FOCUS ON FRENCH CINEMA ANNOUNCES LINEUP FOR
2016 EDITION, APRIL 1 – 5
10 U.S. PREMIERES, 2 NY PREMIERES, 6 CT PREMIERES
45 César Nominations, 15 César Awards, 1 Oscar Nomination
NATHALIE BAYE – HONORARY GUEST
FOCUS ON FRENCH CINEMA 2016
THE FESTIVAL OPENS WITH THE U.S. PREMIERE OF CHRISTIAN CARINO'S
EN MAI, FAIS CE QU’IL TE PLAIT (COME WHAT MAY)
U.S. PREMIERE OF DEMAIN (TOMORROW)
DIRECTED BY MELANIE LAURENT AND CYRIL DION AT “FESTIVAL EVE” SCREENING AT UNITED NATIONS, THURSDAY, MARCH 31
IN PERSON APPEARANCES INCLUDE:
NATHALIE BAYE, DOMINQUE BESNEHARD, LIONEL BAIER, CHRISTIAN CARION, CARLOS CHAHINE, ALIX DELAPORTE, CYRIL DION,
BENOIT GRAFFIN, MELANIE LAURENT, MATTHEW RHYS …
Now in its 12-hour year, Focus on French Cinema (FFC), the acclaimed annual showcase for new cutting-edge cinema from France and across the French-speaking world, returns to Connecticut and New York April 1-5, 2016. The festival has announced an exciting line-up of over 20 films in 5 days, including, 45 César Nominations, 15 César Wins, and 1 Oscar Nomination, as well as an award-winning selection of short films and a “NEW THIS YEAR” Spotlight on Lebanese Cinema.
The 12th edition of Focus on French Cinema (FFC) offers a diverse slate of newly released feature films in the genres of psychological drama, comedy, romance, thriller, documentary, animation, family films, and television, exploring the richness, rhythm, sensitivity, curiosity for contemporary topics and specific style of French Language films from around the French-speaking world. A window for French films abroad, FFC 2016 is committed to the challenging and diverse landscape of French cinema today featuring some of the most critically acclaimed and politically charged cinema of the moment. Curating from among the very best master filmmakers as well as fresh young voices, the five-day festival returns in 2016 with a “cutting edge “ selection of feature films winning a total of 15 César awards with 45 César nominations, an Oscar nomination and an award-winning selection of short films with an ongoing focus on animation. In a world awash in ubiquitous streaming content, FFC has doubled its mission to present a unique and exclusive selection of films along with the possibility for our audience (5,000 in 5 days) to meet actors, directors, producers, and screenwriters in person. FFC broadened our offerings in 2016 with a “Spotlight on Lebanese Cinema” and a continued commitment to the expansion of the French language and culture. Celebrating 12 years of success, Focus on French Cinema 2016 presents a compelling, contemporary, and challenging landscape of the French-speaking world. The Focus on French Cinema festival is organized by a team of committed volunteers and takes place at Greenwich’s Bow Tie Cinemas, The Avon Theatre Film Center in Stamford, CT, and FIAF in New York.
From the Opening Night Gala celebration of “Film To Table” orchestrated by Les Maitres Cuisiniers de France, L’Academie Culinaire de France, and The New England Culinary Institute to the “Spotlight on Lebanese Cinema”, Round Table Discussions and Q&A for moviegoers with directors, actors, producers, writers, musicians, and film professionals from French-speaking countries including France, Belgium, Switzerland, Lebanon, The Democratic Republic of Congo, and Canada, Focus on French Cinema is a premiere platform for discussion, debate, and discovery of the French-speaking world and beyond.
This year FFC opens with the U.S. premiere of Christian Carion’s epic war drama, Come What May (En Mai, fais ce qu’il te plait), starring Olivier Gourmet, at the Bow Tie Cinemas in Greenwich, CT. Closing Night will feature The Assistant (La Volante), presented by Focus on French Cinema 2016 Honorary Guest, Nathalie Baye, at the French Institute Alliance Française (FIAF) Florence Gould Hall in Manhattan.
