather the opera adapted for film, starring celebrated opera singers Angela Gheorghiu and Roberto Alagna. It is a must-see for both opera aficionados and novices.

This year, in partnership with Town Square's SummerStarz 2010, Films on the Green will for the first time ever venture beyond Manhattan, with a special Brooklyn screening of Azur and Asmar , an animated movie for kids ages 6 and up. The July 8 screening in East River State Park will be preceded by French-language activities and music for kids ages 4 and up at 6pm.

Please download the film capsules here:

Organized by the Cultural Services of the French Embassy and the NYC Department of Parks & Recreation.
The Cultural Services of the French Embassy would like to thank the generous sponsors who made this event possible:
BNP Paribas, TV5 Monde, Village Voice, FACE (French American Cultural Exchange), AirFrance Skyteam.
The screening of Tosca: the Movie was made possible with the support of the Romanian Cultural Institute in New York.

Screening of Micmacs followed by Q&A with Director Jeunet

2010-04-23T16:44:26Z

The Columbia University School of the Arts Film Department and Unifrance are delighted to invite Columbia students, faculty and friends to a sneak-peek screening Monday, May 3 at 4:30 PM of MICMACS, the latest film by the most highly awarded French filmmaker, Jean-Pierre Jeunet.

The screening is part of Unifrance's On Set With French Cinema film series hosted by the SoA Film Department. We are pleased to co-host this event with the Carla Khun Screenings & Speaker Series and the Maison Française.

MICMACS will be screened at the Roone Arledge Cinema on Monday, May 3 at 4:30 PM followed by a Q&A with renowned author and director, Jean-Pierre Jeunet.

Note: All NON-COLUMBIA students MUST RSVP to: rg2677@columbia.edu by Friday, April 30th in order to get into Lerner Hall. However, seating is first come, first serve, so be sure to arrive early to get a seat!

MICMACS tells the story of Bazil, an orphan who has a bullet lodged in his brain from an accident years ago. A gentle natured dreamer, he is adopted by a motley crew of junkyard dealers living in a veritable Ali Baba's cave, whose talents and aspirations are as surprising as they are diverse: Remington, Calculator, Buster, Slammer, Elastic Girl, Tiny Pete & Mama Chow. With the help of this faithful band of wacky friends, Bazil sets out to creatively take revenge on the weapons manufacturers that caused his accident. Underdogs battling heartless industrial giants, our gang relives the battle of David and Goliath, with imagination and fantasy reminiscent of Buster Keaton.

MICMACS trailer: www.sonyclassics.com/micmacs

Jean-Pierre Jeunet's first feature film DELICATESSEN (directed with Marc Caro) brought new vigor to French cinema in 1991, sweeping the French Oscars (Césars) with multiple wins including Best First Film, Editing & Production Design. He followed this César-winner with the cult film THE CITY OF LOST CHILDREN which showed in competition at Cannes in 1995. After directing ALIEN: RESURRECTION he returned to Paris for AMELIE, worldwide the most successful French film in history, followed by A VERY LONG ENGAGEMENT, the winner of multiple Césars and nominated for two Academy Awards. MICMACS is his newest tour into his imagination.

MICMACS
Screening: Monday, May 3
Roone Arledge Cinema
Lerner Hall- Enter through the gates at 115th Street and Broadway, walk down the path and enter the building through the main entrance.
4:30 PM followed by a Q&A with director Jean-Pierre Jeunet
All NON-COLUMBIA students MUST RSVP to: rg2677@columbia.edu by Friday, April 30th in order to get into Lerner Hall. However, seating is first come, first serve, so be sure to arrive early to get a seat!

Screening of "Last Year at Marienbad" Documentary

2010-04-19T20:33:11Z

On Thursday, May 20, a benefit event for La Maison Française of New York University will feature a screening of a new documentary about the making of Alain Resnais's Last Year at Marienbad at NYU Cantor Film Center, 36 East 8th Street, at 6:30 p.m. This will be the only New York showing of the film.

The screening will be followed by a reception at the Diane von Furstenberg Studio, 440 West 14th Street, from 8:15 to 9:45 p.m. Tickets for the event are $250 ($150 tax deductible). For more information and to purchase an advance ticket, call La Maison Française at 212.998.8750, or email maison.francaise@nyu.edu. No tickets will be sold at the door.

Filmmaker Alain Resnais's Last Year at Marienbad (1961) is a landmark of French New Wave Cinema. Starring Delphine Seyrig and Giorgio Albertazzi, written by Alain Robbe-Grillet, and with costumes by Coco Chanel, the film won the Lion d'Or at the Venice Film Festival and has mesmerized audiences with its surreal depiction of a man and woman, who may or may not be lovers, wandering a gorgeous chateau in Eastern Europe.

Recently, original footage shot by actress Françoise Spira on the set of the movie was discovered in France and has been assembled into a 50-minute documentary about the making of the film. Produced by author Bernard-Henri Lévy and Jack Lang and Olivier Corpet of France's IMEC Archive, the documentary features a voice-over by Volker Schlöndorff, Academy award-winning German filmmaker, who was the assistant director of Last Year at Marienbad, and who will present the documentary on May 20.

The benefit event will raise funds for the program of lectures, conferences, symposia, art exhibitions, films, concerts, theater, and special events at La Maison Française. Created in 1957, La Maison Française is the public face of NYU's Center for French Civilization and Culture.

