Rendez-Vous with French Cinema 2023
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Unifrance and Film at Lincoln Center present the 28th edition of Rendez-Vous with French Cinema, the celebrated annual festival that exemplifies the variety and vitality of contemporary French filmmaking, taking place March 2–12.
Highlights of the 21-film lineup include Arnaud Desplechin’s Brother and Sister, his newest drama starring Melvil Poupaud and Marion Cotillard as siblings Louis and Alice, who are forced to negotiate some kind of coexistence after their parents are involved in a near-deadly car crash; Rachid Hami’s For My Country, which follows the death of Aïssa (Shaïn Boumedine) after a hazing at a military academy, and the efforts of his older brother, Ismaël (Karim Leklou), to bury him and demand answers; Other People’s Children, where director Rebecca Zlotowski 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; The Innocent, the latest comedy from actor-writer-director Louis Garrel, which follows Abel (Garrel), a young man who finds himself in over his head while navigating a world of criminal mischief after his mother marries a reformed convict just before the man’s release from prison; Saturn Bowling, Patricia Mazuy’s tense drama, which transforms into a twisty neo-noir as police detective Guillaume (Arieh Worthalter) finds his relationship with his already estranged family further strained by a series of murders; Mother and Son, Léonor Serraille’s portrait of the complex, sometimes painful relationship between an African immigrant mother and her sons; Léa Mysius’s sophomore directorial effort, The Five Devils, starring Sally Dramé as Vicky, a young girl with a supernatural talent for reproducing the scent of anyone and anything she encounters; and The Night of the 12th, a stark thriller from Dominik Moll that delivers the genre hallmarks of true crime to excavate insidious strains of misogyny in contemporary French society.
This year’s festival highlights two highly anticipated debut features: writer-director Florent Gouëlou’s Three Nights a Week, which takes Baptiste (Pablo Pauly) into the world of drag performance and culture, leading him on a journey of self-discovery; and Lise Akoka and Romane Gueret’s The Worst Ones, which follows Belgian director Gabriel (Johan Heldenbergh) as he arrives in the small town of Boulogne-sur-Mer to cast non-professional teenagers for his debut feature, while some residents, concerned with improving their town’s image in the media, disapprove of his choices.
Moviegoers will have the opportunity to vote for their favorite film in the festival with the fourth annual Rendez-Vous Audience Award. This year’s festival will also again feature the Best Emerging Filmmaker Award, bringing attention to the unique cinematic points of view of emerging filmmakers and their interpretations of France’s new and diverse identities and encouraging young people to attend the festival. A jury of six students pursuing film and French studies degrees from New York City colleges will choose their favorite first or second feature from this year’s Rendez-Vous slate. The jury-awarded film will be announced shortly after the end of the festival alongside the Rendez-Vous Audience Award. To further encourage young people to be part of Rendez-Vous, two free school screenings of Neneh Superstar will be organized on March 6 and 7, with director Ramzi Ben Sliman in attendance for a post-screening discussion with middle-school, high-school, and college students.
Organized by Florence Almozini and Madeline Whittle, in collaboration with Unifrance.