North American and U.S. Premieres include: Tomorrow (Demain) winner of the César for best documentary, shocked by a major scientific study warning of a 6th extinction, filmmakers, Cyril Dion and Mélanie Laurent join forces as everyman investigators in a journey that will eventually traverse ten countries in search of practical solutions. Through positive and concrete initiatives, we see glimpses of what a better tomorrow will look like; Come What May (En Mai, Fais Ce Qu’Il Te Plait) directed by Christian Carion, takes place in May 1940 as German forces roll into France. Led by their reluctant Mayor (Olivier Gourmet), the inhabitants of a small Northern French village are forced to flee with millions of others throughout the country; Vanitas (La Vanité) directed by Lionel Baier is the story of a terminally ill architect, David Miller, who decides to die on his terms. With Esperenza (Carmen Maura), a member of a local euthanasia association, and Tréplev, a young male prostitute, David finds unexpected comfort and solidarity with strangers; One Man and His Cow (La Vache) directed by Mohamed Hamidi follows Fatah, an Algerian farmer with dreams of bringing his cow Jacqueline to Paris for the Agricultural Fair… an unexpected journey full of tenderness in France today; My Internship in Canada (Guibord s’en va-t-en guerre) directed by Philippe Falardeau tells the story of and idealistic young Haitian who travels to Québec to intern for an independent member of Parliament when a national dispute erupts that finds the MP holding the tie-breaking vote; Marseille, directed by Kad Mirad follows Paolo (Kad Mirad) leaving his calm life in Canada to return to the bedside of his dying father… arriving in Marseille reconciles him with a city he never wanted to leave… Marseille; Prejudice (Préjudice) directed by Antoine Cuypers, introduces us to thirty-year-old Cédric who still lives with his family… between taboo subjects and paranoia, revolt and pretenses, where will a family go to preserve balance…; The Valley (La Vallée), directed by Ghassan Salhab- features a car crash in the middle of Lebanon’s Beqaa Valley, where an amnesiac man finds himself held hostage on a local farm that doubles as an illegal drug–production facility; The Assistant (La Volante) directed by Christophe Ali and Nicolas Bonilauri, features Nathalie Baye as Marie France, a mother haunted by an accident that took the life of her son… maternal rage in a pure classic thriller “a la Hitchcock”; Call My Agent! (Dix Percent) directed by Cédric Klapisch and Lola Doillon is the rage in France. Produced by FFC partner, Dominique Besnehard, 10% takes us into the intense and madcap world of talent agents… a feast of cameos including Nathalie Baye, Cécile de France, Françoise Fabien, Line Renaud, Gilles Lellouche, Laura Smet and more; Hopefully (Encore Heureux) directed by Benoit Graffin is a crazy comedy… Marie (Sandrine Kiberlain) and her unemployed ex-CEO husband (Edouard Baier) confront an unexpected event…
Film Makers and talent in attendance: honorary guest Nathalie Baye, actress, The Assistant (La Volante), Prejudice (Préjudice), The Return of Martin Guerre (Le Retour de Martin Guerre); Dominique Besnehard, producer and festival partner, Call My Agent (Ten Percent) Mes Voisins Productions; Lionel Baier, Director, Vanitas (La Vanité); Benoit Graffin Hopefully, (Encore Heureux), Christian Carion, Benoit Graffin, DirectorDirector and Matthew Rhys, Actor, Come What May (En Mai, Fais ce Qu’il Te Plait); Cyril Dion, Director and Director Actress, Mélanie Laurent, Tomorrow (Demain); Alix Delaporte, Director, The Last Hammer Blow (Le Dernier Coup de Marteau); Carlos Chahine, The Valley (La Vallée), Benoit Graffin, director Hopefully( Encore Heureux) and others…
The selection also includes Cowboys (Les Cowboys), celebrated French screenwriter Thomas Bidegain’s directorial debut drama nominated for four Césars; Marguerite, Xavier Giannoli’s comedy-drama starring Catherine Frot, winner of the César for Best Actress; Standing Tall (La Tete Haute) winner of the César for Best Supporting Actor (Benoit Magimel), Best Sound (François Musy and Gabriel Hafner), Best Costumes (Pierre- Jean Larroque), Best Newcomer, Rod Paradot; Mustang, César winner for Best Original Screenplay (Deniz Gamze Erguven, Alice Winokur), Best First Film (Deniz Gamze Erguven), Best Editing (Mathilde Van De Moortel) and Best Original Music (Warren Ellis); My Golden Days (Trois Souvenirs de ma Jeunesse), César for Best Director (Arnauld Desplechin); The Man who Mends Women: The Wrath of Hippocrates (L’Homme Que Répare les Femmes), Thierry Michel’s documentary on the internationally known Doctor Mukwege in the Democratic Republic of Congo; The Return of Martin Guerre (Le Retour de Martin Guerre), Daniel Vigne’s classic starring FFC honorary guest Nathalie Baye.