BAMcinématek presents Focus on IFC Films

2010-03-19T15:41:22Z

BAMcinématek presents Focus on IFC Films, the third annual salute to the bold, adventurous independent film distributor, from March 19–21. The series comprises a selection of IFC Films' upcoming theatrical and video on demand releases from its IFC In Theaters and Festival Direct platforms. This year's Focus on IFC Films line-up provides a snapshot of the 2009 international film festival circuit to New York audiences, bringing sneak previews of new films from acclaimed directors including Claire Denis, Bruno Dumont, Ken Loach, Johnnie To, Christophe Honoré, Elia Suleiman and more.

Focus on IFC Films opens on Friday March 19 with the New York premiere of IFC Films' third release from British social-realist auteur Ken Loach, Looking for Eric (2009), about a down and out fan and his Manchester United idol, the footballer superstar, Eric Cantona; followed by The Good, the Bad, the Weird (2009—screening March 20), a “japchae western,” i.e., an audacious Korean-take on the spaghetti western from A Tale of Two Sisters' helmer Kim Ji-woon; and, screening on March 21, the latest from Hong Kong's action laureate Johnnie To, Vengeance (2009).

The program also features 2009 festival hits including Claire Denis' White Material (March 20), starring the inimitable Isabelle Huppert in one of her most daring performances yet; The Time That Remains (March 20), which Time Out New York's Joshua Rothkopf calls “a decades-spanning autobiography” from Palestinian actor-director Elia Suleiman, a “sad-eyed Buster Keaton with the skills of an ace political satirist;” Hadewijch (March 21), Bruno Dumont's latest probing philosophical exploration; and Tales from the Golden Age (March 21), an omnibus film of Romanian life during dictator Ceausescu's regime, spearheaded by Cristian Mungiu (4 Months, 3 Weeks, and 2 Days).

Finally, on March 20, BAMcinématek is pleased to present director Christophe Honoré and actress Chiara Mastroianni in person for a Q&A following the screening of their new film, Making Plans for Lena (2009), the fourth IFC Films release of an Honoré picture. This screening is presented in collaboration with Unifrance and the Film Society of Lincoln Center, as part of Rendez-Vous with French Cinema. And preceding Focus on IFC Films on March 13, BAMcinématek will screen Riad Sattouf's raunchy teen sex comedy, The French Kissers (2009), followed by a Q&A with the director, also as part of Rendez-Vous with French Cinema.

FOCUS ON IFC FILM SCHEDULE

Note: all prints are 35mm

Friday, March 19

6:50pm: Looking for Eric
9:15pm: White Material

Saturday, March 20

3pm: The Time That Remains
5:30: Making Plans for Lena, Q&A with Christophe Honoré and Chiara Mastroianni
8:30pm: The Good, The Bad, The Weird

Sunday, March 21

3pm: Hadewijch
5:30pm: Tales from the Golden Age
9pm: Vengeance

Detailed film descriptions for Focus on IFC Films:

The Good, the Bad, the Weird (2008)

130min
Directed by Kim Ji-woon
With Kang-ho Song, Byung-hun Lee, Woo-sung Jung

Arguably Korea's most entertaining filmmaker, Kim Ji-woon (A Tale of Two Sisters) returns with this spectacular Korean spaghetti western. Visually audacious and with a heart attack-inducing pace, Kim's film needs to be seen on the big screen for its beautiful widescreen visuals and stylish action setpieces. The plot may not make too much sense, but who cares when you're having this much fun?!

Opening April 23, 2010.
Sat, Mar 20 at 8:30pm

Hadewijch (2009)

120min
Directed by Bruno Dumont
With Julie Sokolowski, Yassine Salime, David Dewaele

Deeply devout Céline (Sokolowski in a mesmerizing debut) is let go from a convent because of her too-fervent faith. Forced to explore the outside world, she discards her haute bourgeois upbringing after meeting Arab boy Yassine (Salime, also in an impressive debut). When Yassine introduces her to his brother, a Muslim fundamentalist zealot, Céline's ardent Catholicism takes an unusual (and precarious) turn.

Sun, Mar 21 at 3pm

Looking for Eric (2009)

116min NEW YORK PREMIERE
Directed by Ken Loach
With Steve Evets, Eric Cantona, Stephanie Bishop

After a failed second marriage and with a mid-life crisis looming, postman and soccer supporter Eric (played with brio by rocker-turned-actor Steve Evets), is searching for inspiration—and who better to turn to than Man U football legend Eric Cantona—famous for his philosophizing on and off the pitch. This is Play It Again, Sam for the Brit working-class footy fan via English auteur Loach.

Opening May 14, 2010.
Fri, Mar 19 at 6:50pm

Making Plans for Lena (Non ma fille, tu n'iras pas danser) (2009)

105min
Directed by Christophe Honoré
With Chiara Mastroianni, Marina Foïs, Marie-Christine Barrault

Honoré (Love Songs) returns with a sharply observed holiday family drama à la Desplechin. After splitting with her husband, single mom Mastroianni (in one of her best performances) escapes Paris for her parents' home in Brittany with two kids in tow. But what to expect when her ex comes knocking? Features a cameo by Louis Garrel and XTC on the soundtrack.

Sat, Mar 20 at 5:30pm

*Q&A with Christophe Honoré and Chiara Mastroianni

Tales from the Golden Age (Amintiri din Epoca de Aur) (2009)

155min
Directed by Hanno Höfer, Razvan Marculescu, Cristian Mungiu, Constantin Popescu, Ioana Uricaru

Cristian Mungiu (4 Months, 3 Weeks, 2 Days) conceived, produced, and wrote this darkly funny portmanteau anthology of five different stories (by five different directors, including Mungiu himself)— urban myths from life under the last years of Romanian dictator Ceausescu's regime.

