Rendez-Vous with French Cinema 2015
Rendez-Vous with French Cinema returns with another program of features and shorts that exemplify today’s most innovative French artistry. The films on display, by emerging talents and established masters, raise ideas both topical and eternal, and many take audiences to entirely unexpected places. Co-presented with Unifrance Films, this year’s Rendez-Vous demonstrates that the landscape of French cinema has never been more fertile, and the voices issuing from it never more diverse.
In commemoration of its 20th anniversary, this year’s Rendez-Vous with French Cinema includes a host of special events including free talks with Mélanie Laurent, Nathalie Baye (co-chair of this year’s festival with Martin Scorsese), and Guillaume Canet in the Film Center Amphitheater; a Closing Night live musical performance by composers LoW Entertainment; a pop-up Galerie Cinema by Anne-Dominique Toussaint at the Cultural Services of the French Embassy; a retrospective of films by the director of Opening Night film 3 Hearts, Benoît Jacquot: Leading Ladies at the French Institute Alliance Française (FIAF); and an exhibitition of giant Polaroid portraits of French film luminaries by Myrna Suarez and the 20×24 Project in the Furman Gallery.
Special thanks to the following 20th Anniversary Rendez-Vous with French Cinema sponsors for their support: Renault-Nissan, Lacoste, Piper-Heidsieck, L’Oreal Paris, TV5 Monde, La Sacem, and to our partners the Cultural Services of the French Embassy NY and the French Institute Alliance Française (FIAF).
Lineup
3 Hearts
Opening Night
Benoît Jacquot and Charlotte Gainsbourg in person
A quiet Parisian fails to keep a rendezvous, only to unknowingly fall for his paramour’s sister in this romantic and tragic roundelay starring Charlotte Gainsbourg, Chiara Mastroianni, and Catherine Deneuve, and expertly directed by Benoît Jacquot (Farewell, My Queen).
Special Ticket Price: $25 General Public / $20 Member & Student
Reality
Closing Night
Q&A with actress Élodie Bouchez at 6:45pm screening and live musical performance by composers LoW Entertainment in the Furman Gallery
This multi-threaded Lynchian house of mirrors involving tapes found in animal intestines and amateur filmmakers questing for the perfect scream is unique, hilarious, and much more than the sum of its quirks.
40-Love
Q&A with Stéphane Demoustier
When Jérôme (Olivier Gourmet) loses his job and his wife, he’s forced to become a more involved parent to his tennis-prodigy son in this touching drama that clears the net on every serve thanks to the conviction of its cast.
Breathe
Q&A with Mélanie Laurent on March 7
Internationally acclaimed actress Mélanie Laurent’s second feature is a perceptive account of youthful angst and obsession, focusing on a shy 17-year-old’s volatile relationship with the new girl in her school. Nominated for two César Awards.
The Connection
U.S. Premiere
Q&A with Cédric Jimenez, Céline Sallette, Gilles Lellouche, and Audrey Diwan
The Artist’s Jean Dujardin plays radically against type as a magistrate determined to nail a heroin czar in this gripping thriller detailing the same criminal ring that inspired The French Connection. Nominated for two César Awards.
Eat Your Bones
U.S. Premiere
Introduced by producer Thierry Lounas
A teenage Romani finds his values tested when his half-brother returns from prison in this dynamic and absorbing glimpse at a community seldom depicted on film that earned director Jean-Charles Hue the 2014 Prix Jean Vigo.
Fidelio, Alice’s Odyssey
Q&A with Lucie Borleteau and Ariane Labed
Engineer Alice joins the crew of a freighter and finds that the captain is a former lover in this rounded portrait of a woman in a male milieu, featuring a memorable star turn by Ariane Labed. Nominated for two César Awards including Best Debut Feature.
Gaby Baby Doll
North American Premiere
As the awkward, insecure Gaby, Lolita Chammah suggests a Gallic Greta Gerwig in one of her not-quite-formed-adult roles, starved for companionship and endearingly pursuing a fellow neurotic.
Hippocrates
North American Premiere
Q&A with composers Low Entertainment
Writer/director and practicing MD Thomas Lilti explores apathy and collusion at a Paris hospital in this biting dramedy, positing that “Hippocratic” and “hypocrite” share more than linguistic affinities. Nominated for seven César Awards including Best Film.
In the Courtyard
A poignant tale of unlikely friendship between elegant retiree Mathilde (masterfully played by national treasure Catherine Deneuve in a César Award-nominated performance) and the depressed custodian (Gustave Kervern) on whom she comes to depend.
In the Name of My Daughter
North American Premiere
Introduction by Guillaume Canet at 6:45pm screening
André Téchiné returns with another penetrating psychological drama, this time an atmospheric recounting of the real-life Affaire Le Roux, set against the backdrop of 1970s Nice and featuring a regal turn from Catherine Deneuve.