SPOTLIGHT ON LEBANESE CINEMA: In 2016, Focus on French Cinema (FFC) honored the cinema of Lebanon. One of the most culturally, religiously, and linguistically diverse countries in the Middle East, Lebanon has produced, since the 1920’s a unique selection of over 500 films. This year, FFC highlights Lebanese Cinema as the cinema of the future. “Over the last thirty years, Lebanese Cinema has acted as a commentator on the development of the sectarian conflict in Lebanon; on the normalization of war; on the reconstruction of Lebanon in the postwar period; and in the way that war still lurks in every corner of today’s Lebanon. Despite borders with Syria and Israel, a Civil War (1975-1990), that destroyed the economic infrastructure, and a recent flood of Syrian war refugees that places Lebanon with the highest concentration of refugees as a percentage of the population in the world (over 1,000,000), Lebanese Cinema continues to confront head-on not only the ghosts of the past but the need for a high level of self-reflection and healing”. This year, as we welcome Director and Actor, Nadine Labaki, and Actor, Carlos Chahine, we hope to communicate the importance of Lebanese cinema in the context of the history and the future of Lebanon. The Lebanese slate will be announced soon.
EDUCATION INITIATIVE: Focus on French Cinema (FFC) opened in a university theater in 2005 with the mission of promoting French language and culture through cinema. Over 7,500 students have participated in the festival over the past 11 years. As FFC continues to advance into the next decade, the festival continues to expand its educational outreach program with screenings in 2016 for over 1,500 middle school, high school, and university students. The educational initiative for FFC offers students of all ages the opportunity to explore French and Francophone cultures through workshops with our “guests”, internships, a “Be A Film Critic Contest”, and master classes, continuing to broaden their education and cultivate the next generation of cinéphiles. Multiple screenings throughout the metropolitan this year will be highlighted by the U.S. Premiere of Tomorrow (Demain) at the United Nations in Manhattan and at our Friday, April 5 “ Educational Screening”
PARTNERS:
The Alliance Française of Greenwich, CT
Since 2005, The Alliance Française of Greenwich has presented Focus on French Cinema, the largest Francophone festival presented by an Alliance Française in North America. The Alliance Française of Greenwich was founded in 1918 as a non-profit organization with a mission to encourage and develop knowledge of the French language and French and Francophone cultures and to foster cultural, intellectual, and artistic exchanges between the United States and French-speaking countries. www.afgreenwich.org
Le Festival du Film Francophone d’Angoulême
Le Festival du Film Francophone d’Angoulême joined Focus on French Cinema as a partner in 2014 for the 10th anniversary. Created by Marie- France Brière, Dominique Besnehard, and Patrick Mardikian in 2008, Le Festival du Film Francophone d’Angoulême is France’s premiere Francophone film festival that welcomes close to 50,000 cinéphiles to the city of Angoulême during the last week of August. “I hope that someday the French town of Angoulême becomes the sister city of Greenwich. It has been a pleasure to collaborate with FFC for this new edition of the Focus on French Cinema”. Dominique Besnehard.
Cultural Services of the French Embassy
The Cultural Services is a division of the French Embassy in the United States that provides a platform for exchange and innovation between French and American artists, intellectuals, educators, students, the tech community, and the general public. Based in New York City, Washington D.C., and eight other cities across the U.S., the Cultural Services develops the cultural economy by focusing on six principal fields of action, the arts, literature, cinema, the digital sphere, French language, and higher Education.