Sun, Mar 21 at 5:30pm

The Time That Remains (2009)

109min
Directed by Elia Suleiman
With Ali Suliman, Elia Suleiman, Saleh Bakri

The director of Divine Intervention returns with another personal and episodic feature about Arab life in Israel, adapted from his mother's letters and his father's diaries, written while his father was a scruffy Palestinian resistance fighter in 1948. Hearkening both Keaton and Tati, Suleiman's idiosyncratic film is both a deadpan comedy and a poignant exploration of Palestinian identity over the last six decades. Sat, Mar 20 at 3pm

Vengeance (2009)

108min
Directed by Johnnie To
With Johnny Hallyday, Sylvie Testud, Anthony Wong Chau-Sang

HK action auteur To (alongside long-time collaborator/screenwriter Wai Ka-Fai) helms a revenge fantasy starring aging Gallic rocker Hallyday as “Costello,” an ex-hitman turned chef who travels to Asia to avenge his daughter (Testud) and her husband.

“With his ruined face and pale snake eyes Mr. Hallyday holds the screen while Mr. To shakes it up.” —Manohla Dargis, The New York Times

Sun, Mar 21 at 9pm

White Material (2009)

100min
Directed by Claire Denis
With Isabelle Huppert, Isaach De Bankolé, Christopher Lambert

The latest from living legend Claire Denis (35 Shots of Rum, Beau Travail) is as richly textured, freeflowing, and multisensory an experience as audiences have come to expect from her. The director returns to her homeland of Africa for this story about a relentlessly unyielding woman (Isabelle Huppert) who refuses to abandon her coffee plantation even as violence and civil war erupt around her and her family. An evocative examination of post-colonial African political strife that resists easy answers and opts for a far more personal, philosophical approach to a complex subject.

Fri, Mar 19 at 9:15pm

BAM Rose Cinemas (30 Lafayette Ave.)

Tickets: $11 per screening for adults; $8 for seniors 65 and over, children under twelve, and $8 for students 25 and under with valid I.D. Monday–Thursday, except holidays; $7 BAM Cinema Club members

Tickets available by phone at 718.777.FILM

Call 718.636.4100 or visit BAM.org

BAM Rose Cinemas “offers one of the most civilized movie–going experiences in the city” —The New York Times

Focus on French Cinema 2010

2010-03-17T15:24:20Z

Focus on French Cinema 2010 announces the line-up for the 6th annual festival of 12 French and francophone films. Presented by the Alliance Francaise of Greenwich in partnership with Purchase College, NY, the festival will run from April 9-11 at the Performing Arts Center at Purchase College. This year, Focus on French Cinema will present 12 newly released films from France, Belgium, Quebec and Africa including 5 US Premieres, chilling thrillers, family comedies, vivid dramas and for the first time – a selection of short films from Belgium.

Exceptional actress, writer, and director, Sylvie Testud, will be the guest of honor on Opening Night, Friday, April 9, presenting her US Premiere film, Gamines (Sisters), an adaptation of her 2006 semi-autobiographical novel by the same name. Directed by Eléonore Faucher, Gamines is “Reminiscent of blissful youth films by Jean Eustache and Victor Erice, Sisters is a very French (in a good way) piece of art house fare” (Variety Magazine). Nominated for three and winner of two César awards (the French equivalent of an Oscar) for her roles in Fear and Trembling (2003) and Les Blessures assassines (2000), Sylvie Testud starred in the riveting interpretation of the life of famous French actress Francoise Sagan in Sagan and in two-time Academy Award winning, La Vie en Rose. She was honored with the Chevalier de l'Ordre National du Mérite in 2009. Film advocate John Farr, Editor of BestMoviesbyFarr.com will introduce Sylvie Testud and moderate a Q & A following the film.

The Opening Night Gala will feature a Grand Tasting Buffet, « A Promenade Gourmande », with our partners, Les Maitres Cuisiniers de France, and will also include a Silent Auction and performance by renowned Cameroonian R & B and Jazz singer, Kaissa.

Other guests for the weekend include Belgian directors Stephane and Guillaume Malandrin, who will be on hand for the US Premiere of Où est la main de l'homme sans tête, starring Cecile de France. Léa Fazer, director of Ensemble c‘est trop will introduce the US Premiere of the film in memory of late actor Jocelyn Quivrin who was a guest at the 2008 Focus on French Cinema festival for his performance in 99 francs.

Films on Saturday, April 10 include the US Premiere of Le Vilain by Albert Dupontel starring Catherine Frot and the NY Premiere of L'empreinte de l'ange (The mark of an angel) featuring Catherine Frot in a very different role.

Peur(s) du noir will be our first time-ever late-night thriller following our Saturday night film, Versailles, the late Guillaume Depardieu's penultimate performance (El Magazine).

La Premiere Etoile, also a US Premiere, will open the Sunday session. Directed by Lucien Jean- Baptiste and starring Lucien Jean-Baptiste and Anne Consigny, this film presents a hilarious perspective on the family ski vacation!!!

Also on Sunday: Le Herisson (The hedgehog) based on the novel, The Elegance of the Hedgehog, written by Muriel Barberry. Directed by Mona Achache and starring the brilliant Josiane Balasko, this bittersweet fairy tale brings out the « hedgehog » in everyone. Read by every book club in the area, this film is not to be missed.

Rapt, directed by Lucas Belvaux and starring Yvan Attal and Anne Consigny closes the festival blending emotional suspense with gripping and thrilling action.