Brother and Sister
Diary of a Fleeting Affair
The Five Devils
Q&A with Léa Mysius on March 4
The sophomore directorial effort from renowned screenwriter Léa Mysius is a wrenching family drama telling the story of Vicky (Sally Dramé), a young girl with a supernatural talent for reproducing the scent of anyone and anything she encounters.For My Country
Q&A with Rachid Hami on March 9
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 in the elegant and mournful new feature from Rachid Hami.Forever Young
The Gravity
Q&A with Cédric Ido on March 4
As eight planets prepare to align, 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. French-Burkinabe actor and writer-director Cédric Ido puts a sci-fi twist on the crime saga genre to comment on race, class, and the struggles of the recently incarcerated.The Green Perfume
Q&A with Nicolas Pariser on March 8
Writer-director Nicolas Pariser crafts a humorous, finely-tuned, thoroughly French evocation of Hitchcock’s lighter work in this suspenseful thriller that follows an actor (Vincent Lacoste) on a pan-European journey to discover the forces behind a mysterious killing.Harkis
The Innocent
Mother and Son
Neneh Superstar
Q&A with Ramzi Ben Sliman on March 7
Twelve-year-old Neneh (Oumy Bruni Garrel) wants to dance ballet—but, as a Black girl attempting to find a foothold in a historically white cultural milieu, the obstacles she faces seem overwhelming. With encouragement from a dedicated teacher, Neneh strives to find herself—and her place—in this inspiring story about overcoming systemic disadvantages on the path to artistic achievement.The Night of the 12th
Q&A with Dominik Moll and Gilles Marchand on March 10
Two detectives investigate the murder of Clara, a young woman set on fire one night after leaving a party in a small quiet Alpine town, in this stark new thriller from Dominik Moll that delivers the genre hallmarks of true crime to excavate insidious strains of misogyny in contemporary French society.The Origin of Evil
Q&A with Sébastien Marnier on March 3
When Stéphane (Laure Calamy) gets in touch with wealthy Serge (Jacques Weber), announcing that she is his long-abandoned daughter, she quickly becomes entangled with the hostile women who share a tense existence in the patriarch’s mansion by the sea in this wildly entertaining thriller from writer-director Sébastien Marnier.The Plough
Intro by Aurélien Recoing on March 4
Paying tribute to the director’s late father’s background as a puppeteer, Philippe Garrel’s new film centers on Simon (Aurélien Recoing), the aging head of a puppet troupe who works alongside his children, all played by members of Philippe’s own family: son Louis (Louis Garrel) and daughters Martha (Esther Garrel) and Lena (Lena Garrel).Saturn Bowling
Q&A with Patricia Mazuy on March 5
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. When their already contentious relationship is further strained by a series of murders, what began as a tense drama transforms into a twisty neo-noir.Smoking Causes Coughing
Three Nights a Week
Q&A with Florent Gouëlou on March 11
Trapped in a dead-end retail job while trying to develop his photography portfolio, Baptiste (Pablo Pauly) is in search of a subject for his art—but, in writer-director Florent Gouëlou’s feature debut, the choice to follow drag performer Cookie Kunty (Romain Eck) and document the rituals of the drag world ultimately leads him on a profound journey of self-discovery.Winter Boy
Q&A with Christophe Honoré on March 11
In the wake of his father’s sudden death, adolescent Lucas (Paul Kircher) 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. Inspired by the experience of losing his own father at the age of 15, writer-director Christophe Honoré renders his past immediate and universal in this raw, tender, and gorgeous work.The Worst Ones
Q&A with Lise Akoka and Matthias Jacquin on March 5
Belgian director Gabriel (Johan Heldenbergh) arrives in the small town of Boulogne-sur-Mer to cast non-professional teenagers for his debut feature, planning to fill out a loosely sketched script with local performers scouted from working-class northern France—but some residents, concerned with improving their town’s image in the media, disapprove of his choices.Free Talks
Free Talk: Alice Winocour
Free and open to the public!
We’re excited to bring together Alice Winocour and Sophie Barthes for an extended conversation about Winocour's vibrant body of work, her artistic influences and collaborations, and her unique storytelling sensibility.Free Talk: Virginie Efira
Free and open to the public!
Join us for a wide-ranging conversation in which we'll discuss the evolution of Virginie Efira’s craft and her approach to portraying profoundly complicated, endlessly compelling women.Free Talk: Queer Identities On Screen
Free and open to the public!
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.CANCELED – Free Talk: Louis Garrel
Note: This talk has been canceled due to a scheduling conflict.
In this career-spanning conversation moderated by filmmaker Owen Kline (Funny Pages), we’ll explore Louis 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.Tickets are $17 for the General Public; $14 for Students, Seniors, and Persons with Disabilities; and $12 for FLC Members.
Opening Night tickets for Alice Winocour’s Revoir Paris are $25 for the General Public and $20 for all Film at Lincoln Center Members.
Using a promo code? Please select the screening you wish to attend and enter the code in the upper right-hand corner prior to check out.
Students can see more and save the $39 Student All-Access Pass. Sold out! (excludes the Opening Night film Revoir Paris).
Passes are available to pick up at the box office. Your pass will grant access to one (1) for every film in the series, with exceptions listed on our website where applicable. We recommend arriving at least 15 minutes prior to a screening as late seating cannot be guaranteed. Passes do not give access to any free events or talks.
Tickets
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