Unifrance Films
Founded in 1949, Unifrance Films is a government–sponsored association of French film industry professionals dedicated to the international promotion of French films. Unifrance provides financial and logistical support to theatrical distributors and major film festivals showcasing new and recent French cinema throughout the world and a French film festival online.
The French Institute Alliance Française (FIAF)
The French Institute Alliance Française (FIAF) is New York’s premiere French Cultural Center. FIAF’s mission is to create and offer New Yorkers innovative and unique programs in education and the arts that explore the evolving diversity and richness of French cultures. FIAF seeks to generate new ideas and promote cross-cultural dialogue through partnerships and new platforms of expression.
Purchase College, State University of New York
Purchase College is a four-year college located in Purchase, New York. Founded by Governor Nelson Rockefeller in 1967 as a cultural gem of the SUNY system, one of 13 comprehensive colleges in the State University of New York, Purchase College offers a unique education that combines programs in the liberal arts with conservatory programs in the arts in ways that emphasize inquiry, mastery of skills and creativity. Focus on French Cinema opened at Purchase College in 2005 and has had a long-standing relationship with the School of Film and Media Studies houses undergraduate programs in cinema studies; film; media, society, the arts, and new media.
FILM SELECTION:
U.S. PREMIERE – OPENING NIGHT FILM – APRIL 1 - BOW TIE CINEMAS, GREENWICH, CT
Come What May (En Mai, Fais ce qu’il te plait)
Genre: Drama- War- Epic
Director: Christian Carion
Screenplay: Christian Carion, Andrew Bampfield and Laure Irrmann Carion
Starring: Oliver Gourmet, Mathilde Seigner, Mathieu Rhys
Country: France
Release – North American Premiere
Running Time: 114 Minutes
U.S. Premiere
GUESTS: Christian Carion and Matthew Rhys
May 1940: German forces roll into France. Led by their reluctant Mayor (Olivier Gourmet), the inhabitants of a small Northern French village are forced to flee. With a transporting score by Oscar-winning composer, Ennio Morricone, and lush cinematography by Pierre Cottereau, Come What May celebrates everyday acts of resilience and heroism that ordinary people carry out in the face of life-alternating historical events.
Tomorrow (Demain) FESTIVAL EVE SCREENING AT UNITED NATIONS – MARCH 31
Genre: Documentary
Directors: Cyril Dion and Mélanie Laurent
Screenplay: Cyril Dion
Country: France
Running Time: 118 Minutes
U.S. Premiere
UN SCREENING INTRODUCED BY CYRIL DION AND MELANIE LAURENT WITH A PANEL DISCUSSION TO FOLLOW WITH UN SPECIALISTS ON THE SOLUTIONS FOR GLOBAL ENVIRONMENTAL AND SOCIAL CHALLENGES OF THE 21ST CENTURY
Winner of the César for Best Documentary, Demain (Tomorrow), Cyril Dion and Mélanie Laurent join forces as everyman investigators in a journey that traverses ten countries in search of practical solutions for a scientific study warning of the possibility of a 6th extinction.
Along the way, they meet pioneers who are reinventing agriculture, energy, democracy, and education, offering small solutions for a big world. Through these positive and concrete initiatives, we see a glimpse of what a better tomorrow will look like…
Marguerite
Genre: Comedy – Drama
Director: Xavier Giannoli
Screenplay: Xavaier Giannoli and Marcia Romano
Starring: Catherine Frot, André Marcon, Michel Fau, Christa Théret
Country: France- Belgium- Czech Republic
Running Time: 129 minutes
CT Premiere
Catherine Frot (Winner of the César for Best Actress) plays Marguerite Dumont, a wealthy woman in 1920’s Paris who has a passion for singing opera. For years, she has sung in private concerts for close friends, none of whom dare to tell her that she sings completely off-key. When a young avant-garde journalist decides to write a rave review, Marguerite gains the confidence to perform in public at the Paris Opera. Inspired by the true story of Florence Foster Jenkins.