Other events throughout the weekend include our annual Thursday night pre-festival screening which will feature the Cannes sensation and award winning film, J'ai tué ma mère (I killed my Mother) written and directed by Montreal upstart Xavier Dolan. On Saturday morning at 10:30, the Meet the Directors and Actors Breakfast, always a « standing room only » event will allow the public to participate in a candid discussion with our weekend guests. The breakfast will be followed by a Master Class with Stephane and Guillaume Malandrin on the Purchase College campus on Saturday afternoon. The Breakfast and Master Class are free and open to the public.

On Saturday and Sunday, a selection of short films from Belgium and a film from Africa, Sexe, Gombo et Beurre Salé, (Sex, Okra and Salted butter) will be screened in DVD in the Humanities Theater.

For the first time, Focus on French Cinema will donate 20% of the proceeds to Action Against Hunger. www.actionagainsthunger.org

The New York International Children's Film Festival

2010-03-08T18:48:48Z

GKIDS presents : "NEW YORK INTERNATIONAL CHILDREN'S FILM FESTIVAL 2010" through March 21st

The New York International Children's Film Festival is the country's largest annual film festival for kids, featuring intelligent and thought-provoking films from around the world. The Festival also has monthly screenings at select New York theaters and produces an annual nationwide tour.

The Concert

2010-07-28T21:42:59Z

Andreï Filipov was a prodigy—the celebrated conductor of the Bolshoi Orchestra, the greatest orchestra in Russia. Today, aged 50, he still works at the Bolshoi, but as a cleaner.

During the communist era, he was fired at the height of his fame for refusing to get rid of all his Jewish players—Zionists and enemies of the People—including his best friend Sacha Grossman. Andreï sank into booze and depression.

The Director of the Bolshoi, an old apparatchik, has been promising forever to return Andreï's orchestra to him “soon”, but he's mocking him, humiliating him sadistically. For him, Andreï's a has-been, and he's doing him a big favor by keeping him on as a cleaner.

Then Andreï finds a fax inviting the orchestra to play at Pleyel, in Paris, in two weeks' time, as a last minute replacement for the indisposed Los Angeles Philharmonic. Andreï conceives of a crazy notion: he'll round up his old musician buddies, a motley bunch now scraping a living in Moscow as cab drivers, removal men, flea market traders, suppliers of porno film sound effects…

They'll go to Paris as the Bolshoi. They'll defy destiny and take their revenge! Will they make it?

Kimjongilia

2010-03-19T16:39:12Z

Directed by N.C. Heikin, 75 minutes, USA/France/South Korea, Lorber Films, 2009.

The first film to fully expose the humanitarian crisis of North Korea, N.C. Heikin's stylish, deeply moving documentary is centered around astonishing interviews with survivors of North Korea's vast and largely hidden prison camps, and interspersed with archival footage of North Korean propaganda films and original performance. Along with the survivors' stories — which illuminate the contours of daily life for a people whose every action is monitored, and whose every thought could bring retribution — Kimjongilia (named after a hybrid flower created for Kim Jong Il's 46th's birthday) examines the mass illusion possible under totalitarianism and the human rights abuses required to maintain that illusion.

Vincere

2010-03-19T16:29:14Z

Directed by Marco Bellocchio, 128 minutes, Italy/France, IFC Films, 2009. With Giovanna Mezziogiorno, Filippo Timi, Corrado Invernizzi.

Italian master Marco Bellocchio's stunning political melodrama tells the virtually unknown story of Fascist dictator Benito Mussolini's (Filippo Timi) secret first marriage. An ambitious and ruthless young man, he woos and then abandons the woman who launched his career—and gave him his first child — as he plots his rise to power.

Lourdes

2010-03-05T00:07:29Z

Directed by Jessica Hausner, 99 minutes, France/Austria/Germany, Palisades Tartan, 2009. With Sylvie Testud, Léa Seydoux, Gilette Barbier, Gerhard Liebmann.

Sylvie Testud may be the greatest French actress of her generation. As Christine, she is a young woman confined to a wheelchair, visiting the city of Lourdes in hope of a miraculous recovery — along with thousands of others. Yet the movie's real subject is not religious belief, but human frailty. It asks us to consider how we would live life severely disabled. And if the hoped-for miracle befell someone else?

The Ghost Writer

2010-03-04T23:59:42Z

Directed by Roman Polanski, 128 minutes, France/Germany/UK, Summit Distribution, 2010. With Ewan McGregor, Jon Bernthal, Kim Cattrall, Pierce Brosnan.

Resonating with topical themes, this atmospheric and suspenseful political thriller is a story of deceit and betrayal on every level— sexual, political and literary. In a world in which nothing, and no one, is as it seems, The Ghost quickly discovers that the past can be deadly—and that history is decided by whoever stays alive to write it.

A Prophet | Un Prophète

2010-03-04T23:48:18Z

Directed by Jacques Audiard, 150 minutes, France/Italy, Sony Pictures Classics, 2009. With Tahar Rahim, Niels Arestrup, Adel Bencherif.

Winner of the Grand Jury Prize at Cannes and now an Oscar nominee for Best Foreign Language Film, this exhilarating crime epic from director Jacques Audiard follows an illiterate French-Arab prison inmate's six-year odyssey from new kid on the cell block to underworld kingpin. Along the way, Malik (remarkable newcomer Tahar Rahim) learns how to read not just books but people, too, as the protégé of a brutal Corsican gang leader (the electrifying Niels Arestrup), until the pupil threatens to overtake the master, playing every one of Paris' rival gangland factions to his own advantage.

The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus

2010-01-22T00:18:42Z

Directed by Terry Gilliam, 122 minutes, UK/Canada/France, Sony Pictures Classics, 2009. With Heath Ledger, Johnny Depp, Colin Farrell, Jude Law, Christopher Plummer.

