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French Film Festival · 2020

French Film Festival 2020

Panorama

Programme

16 films · 3 reviews

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De Gaulle

Historic drama set in 1940, as De Gaulle joins the government in Paris.

(Country: France; Year: 2020; Director: Gabriel Le Bomin; Writer: Gabriel Le Bomin, Valérie Ranson-Enguiale, Gabriel Le Bomin, Valérie Ranson-Enguiale; Stars: Lambert Wilson, Isabelle Carré, Olivier Gourmet, Catherine Mouchet, Pierre Hancisse, Sophie Quinton, Gilles Cohen, Laurent Stocker, Alain Lenglet, Philippine Leroy-Beaulieu, Tim Hudson, Nicolas Vaude, Philippe Laudenbach, Clémence Hittin, Félix Back)

A Friendly Tale (Le bonheur des uns...)

Comedy of manners centred on two couples.

(Country: France; Year: 2020; Director: Daniel Cohen; Writer: Daniel Cohen, Olivier Dazat; Stars: Bérénice Bejo, Vincent Cassel, François Damiens, Florence Foresti, Daniel Cohen, Keren-Ann Zajtelbach, Owen Tannou, Romain Cottard, Alice Carel, Bruno Gouery, Constance Labbé, François-Eric Gendron, Angelina Wismes, Anne-Gaëlle Jourdain, Laurent Mentec)

Gloria Mundi

In Marseille, a family gathers for the birth of baby Gloria. But despite the joy, they have fallen on hard times. However Gloria’s ambitious uncle has a new business idea, which could be a way out of their tough situation.

(Country: France; Year: 2019; Director: Robert Guédiguian; Writer: Robert Guédiguian, Serge Valletti; Stars: Ariane Ascaride, Jean-Pierre Darroussin, Gérard Meylan, Anaïs Demoustier, Robinson Stévenin, Lola Naymark, Grégoire Leprince-Ringuet, Angelica Sarre, Pauline Caupenne, Yann Trégouët, Mathilde Ulmer, Diouc Koma, Adrien Jolivet, Karine Angeon, Ferdinand Verhaeghe)

The Good Wife (La bonne épouse, How To Be A Good Wife)

A woman in Sixties France who runs a school aiming to train girls to be housewives, begins to question her beliefs.

(Country: France; Year: 2020; Director: Martin Provost; Writer: Martin Provost, Séverine Werba; Stars: Juliette Binoche, Yolande Moreau, Noémie Lvovsky, Edouard Baer, François Berléand, Marie Zabukovec, Anamaria Vartolomei, Lily Taieb, Pauline Briand, Armelle, Marine Berlanger, Clémence Blondeau, Marie Cornillon, Lauren Deguitre, Clémentine Delange)

Home Front (Des Hommes)

1960 Bernard, Rabut, Février and many others were called up to fight in the Algerian War. Two years later, they returned to France. They said nothing and got on with their lives. But forty years on, it takes only very little for the past to overwhelm them.

(Country: France, Belgium; Year: 2020; Director: Lucas Belvaux; Writer: Lucas Belvaux, Laurent Mauvignier; Stars: Gérard Depardieu, Catherine Frot, Jean-Pierre Darroussin, Yoann Zimmer, Félix Kysyl, Edouard Sulpice, Fleur Fitoussi, Ahmed Hammoud, Clotilde Mollet, Amelle Chahbi, Mohamed Kafi, Farid Larbi, Michel Ferracci, Jérôme Robart, Catherine Chevallier)

The Lost Prince (Le Prince oublié)

A widowed dad tries to find new ways to connect with his daughter as she reaches adolescence.

(Country: France, Belgium; Year: 2020; Director: Michel Hazanavicius; Writer: Noé Debré, Michel Hazanavicius, Michel Hazanavicius, Bruno Merle; Stars: Omar Sy, Bérénice Bejo, François Damiens, Sarah Gaye, Keyla Fala, Néotis Ronzon, Philippe Vieux, Philippe Uchan, Lionel Laget, Philippe Hérisson, Asia Amans, Mustapha Abourachid, Warren Zavatta, William Gay, Olivier Merle)

Love Affair(s) (The Things We Say, the Things We Do, Les choses qu'on dit, les choses qu'on fait)

Review preview for Love Affair(s)

Too much and over the top, the film nevertheless finds its rhythm.

Anne-Katrin Titze · 4 out of 5
François has to rush back to Paris to cover for a sick colleague, leaving his partner Daphné, three months pregnant, to welcome his cousin, Maxime. In the four days till Francois’ return Daphné and Maxime get to know each other, sharing increasingly intimate stories that bring them closer.

(Country: France; Year: 2020; Director: Emmanuel Mouret; Writer: Emmanuel Mouret; Stars: Camélia Jordana, Niels Schneider, Vincent Macaigne, Émilie Dequenne, Jenna Thiam, Guillaume Gouix, Julia Piaton, Jean-Baptiste Anoumon, Louis-Do de Lencquesaing, Claude Pommereau)

Full review

Mama Weed

An underpaid, overworked woman gets involved in the world of drug trafficking.