The Last Hammer Blow (Le Dernier Coup de Marteau)
Genre: Drama
Director: Alix Delaporte
Screenplay: Alix Delaporte and Alain Le Henry
Starring: Clothilde Esme, Grégory Gadebois and Romain Paul
Country: France
CT Premiere
GUEST: ALIX DELAPORTE
Director Alix Delaporte reunites her ensemble cast from Angèle et Tony (FFC 2013) for a deeply moving father/son story. Victor lives with his ailing mother in a trailer by the beach. When one day he wanders into the Montpelier Opera and becomes transfixed by the music of Mahler’s 6th Symphony, little does he know that he and the maestro have an intimate connection.
Cowboys (Les Cowboys)
Genre: Thriller- Drama
Director: Thomas Bidegain
Screenplay: Thomas Bidegain and Noé Debré
Starring: François Damiens, Finnegan Oldfield and John C. Reilly
Country: France-Belgium
CT Premiere
At a country western gathering in Eastern France, Alain’s (François Damiens) daughter mysteriously disappears. Discovering that she has eloped with her Muslim boyfriend, he sets off on an obsessive search reminiscent of John Ford’s, The Searchers, except this time the destination is war-torn Afghanistan. Acclaimed screenwriter, Thomas Bidegain in his directorial debut film transports the most American of genres, the Western to a post-9/11 world.
The Assistant (La Volante) - CLOSING NIGHT US PREMIERE AT FIAF
Genre: Thriller - Drama
Directors: Christophe Ali and Nicolas Bonilauri
Screenplay: Christophe Ali, Nicolas Bonilauri, Philippe Blasband and Jacques Sotty
Starring: Nathalie Baye, Malik Zidi, Johan Leysen, Sabrina Seyvecou
Country: France, Belgium, Luxembourg
U.S. Premiere
GUEST – NATHALIE BAYE
With his wife in labor, father-to-be, Thomas speeds to the hospital, and in the process accidentally kills a young man on the road. That death sets into motion events that will change everyone’s lives forever, including the young man’s mother Marie- France( Nathalie Baye), who cannot recover from the trauma. Nine years later, Marie-France takes a job as Thomas’ secretary without him knowing about her connection to his past. As Marie-France’s maternal rage reaches tragic proportions, she insinuates herself into his life, his work, and his family in a classic thriller “ a la
Hitchcock.
Prejudice (Préjudice)
Director: Antoine Cuypers
Screenplay: Antoine Cuypers, Antoine Wauters
Starring: Nathalie Baye, Arno Hintjens and Thomas Blanchard
Country: Belgium, Luxembourg, Netherlands
U.S. Premiere
During a family meal, thirty-year-old Cédric, who still lives with his parents, learns that his sister is expecting a baby. While everyone rejoices with the good news, Cédric is overcome with resentment that turns to fury. He attempts to establish, in the eyes of his family, the continual prejudice that he feels has victimized him. Between taboo subjects and paranoia, revolt, and pretenses, just where would a family willingly go to preserve balance…
Hopefully (Encore Heureux)
Genre: Comedy
Director: Benoit Graffin
Screenplay: Mika Tard, Deborah Saiag, Nicolas Bedos and Benoit Graffin
Starring: Sandrine Kiberlain, Edouard Baier and Carla Besnaiou
Country: France
U.S. Premiere
Marie, Sam, and their two children live a comfortable life when suddenly Sam loses his job. This witty ”dramedy “follows their social switch from the middle-upper class to the lower class and presents some surprises…through the social and economic ordeals of a regular Parisian family, a story of love and family emerges…
GUEST: BENOIT GRAFFIN
Standing Tall (La Tête Haute)
Genre: Drama
Director: Emmanuelle Bercot
Screenplay: Emmanuelle Bercot and Marcia Romano
Starring: Catherine Deneuve, Rod Paridot, Benoit Magimel and Sara Forestier
Country: France
CT Premiere
Malony (César winner Rod Paridot) grows up in the North of France with no family structure and a junkie Mother. With the help of a children’s magistrate (Catherine Deneuve) and a caseworker (Benoit Magimel), Malony has the chance to live life differently and survive his self-hatred…This eye-opening film on social services in the French legal system is brilliantly cast and is a testament to hope while on the edge of your seat
