Rendez-Vous with French Cinema 2018

Barbara

Opening Night · U.S. Premiere · Introductions by Mathieu Amalric and Jeanne Balibar

A chameleon-like Jeanne Balibar stars in this tantalizing, meta-cinematic tribute to Barbara—a legendary chanteuse and enduring icon of French culture—from actor-director Mathieu Amalric.

12 Days

N.Y. Premiere · Q&A with Raymond Depardon and Claudine Nougaret

Continuing a 30-year collaboration with sound recordist and producer Claudine Nougaret, renowned photographer and documentarian Raymond Depardon has made a startling, face-to-face look at mental illness and the French legal system.

Ava

N.Y. Premiere · Introductions by producer Jean-Louis Livi

The breathtakingly bold debut feature from Léa Mysius—about a 13-year-old girl taking in as much of life as she can before she goes blind—is a coming-of-age tale unlike any other.

Before Summer Ends

N.Y. Premiere

Three thirty-something Iranian friends embark on a late summer road trip through the sunny South before one of them heads back to Iran in this endearingly wry and perceptive travelogue about what it means to be an outsider in a foreign country.

C’est la vie!

U.S. Premiere

The behind-the-scenes planning of an elaborate wedding makes for a deliciously deadpan comic soufflé from the directors of the smash hit The Intouchables.

Comfort and Consolation in France

North American Premiere · Q&A with Vincent Macaigne on March 14

One of France’s most distinctive rising talents, Vincent Macaigne directs this daringly iconoclastic chamber drama about the clash between France’s haves and have-nots.

Custody

N.Y. Premiere · Q&A with Xavier Legrand

Winner of the Silver Lion at the Venice Film Festival, this riveting domestic drama is a harrowing study of a family coming undone in the midst of a bitter custody battle.

Endangered Species

U.S. Premiere · Q&A with Gilles Bourdos and writer Richard Bausch on March 11

Drawing from Richard Bausch’s short stories, Renoir director Gilles Bourdos delivers an explosive emotional epic about the tangled relationships among parents, children, husbands, wives, and lovers.

The Guardians

U.S. Premiere · Q&A with Xavier Beauvois

A resilient young woman weathers the turbulence of World War I in the quietly affecting new film from Of Gods and Men director Xavier Beauvois.

Jeannette, The Childhood of Joan of Arc

N.Y. Premiere · Q&A with Bruno Dumont on March 9

The ever-unpredictable Bruno Dumont (Slack Bay) takes another thrilling hairpin turn with this audacious heavy metal musical about the spiritual awakening of a young Joan of Arc.

July Tales

North American Premiere

Two languorous summer days, two tales of romantic misunderstanding: this deceptively breezy diptych channels the spirit of Rohmer as it explores the thorny relationships between men and women.

Just to Be Sure

N.Y. Premiere

Life gets complicated for a middle-aged man when he discovers his father is not his father—and his girlfriend may be his half-sister—in this witty, winning seriocomic charmer.

The Lion Sleeps Tonight

North American Premiere

Living legend Jean-Pierre Léaud stars in this self-reflexive ghost story—a playful consideration of cinema, mortality, and the actor’s own status as an emblem of film history.

Memoir of War

France's Oscar Selection for the 2019 Academy Awards

Marguerite Duras’s autobiographical memoir—a heartrending reflection on wartime grief—receives a haunting and hypnotic adaptation starring a profoundly moving Mélanie Thierry.

Montparnasse Bienvenüe

New York Premiere · Introduction by composer Julie Roué on March 9

A newly single young woman attempts to restart her life in this refreshingly complex portrait of an all-too-human heroine veering between instability and strength. Winner of the Camera d’Or at Cannes for best first film.

Number One

U.S. Premiere · Q&A with Tonie Marshal on March 10

Emmanuelle Devos stars as an ambitious businesswoman navigating a sexist corporate minefield as she attempts to crash the boardroom boys’ club in this timely feminist drama from Tonie Marshall (Venus Beauty Institute).

Orchestra Class

U.S. Premiere · Q&A with Rachid Hami

A violinist is tested when he signs on to teach music to a class of middle-school students on the multicultural outskirts of Paris in this refreshingly naturalistic ode to the transformative power of music.

A Paris Education

A movie-mad jeune homme discovers the pleasures and perils of the bohemian life when he moves to Paris in this bittersweet ode to cinema and the heady days of youth.

Petit Paysan

N.Y. Premiere

A farmer’s desperate attempts to save his cows from a deadly epidemic yields a surprisingly tense thriller rooted in everyday life.

See You Up There

N.Y. Premiere

This spectacularly surreal comic caper—in which an ex–World War I soldier and artist embark on an audacious get-rich-quick scheme—is a whimsical wild ride through Jazz Age Paris.

The Sower

U.S. Premiere · Q&A with Marine Francen on March 10

Writ in bucolic, golden-hued images that recall the paintings of Jean-François Millet, this quietly provocative, Napoleonic-era fable imagines a community of women into whose midst wanders a lone male.

Tomorrow and Thereafter

U.S. Premiere · Introductions by producer Jean-Louis Livi

As her mother steadily loses her grip on reality, a young girl escapes into a fantasy world of her own in this alternately enchanting and cathartic family portrait from acclaimed actress-director Noémie Lvovsky.

Waiting for the Barbarians

North American Premiere · Q&A with Eugène Green on March 13

Six strangers confront their uniquely 21st century anxieties with the help of a sorcerer in this playful performance art consciousness-bender-cum-ghost story about the search for meaning in the age of social media.

The Workshop

N.Y. Premiere · Q&A with Laurent Cantet on March 12

The Class director Laurent Cantet returns with a tense, provocative exploration of contemporary French society as seen through the eyes of the next generation.

Free Talk: Women, Work, and the Will to Lead

Sponsored by 

Director Tonie Marshall—whose latest film, Number One, depicts how women still have to struggle to climb the social ladder—will join special guests for a special talk about issues around female empowerment and the place of women in the French film and corporate industries.

Free Talk: First Films

Sponsored by 

What does it take to make a first feature? And how is it different to do so in France, as opposed to the U.S.? First-time filmmakers and emerging producers–featuring Marine Francen (The Sower), Xavier Legrand (Custody), Reinaldo Marcus Green (Monsters and Men, Jeremiah Zagar (We the Animals), Amy Lo (Mental Pictures), and Jean-Louis Livi (Ava)–will discuss strategies and challenges in producing and directing a successful debut film.