The Imaginarium of Doctor Paranssus is a fantastical morality tale, set in the present-day. It tells the story of Dr. Parnassus and his extraordinary 'Imaginarium', a traveling show where members of the audience get an irresistible opportunity to choose between light and joy or darkness and gloom.

Sweetgrass

2010-01-22T00:15:05Z

Directed by Ilisa Barbash & Lucien Castaing-Taylor, 101 minutes, France/ UK/USA, 2009.

A paean to the Old West: Sweetgrass captures modern cowboys' overland journey, wrangling thousands of sheep, as they move across Montana's Absaroka-Beartooth Mountains, amid sweepingly dramatic vistas and endless skies.

The White Ribbon | Le Ruban Blanc

2010-01-22T00:09:47Z

Directed by Michael Haneke, 144 minutes, Austria/Germany/France/ Italy, Sony Pictures Classics, 2009. With Christian Friedel, Ernst Jacobi, Leonie Benesch.

Strange events happen in a small village in the north of Germany during the years just before World War I, which seem to be ritual punishment. The abused and suppressed children of the villagers seem to be at the heart of this mystery.

Soundtrack for a Revolution

2010-01-22T00:03:59Z

Directed by Bill Guttentag & Dan Sturman, 82 minutes, USA/France/UK, 2009.

Soundtrack for a Revolution tells the story of the American civil rights movement through its powerful music—the freedom songs protesters sang on picket lines, in mass meetings, in paddy wagons, and in jail cells as they fought for justice and equality. A vibrant blend of heart-wrenching interviews, dramatic images, and thrilling contemporary performances—a film of significance, energy, and power.

The Girl on the Train | La Fille du RER

2010-01-21T23:59:29Z

Directed by André Téchiné, 105 minutes, France, Strand Releasing, 2009. With Emilie Duquenne, Michel Blanc, Catherine Deneuve.

Jeanne lives in a house in the suburbs with her mother Louise. The two women get on well together : Louise earns her living by looking after children, and Jeanne is half-heartedly looking for a job. Louise harbors the hope of getting her daughter a job with Samuel Bleistein, a famous lawyer whom she knew in her youth. Jeanne's and Bleistein's worlds are light years apart. However, they'll be set on a collision course because of an incredible lie that Jeanne invents, a lie that grows into the biggest news and political story of the day.

Ricky

2009-12-11T18:10:07Z

Directed by François Ozon, 90 minutes, France/Italy, 2009. With Alexandra Lamy, Sergi López, Mélusine Mayance, Arthur Peyret.

Katie works full-time in a factory while raising her young daughter. One day, a new co-worker, Paco, catches her eye. Before long, he's moved in and soon Katie has given birth to their son, Ricky. At first, the family seems to be adjusting beautifully, but as the strain of a newborn wears on them, strange things start happening to little Ricky…

A Town Called Panic | Panique au Village

2009-12-11T17:53:15Z

Directed by Stéphane Aubier & Vincent Patar, 75 minutes, France/ Luxembourg/Belgium, Zeitgeist Films, 2009.

Hilarous and frequently surreal, this stop-motion extravaganza has endless charms and raucous laughs for children from eight to eighty. Based on the Belgian animated cult TV series (which was released by Wallace and Gromit's Aardman Studios), Panic stars three plastic toys named Cowboy, Indian and Horse who share a rambling house in a rural town that never fails to attract the weirdest events.

Pirate Radio | Radio Pirate

2009-12-10T18:34:00Z

Directed by Richard Curtis, 134 minutes, UK/Germany/USA/France, Focus Features, 2009. With Michael Hadley, Charlie Rowe, Lucy Fleming.

'Pirate Radio' is the high-spirited story of how 8 DJs love affair with Rock'n Roll changed the world forever. In the 1960s this group of rogue DJs, on a boat in the middle of the Northern Atlantic, played rock records and broke the law all for the love of music. The songs they played united and defined an entire generation and drove the British government crazy.

Home

2009-12-10T18:23:00Z

Directed by Ursula Meier, 98 minutes, France/Switzerland/Belgium, Lorber Films, 2008. With Isabelle Huppert, Olivier Gourmet, Adélaïde Leroux.

In Ursula Meier's stunning debut feature, a family's peaceful existence is threatened when a busy highway is opened right next to their isolated property. As the sounds and fumes of the modern world begin to fill their home, each member of the family (including Isabelle Huppert and Oliver Gourmet, both in tour-de-force performances) finds themselves pushed to dangerous extremes.

La Danse : The Paris Opera Ballet | Le Ballet de l'Opéra de Paris

2009-11-24T23:48:52Z

Directed by Frederick Wiseman, 159 minutes, French/USA, Zipporah Films, 2009.

Documentary master Frederick Wiseman's 38th film in a career that has spanned more than that number of years, turns his attention to one of the world's greatest ballet companies, the Paris Opera Ballet.

Trailer

M. Hulot's Holiday | Les Vacances de Monsieur Hulot

2009-11-24T23:39:22Z

Directed by Jacques Tati, 114 minutes, France, Janus Films, 1953. With Jacques Tati, Nathalie Pascaud, Michèle Rolla.

A relentless tinkerer, Tati re-edited his 1953 original twice: in the early 60s, he cut out some shots and extended others, while re-mixing the sound, recording a new, re-orchestrated version of Alain Romans' score, and adding the final color shot of the stamp. In 1978 he shot and cut in new footage on the beach. This brand new restoration, working from the much-spliced camera negative and final track, now allows viewing of Tati's definitive vision.