Vanitas (La Vanité)
Genre: Drama-Comedy
Director: Lionel Baier
Screenplay: Julien Bouissoux and Lionel Baier
Starring: Carmen Maura, Patrick Lipp, and Ivan Georgiev
Country: Switzerland-France
U.S. Premiere
GUEST: LIONEL BAIER
Terminally ill David Miller decides to die on his terms. With Esperanza (Carmen Maura), a member of the local euthanasia association, and Tréplev, a young male prostitute, David finds unexpected comfort and solidarity with strangers. Through the film title, director Lionel Baier evokes the Dutch and Flemish still life paintings that allegorize the ephemeral nature of human satisfaction and achievement, and yet the film remains with the viewer, long after the image has dissolved…
Mustang - Oscar Nominee
Genre: Drama
Director: Deniz Gamze Erguven
Screenplay: Deniz Gamze Erguven amd Alice Winokur
Starring: Gunes Sensoy. Doga Doguslu, Elit Iscan, Tugba Sungurogl, Ilayda Akdogan
Country: France, Germany Turkey
Our Oscar Nominee, Mustang, shows the beginning of summer in a Northern Turkish village…
Lale and her four sisters innocently play with schoolboys on their way home from school. Their game ignites a scandal with unexpected consequences and from that moment forward, their lives will change forever. In this sincere, emotional, and occasionally light-hearted treatment of women’s lives in Northern Turkey, five sisters, sparked with a fire for freedom challenge the rules and impositions of their family and culture…
Belle et Sebastian: The Adventure Continue (Belle et Sébastian: l’aventure continue)
Genre: Family – Adventure
Director: Christian Duguay
Country: France
CT Premiere
September 1945. In the village, everyone is celebrating the end of the war. Sebastian is older and he and Belle are waiting impatiently for Angelina to return but she never reaches Saint Martin. There is terrible news: Angelina was lost when her plane crashed deep in the Transalpine forest.
As all the villagers mourn her loss, Belle and Sebastian set off to rescue her facing almost insurmountable dangers and a “ secret” that will change their lives forever. The adventure continues.
Call My Agent! (Dix pour cent) – 10 %
Genre: Comedy
Director – Cédric Klapish and Lola Doillon
Cast: Nathalie Baye, Cécile de France, Françoise Fabian, Line Renaud, Joey Starr, Gilles Lellouche, Camille Cottin, Thibault De Montalembert, Laura Smet , François Berléand
Country: France
U.S. Premiere
GUESTS: DOMINIQUE BESNEHARD, (Producer Mon Voisin Productions) and NATHALIE BAYE
For the first time in the history of French television, 10 % plunges us into the intense and madcap world of talent agents as we meet four colleagues who struggle to save their agency’s reputation after its founder’s death. With humor and wit, the agency partners juggle their chaotic personal lives with the needs of the demanding celebrities that they represent. A feast of cameos, French movie stars play tongue-in-cheek versions of themselves in the innovative comedy that has been the Fall season’s entertainment event in France. Produced by former agent to the stars, Dominique Besnehard.
The Valley (La Vallée)
Genre: Drama
Director: Ghassan Salhab
Screenplay: Ghassan Salhab
Starring: Carol Abboud, Fadi Abi Samra, Aouni Kawas, Carlos Chahine
U.S. Premiere
GUEST: CARLOS CHAHINE
Following a car accident on a lone mountain road in the Bekka Valley in Lebanon, a middle-aged man loses his memory. Drenched in blood, he continues to walk along the deserted path where he encounters people with engine trouble and helps them get their cars running again. They are reluctant to leave him stranded and take him home to their estate, a place where production is not only agricultural, and a place he may never leave again.