Love at First Fight
Easygoing Arnaud becomes smitten with hard-charger Madeleine and follows her to boot camp in this warm and refreshing coming-of age story that was a triple winner at last year’s Cannes Directors’ Fortnight. Winner of three César Awards, for Most Promising Actor, Best Actress, and Best First Film.
May Allah Bless France!
Q&A with Abd Al Malik
Rapper and spoken word artist Abd Al Malik won the FIPRESCI Discovery Prize at the 2014 Toronto International Film Festival for his directorial debut, a frank account of his journey from delinquency to redemption in the housing projects of Strasbourg. Nominated for two César Awards including Best Debut Feature.
Métamorphoses
North American Premiere
Q&A with Christophe Honoré and producer Philippe Martin on March 8
A cinematic experience like no other, Christophe Honoré’s Métamorphoses transplants the mythology of Ovid’s poem to contemporary France, as Jupiter leads schoolgirl Europa into a world where the gods have their way.
My Friend Victoria
North American Premiere
A young black orphan spends one night with a bourgeois Parisian family and for years recalls the world she once inhabited in Jean-Paul Civeyrac’s refreshing treatise on race and class.
Free Talks: Guillaume Canet
Free event!
French actor/screenwriter/director Guillaume Canet will discuss his career as an actor, his vision as a director, and his love of American cinema.
Next Time I’ll Aim for the Heart
Q&A with Cédric Anger and Guillaume Canet on March 10
A notorious serial killer is also a gendarme tasked with his own apprehension in this darkly ironic thriller from former Cahiers du Cinéma critic Cédric Anger, based on a true story. Nominated for two César Awards.
Party Girl
U.S. Premiere
Q&A with Claire Burger and composers Low Entertainment on March 14
An aging bar hostess receives a marriage proposal from a smitten customer and must decide if she’s ready for domesticity and the reunion of her four grown children at the nuptials in this Un Certain Regard standout and Camera d’Or winner from last year’s Cannes. Nominated for two César Awards including Best Debut Feature.
Portrait of the Artist
Bertrand Bonello stars as “Bertrand,” a filmmaker obsessed with monstrosity as the central theme of his new work in this disquieting yet fascinating (and funny!) mixture of body horror and character study.
SK1
U.S. Premiere
Q&A with Frédéric Tellier, Nathalie Baye, and William Nadylam
The multi-year hunt, arrest, and trial of serial killer Guy Georges—nicknamed The Beast of the Bastille—is the subject of director Frédéric Tellier’s suspenseful and sophisticated feature debut, based on Patricia Tourancheau’s harrowing book.
Stubborn
North American Premiere
Q&A with Armel Hostiou, actor Murray Bartlett, co-writer Lea Cohen, and producers Gaëlle Ruffier & Jasmina Sijercic on March 10
When Barbara (Kate Moran) tires of her brief relationship with Vincent (Vincent Macaigne), he resolves to win her back and follows her to America in Armel Hostiou’s unabashedly romantic, New York–set drama.
Wild Life
North American Premiere
Q&A with Cédric Kahn, Céline Sallette, and producer Kristina Larsen
A wife’s decision to remove herself and her children from their nomadic existence prompts her husband to commit a desperate act in Cédric Kahn’s riveting true account of a father’s all-consuming love, which won a special jury prize at the San Sebastian International Film Festival.
Young Tiger
In relating the trials and tribulations of Punjabi teenager Many, in France to pursue his education, Cyprien Vial (director of the Cannes prizewinning short In Range) tells a story both particular to the Indian diaspora and universal to the plight of immigrants being pulled in all directions.
Rendez-Vous Shorts Program
Q&A with Cécile Ducrocq and Alice Douard on March 11
Brevity is the soul of wit, and our four acclaimed shorts, all directed by talented and up-and-coming female directors, have wit and soul in abundance.
The Smallest Apartment in Paris (Hélèna Villovitch, 15m)
Back Alley (Cécile Ducrocq, 29m)
The Space (Eléonor Gilbert, 14m)
Extrasystole (Alice Douard, 35m)
Special Events
Free Talks: The 21st-Century Cinephile
Free event!
In a world where images circulate ever faster and instant access is the norm, what place is there for the love of cinema? Join a group of French and American journalists to discuss the role of cinephilia today and how France and the United States have approached fostering the love of movies in future generations.
Actress on Actress: Nathalie Baye & Mélanie Laurent
Free event!
SK1 star Nathalie Baye, who started her career with François Truffaut, Maurice Pialat, and Jean-Luc Godard, will sit down with Breathe director Mélanie Laurent, well known for her roles in Inglourious Basterds, Beginners, and Enemy and discuss their career, working with U.S. directors, and much more.
Free Talks: Guillaume Canet
Free event!
French actor/screenwriter/director Guillaume Canet will discuss his career as an actor, his vision as a director, and his love of American cinema.
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