Small Change | L'Argent de Poche

2009-11-24T23:34:29Z

Directed by François Truffaut, 104 minutes, France, The Film Desk, 1976. With Nicole Felix, Chantal Mercier, Jean-François Stevenin.

Too long absent from the big screen, SMALL CHANGE is one of Truffaut's most poetic and personal films, a radiant celebration of the world of childhood. Through a series of loosely connected vignettes in a small city in southern France, a group of children, from infants to adolescents, experience the joys and trials of being young.

Trailer

Antichrist

2009-11-12T23:17:54Z

Directed by Lars von Trier, 109 minutes ,Denmark/Germany/France/ Sweden/Italy/Poland, IFC Films, 2009. With Charlotte Gainsbourg, Willem Dafoe.

Is Antichrist a genuine howl of despair, a cathartic masterwork made by a director recovering from crippling depression, as von Trier has claimed? Regardless of intention, von Trier's latest film transports you inside the traumatized psyche of Charlotte Gainsbourg, in the year's most courageous performance, sustaining rage, guilt, and self-hatred without once slipping into bathos.

The Wedding Song | Le Chant des Mariées

2009-11-12T23:08:47Z

Directed by Karin Albou, 100 minutes, France/Tunisia, Strand Releasing, 2008. With Simon Abkarian, Lizzie Brocheré, Karin Albou, Olympe Borval.

Tunis, 1942. Nour and Myriam, 16, have been friends since childhood. They share the same house in a modest neighborhood where Jews and Muslims live in harmony. Each one secretly desires the other girl's life: while Nour regrets that she doesn't go to school like her friend, Myriam dreams of love.

New York, I Love You | New York, Je t'Aime

2009-10-16T19:56:11Z

Some of the world's most-respected directors align forces to pay tribute to the city of New York in this unconventional omnibus sister film to 2006's Paris, Je T'Aime. Broken into short segments, New York, I Love You is comprised of 10 films, most choosing to take a down-to-earth approach to the stories of the countless lives lived in the city on a given day.

Trailer

The Baader-Meinhof Komplex | La Bande à Baader

2009-10-09T22:05:31Z

The radicalised children of the Nazi generation lead by Andreas Baader, Ulrike Meinhof and Gudrun Ensslin are fighting a violent war against what they perceive as the new face of fascism: American imperialism supported by the German establishment, many of whom have a Nazi past.

The Yes Men Fix The World

2009-10-09T21:50:39Z

Directed by the Yes Men | 87 minutes | France/UK/USA | Shadow Distribution, 2009 | With Mike Bonanno, Andy Bichlbaum.

Andy Bichlbaum and Mike Bonanno are "The Yes Men," two guys who combine political activism, performance art and the love of a good prank in the name of demanding the private sector take responsibility for the damage it's done to the world and its people.

Bright Star

2009-10-09T21:36:03Z

Directed by Jane Campion | 119 minutes | UK/Australia/France | Apparition Films, 2009 | With Abbie Cornish, Ben Whishaw, Paul Schneider, Kerry Fox.

"Every frame of this exquisite period romance features an attention to detail, a passion for literature and an intense, fully clothed, pre-Victorian sexiness that suggest a director in something close to rapture." — San Francisco Chronicle

Araya

2009-10-09T21:29:17Z

Shown at Cannes in 1959, the year after Venezuela's last dictator Marcos Perez-Jimenez was overthrown, the documentary inadvertently highlights the kind of exploitation of the poor that can lead to rebellion.

Food Beware: The French Organic Revolution

2009-10-09T19:58:11Z

Director, Screenplay & Producer: Jean-Paul Jaud | Original Music - Gabriel Yared | Cinematographer - Amar Arhab & Joel Pierron | Editors - Isabelle Szumny, Valerie Firla, Julien Kongs & Frederic Monpierre | Running Time: 112 Minutes

For the first time ever, our children are growing up less healthy than we are. As the rate of cancer, infertility and other illnesses linked to environmental factors climbs ever upward each year, we must ask ourselves: why is this happening?

Food Beware begins with a visit to a small village in France, where the town's mayor has decided to make the school lunch menu organic and locally grown. It then talks to a wide variety of people with differing perspectives to find common ground - children, parents, teachers, health care workers, farmers, elected officials, scientists, researchers and the victims of illnesses themselves. Revealed in these moving and often surprising conversations are the abuses of the food industry, the competing interests of agribusiness and public health, the challenges and rewards of safe food production, and the practical, sustainable solutions that we can all take part in. Food Beware is food for thought - and a blueprint for a growing revolution.

OFFICIAL SELECTION- Berlin Film Festival

OFFICIAL SELECTION- Montreal Festival of New Cinema

Opens October 16, 2009 in NYC at the Quad Cinema

Cold Souls

2009-09-24T19:53:49Z

In response to shiny, bigger, better American consumerism comes COLD SOULS, a surreal comedy in which souls can be extracted and traded as commodities. Balancing on a tightrope between deadpan humor and pathos, and reality and fantasy, the film presents Paul Giamatti as himself, agonizing over his interpretation of Uncle Vanya.

The Headless Woman | La Femme Sans Tête

2009-09-24T19:46:19Z

From the director of LA CIENAGA, comes this oblique, compelling tale of a poster child for the South American haute bourgeoisie: blonde and bland, perfectly coiffed and made-up, usually sitting behind the wheel of a Mercedes. María Onetto plays a woman whose perfect life may be a dream or whose nightmare accident (was that a child her car hit? a dog? or nothing?) may indicate that her entire existence lacks reality.