My Golden Days (Trois Souvenirs de Ma Jeunesse)
Genre: Drama-Comedy
Director: Arnauld Desplechin
Screenplay: Arnaud Desplechin and Julie Peyr
Starring: Mathieu Amalric, Quentin Dolmaire, Lou Roy Lecollinet,Dinara Droukarova
Country: France
CT Premiere
My Golden Days is the story of Paul Dédalus, an anthropologist preparing to leave Tajikistan (played in his middle age by Mathieu Amalric). Reflecting on his life, he has a series of flashbacks starting from his childhood in Roubaix--his mother’s attacks of madness, and his father's alienating depression. He remembers a student trip to the USSR, where a clandestine mission led him to offer up his own identity for a young Russian, whom he considered a phantom twin for the remainder of his life. He remembers university life, and returning to his hometown party with his sister and her best friend, his shifting circle of friends, and their casual betrayals. And most of all he remembers Esther, the beautiful, rude, haughty soul and love of his life.
The Man Who Mends Women: The Wrath of Hippocrates (L’Homme qui répare les femmes)
Genre: Documentary
Director: Thierry Michel
Screenplay: Thierry Michel and Colette Braekman
Starring: Doctor Denis Mukwege
Country: Belgium, Congo, USA
CT Premiere
Doctor Denis Mukwege is internationally known as the man who mends thousands of women raped during the vaginal warfare that is part of the conflicts of the Democratic Republic of Congo, one of the poorest countries on the planet despite its wealth of natural resources. Threatened with death by the government, Dr. Mukwege lives under the protection of the United Nations in the hospital where he works in Bukavu where he continues to work to restore dignity and honor to victimized women… This film is about the depth of the human spirit in the face of the brutal exploitation of women.
GUEST: DR.CLAUDE ROSENTHAL, President of Gynecologie Sans Frontières (Obstetricians Without Borders).
The Return of Martin Guerre (Le Retour de Martin Guerre)
Genre: Historical Drama
Director: Daniel Vigne
Screenplay: Daniel Vigne, Jean-Claude Carriere
Starring: Nathalie Baye, Gerard Dépardieu
Country: France
U.S. Premiere of NEW Digital Restoration
During the middle of the 16th century, Martin Guerre returned to his village in southwestern France after being away in the war for almost a decade. The villagers who knew him suspect that he is not Martin, but he seems to know all about his friends, his family, and his new wife, even the most unusual things. Is this man Martin Guerre? See this classic film as never before in a new, pristine digital restoration starring two actors who would go on to become legends, Gerard Depardieu and Nathalie Baye.
My Internship in Canada (Guibord s’en va-t-en guerre)
Genre: Comedy
Director: Philippe Falardeau
Screenplay: Philippe Falardeau
Starring: Patrick Huard, Suzanne Clement, Irdens Exantus, Clemence Dufresne-Deliveries
Country: Canada
U.S. Premiere
An idealistic young Haitian, Sovereign,(Irdens Exantus), travels to rural Quebec to intern for independent Member of Parliament, Steve Guibord (Patrick Huarad), when a national debate erupts that finds the MP holding the tie-breaker vote. Guibord is beset with demands, pleas, and threats and as he struggles with the local repercussions, it is his young intern who sees the bigger picture. A wry and lighthearted view of the clash of culture and politics far from the urban centers of power. My Internship in Canada imagines the possibilities and limitations of democracy in our contemporary political landscape.
Marseille (Marseille)
Genre: Comedy
Director: Kad Merad
Screenplay: Kad Merad, Patrick Bosso, Judith El Zein
Country: France
U.S. Premiere
Under pressure from his brother, Joseph, whom he hasn’t seen for twenty-five years, Paolo resigns himself to leave behind the calm and harmonious life in Canada for a few days and return to the bedside of his dying father. Arriving in Marseille with his son, he is determined to not linger in this city that he fled many years earlier after a dramatic episode. But he hadn’t anticipated the affection his family would bestow upon him after all these years, the romantic encounter with a young woman, or the joyful and simple solidarity of Marseille folk, all of which would reconcile him to this city that he never wanted to leave…Marseille.
For more information on Focus on French Cinema 2016 visit www.focusonfrenchcinema.com