35 Shots of Rum | 35 Rhums

2009-09-24T17:19:49Z

Claire Denis, long known for her subtle, fluid and intriguing movies (BEAU TRAVAIL is best known to U.S. audiences), sets her story in a Paris suburb: a widowed metro conductor, approaching retirement, lives with his beautiful grown daughter — the object of a neighbor's romantic interest.

Breathless

2010-07-02T22:19:04Z

There was before Breathless, and there was after Breathless. Jean-Luc Godard (Band of Outsiders, Masculin féminin) burst onto the film scene in 1960 with this jazzy, free-form, and sexy homage to the American film genres that inspired him as a writer for Cahiers du cinéma. With its lack of polish, surplus of attitude, anything-goes crime narrative, and effervescent young stars Jean-Paul Belmondo (Classe tous risques, Pierrot le fou) and Jean Seberg (Saint Joan, Bonjour tristesse), Breathless helped launch the French New Wave and ensured that cinema would never be the same.

1960 • 90 minutes • Black & White • Monaural • In French with English subtitles • 1.33:1 aspect ratio

BLU-RAY SPECIAL EDITION FEATURES

• Restored high-definition digital transfer, approved by director of photography Raoul Coutard, with uncompressed monaural soundtrack

• Archival interviews with director Jean-Luc Godard and actors Jean-Paul Belmondo, Jean Seberg, and Jean-Pierre Melville

• Video interviews with Coutard, assistant director Pierre Rissient, and filmmaker D. A. Pennebaker

• Video essays: one on Jean Seberg and one on Breathless as film criticism

• Chambre 12, Hôtel du suède, an eighty-minute documentary about the making of Breathless

• Charlotte et son Jules, a 1959 short by Godard starring Belmondo

• French theatrical trailer

• PLUS: A booklet featuring writings by Godard and film historian Dudley Andrew, François Truffaut's original film treatment, and Godard's scenario

TITLE: Breathless (BLU-RAY EDITION) CAT. NO: CC1939BD UPC: 7-15515-06371-5 ISBN: 978-1-60465-337-3 SRP: $39.95 PREBOOK: 8/17/10 STREET: 9/14/10

France Honors Mahen Bonetti, Norman Manea, and Jackie Raynal

2010-04-12T23:41:11Z

On Monday, April 12, Kareen Rispal, Cultural Counselor of the French Embassy, conferred upon Mahen Bonetti, Norman Manea, and Jackie Raynal the Order of Arts and Letters.

Mahen Bonetti (right on photo) is the founder and executive director of African Film Festival (AFF), a non-profit arts organization founded in 1990 to showcase the works of African filmmakers in the United States. Every year, AFF collaborates with the Film Society of Lincoln Center and BAMcinématek to produce the annual New York African Film Festival (which is being held from April 7 to May 31 this year); the organization also curates other film programs with U.S. and foreign partners. Born in Sierra Leone, Bonetti has lived in the United States for the past 30 years; through the AFF she hopes to harness the power of film to provide a forum for the African voice in the U.S.

Norman Manea's works have been translated into 20 languages, and his short fiction and essays have appeared in periodicals and collections throughout the world, including Les Temps Modernes and Le Monde in France, as well as The New Republic, The New Yorker, and the Paris Review in America. Born in Romania in 1936 in a Jewish family, he survived the Transnistria concentration camp only to flee communist persecution in the late eighties, seeking refuge in America in 1988. Originally trained as an engineer, he began writing in 1974 and never looked back. American novelist Philip Roth talks of “his bookish thoughtfulness, his intellectual subtlety and his affection for complexity, his quiet wit.” He is currently the Francis Flournoy Professor in European Studies and Culture and Writer in Residence at Bard College.

Jackie Raynal (second from left on photo) is an accomplished film editor and director, and was the film curator at the now legendary Bleecker Street and Carnegie Hall cinemas from 1975 to 1992. Originally from Montpellier, France, she studied at the Sorbonne and became an assistant editor for films such as Jean Renoir's The Elusive Corporal. She went on to edit several films, including many by Eric Rohmer (La Boulangère de Monceau, La Carrière de Suzanne, Nadja à Paris and La Collectionneuse). She made her directorial debut in 1965, with two prize-winning films that particularly stand out: Deux Fois (1969) and New York Story (1981). She is currently working on Gougnette, an homage to her parents who fought in the French resistance during World War II.

The Ordre des Arts et des Lettres (Order of Arts and Letters) was created in 1957 to recognize eminent artists and writers, as well as individuals who have contributed to the recognition of French culture in the world. The Order is given out twice annually to only a few hundred people worldwide. Among the Americans who have received this award are Paul Auster, Ornette Coleman, Agnes Gund, Marilyn Horne, Jim Jarmusch, Richard Meier, Robert Paxton, Robert Redford, Meryl Streep and Uma Thurman.

Tim Burton to Head 2010 Cannes Festival Jury

2010-01-26T23:08:40Z

American film director Tim Burton is to be Jury President for the 63rd Festival de Cannes, which takes place from May 12th to 23rd 2010.

Upon accepting the invitation from Gilles Jacob and Thierry Frémaux, Tim Burton declared: "After spending my early life watching triple features and 48-hour horror movie marathons, I'm finally ready for this. It's a great honour and I look forward, with my fellow jurors, to watching some great films from around the world. When you think of Cannes you think of world cinema. And as films have always been like dreams to me, this is a dream come true."

American director Timothy Walter Burton was born August 25th 1958 in California. From childhood he developed a passion for drawing and Gothic films, and studied at the California Institute of the Arts before joining the Disney studios animation team. His own work, highly original even then, was very different from the style of cartoons made by Disney, but the studio recognized his talent and helped with the production of his first short films: Vincent (1982), Hansel and Gretel (1983) and Frankenweenie (1984).

His first feature film, Pee-Wee's Big Adventure (1985), was a success but it was Beetlejuice (1988) that threw the doors of Hollywood wide open. Warner hired him for the first Batman (1989), which enabled him to move on to more personal projects, imposing his style with Edward Scissorhands (1990) which he directed, and Nightmare before Christmas (1993), which he produced. Their worldwide critical acclaim established his reputation as a visionary craftsman.

The fourteen feature films which make up his works reinvent every genre, from biography (Ed Wood, which got him selected for the Competition at Cannes in 1995), to science fiction (Mars Attacks, in 1997, or Planet of the Apes, in 2001), via gothic (Sleepy Hollow, 1999), fantasy (Big Fish, 2003), animation (The Corpse Bride, 2005), tales for children (Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, 2005) as well as a musical, Sweeney Todd, in 2007.

Famous for being a filmmaker, Tim Burton is also an illustrator, a painter and a photographer. In 1998, he published a collection of illustrated poems, "The Melancholy Death of Oyster Boy & Other Stories". New York's MoMA celebrates him as an artist with a major exhibition of his work that will show until April 28th 2010.

His next feature, a 3D adaptation of Alice in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll, staring his emblematic actor Johnny Depp and Helena Bonham Carter, is released in theatres in the U.S. on March 5th and in France on April 7th.

"It's the first time an artist whose origins are in animation will preside over the jury of the Festival de Cannes. A filmmaker with a heart of gold and silver hands, Tim Burton is first and foremost a poet. He's a magician of visual delights who turns the screen into a faery wonder. We hope his sweet madness and gothic humour will pervade the Croisette, bringing Christmas to all. Christmas and Halloween…" promises Gilles Jacob, Festival President.

The Festival de Cannes will take place from 12th to 23rd May 2010. The Official Selection will be announced in mid-April.

FIAF's Haiti Relief Efforts

2010-01-19T21:47:46Z

A letter from Marie-Monique Steckel, President of FIAF (French Institute - Alliance Française)

Chers Amis,

The entire FIAF community has been deeply affected by Tuesday's horrible earthquake in Haiti and its tragic impact. Our hearts go out to all of our Haitian friends and family in this trying and terrible time. In response we have set up the following to assist in the relief efforts, and encourage you to participate.

For FIAF's World Nomads 2009 series dedicated to Haiti last spring, we worked closely with David Belle, co-founder of Ciné Institute in Jacmel. Jacmel is a small town south of Port-au-Prince that has also been hit very hard by the destructive earthquake. Thankfully, the Ciné Institute team and students are all alive; however the town is completely devastated. David Belle and the Institute have just sent an urgent appeal for help for the town—food, water, blankets, medicine, and of course money.

To make sure our funds go directly to people in need, we have decided to respond to Ciné Institute's call to action and focus our efforts on this small town where we can really make a difference. We also personally know David Belle, who is already on-site, and he will be able to specifically direct the funds to buy emergency supplies that will benefit the community.

Each donation will be collected and coordinated by Alain Pilet, FIAF VP of Finance, and sent as a whole by FIAF.

Please consider an immediate online contribution: Make a Donation to FIAF Now!

Checks can be made out to the French Institute Alliance Française (FIAF). Every donation above $100 will be tax deductible, and you will receive acknowledgement from FIAF of your donation. Any amount you can give will be greatly appreciated, and FIAF as an institution along with its staff will donate to the cause as well. Though internet connection is intermittent in Haiti, as we get news from David Belle, we will be sure to keep you informed of the rescue efforts in Jacmel.

Thank you for your contribution.

Amicalement,

Open Call for the Student Selection of the Cannes Film Festival

2009-11-13T23:44:35Z

The Cinefondation, student film selection of the Cannes Film Festival, will present films from film schools (fiction and animation).

In 2009, 17 films were selected from Argentina, Belgium, Brazil, China, Czech Republic, Denmark, France, Italy, Israel, Poland, South Korea, United Kingdom and United States.

The deadline to apply and send student films to the Cinefondation is February 15th, 2010.

Students may send their films as soon as possible: the Cinefondation selection committee has already started to view films. A working version can be sent for the films which are not finished yet.

Applications must be filled in directly online at

festival-cannes.com

The Cinefondation rules as well as a mini-poster with the selection deadline can be downloaded using the link below:

cannesinteractive.com

Open Call for the 2010 Rooftop Films Summer Series

2009-11-03T22:59:52Z

Rooftop Films is accepting entries for the 2010 Rooftop Films Summer Series Submit your movies! Submit your films and videos now and participate in one of the most unique, filmmaker-friendly, independent film events of the summer!

You can submit directly by downloading the submission form or you can submit via Without A Box. The 2010 Summer Series will run from May through September and will feature more than 200 daring new films, all screened outdoors, in front of big, loyal audiences in parks, on boats, and on rooftops overlooking the greatest city in the world. More than 25,000 people attended Rooftop screenings in 2009, making it one of the biggest festivals for underground films in New York. Films of all genres, formats, and lengths are showed, as long as they're daring, creative, and unique.

Deadlines: Earlybird: $9 - December 5, 2009.

Regular: $15, ($10 for WAB members) - January 15, 2010.

Late: $20, ($15 for WAB) - February 15, 2010.

Without A Box Extended: $20 for WAB members- March 1, 2010*

* Without A Box members only.

Plus, if you submit a work to Rooftop Films you automatically get 2 free tickets to any Rooftop Summer Series show (an $18 value).

You can mail any submissions to: Rooftop Films / PMB 401 / 285 Fifth Avenue / Brooklyn, NY 11215.