(Country: France; Year: 2020; Director: Jean-Paul Salomé; Writer: Hannelore Cayre, Antoine Salomé, Jean-Paul Salomé, Jean-Paul Salomé; Stars: Isabelle Huppert, Hippolyte Girardot, Farida Ouchani, Liliane Rovère, Iris Bry, Nadja Nguyen, Rebecca Marder, Rachid Guellaz, Mourad Boudaoud, Youssef Sahraoui, Kamel Guenfoud, Abbes Zahmani, Yann Sundberg, Michaël Louchart, Raphaël Quenard)

Les Misérables

Review preview for Les Misérables

Ly wanted the people who have lived in these schemes to have the chance to tell their own stories, which gives Les Misérables an unerring sense of authenticity.

Richard Mowe · 4 out of 5
A man joins an anti-crime brigade and rapidly discovers the tensions between the various neighbourhood groups.

(Country: France; Year: 2019; Director: Ladj Ly; Writer: Ladj Ly, Giordano Gederlini, Alexis Menenti; Stars: Damien Bonnard, Alexis Manenti, Djibril Zonga)

Full review See: Interview with Djebril Zonga, Alexis Manenti and Damien Bonnard about Les Misérables

Night Shift (Police)

Three Parisian police officers are charged with escorting a foreigner back to the border.

(Country: France, Belgium, China; Year: 2020; Director: Anne Fontaine; Writer: Claire Barré, Hugo Boris, Anne Fontaine; Stars: Virginie Efira, Omar Sy, Grégory Gadebois, Payman Maadi, Elisa Lasowski, Emmanuel Barrouyer, Anne-Pascale Clairembourg, Anne-Gaëlle Jourdain, Cécile Rebboah, Cédric Vieira, Thierry Levaret, Aurore Broutin, Gwenaël Clause, Damien Abysique, Tadrina Hocking)

Notre Dame

A single mother and struggling architect who wins a competition to redesign the esplanade in front of Notre Dame... but the project becomes a media scandal.

(Country: France, Belgium; Year: 2019; Director: Valérie Donzelli; Writer: Benjamin Charbit, Benjamin Charbit, Benjamin Charbit, Valérie Donzelli, Valérie Donzelli, Valérie Donzelli; Stars: Valérie Donzelli, Pierre Deladonchamps, Thomas Scimeca, Bouli Lanners, Virginie Ledoyen, Isabelle Candelier, Philippe Katerine, Claude Perron, Samir Guesmi, Pauline Serieys, Nafsica Labrakos, Benjamin Ewers, Astien Bosche, Léo Poulet, Fabrice Michel)

Small Country: An African Childhood

Gabriel, aged 10, lives in a comfortable expatriate neighbourhood in Burund with his French entrepreneur father and Rwandan mother.. Until tensions in neighbouring Rwanda spill over.

(Country: France, Belgium; Year: 2020; Director: Eric Barbier; Writer: Eric Barbier, Gaël Faye; Stars: Jean-Paul Rouve, Isabelle Kabano, Djibril Vancoppenolle, Dayla De Medina, Tao Monladja, Veronika Varga, John Biniyer, Benny Bumako, Brian Gakwavu, Michel Goffin, Kenny Hubbawive, Nelson Membe, Ruben Ruhanamilindi, Jean-Paul Rouve, Isabelle Kabano)

The Specials (Hors Normes)

For twenty years, Bruno and Malik have lived in a different world — the world of autistic children and teens. In charge of two separate nonprofit organizations (The Hatch & The Shelter), they train young people from underprivileged areas to be caregivers for extreme cases.

(Country: France; Year: 2019; Director: Olivier Nakache, Éric Toledano; Writer: Olivier Nakache, Éric Toledano; Stars: Vincent Cassel, Reda Kateb, Aloïse Sauvage, Mirabela Vian, Vincent Cassel, Reda Kateb, Aloïse Sauvage, Mirabela Vian)

Spread Your Wings (Donne moi des ailes)

A sulky teenager finds himself unexpectedly involved in his father's project to train a flock of geese to take a new migration path.

(Country: France, Norway; Year: 2019; Director: Nicolas Vanier; Writer: Lilou Fogli, Lilou Fogli, Christian Moullec, Matthieu Petit, Nicolas Vanier, Nicolas Vanier; Stars: Jean-Paul Rouve, Mélanie Doutey, Louis Vazquez, Lilou Fogli, Frédéric Saurel, Grégori Baquet, Dominique Pinon, Ariane Pirié, Philippe Magnan, Cédric Meusburger, Jean-Paul Rouve, Mélanie Doutey, Louis Vazquez, Lilou Fogli, Frédéric Saurel)

Three Days And A Life (Trois jours une vie)

It is Christmas 1999 in a small village in the Ardennes, a seemingly safe provincial world, where everyone knows one another and follows the other’s movements. It is a cotton-wool-wrapped microcosm which is one day rocked by the inexplicable disappearance of a four-year-old boy.

(Country: France, Belgium; Year: 2019; Director: Nicolas Boukhrief; Writer: Pierre Lemaitre, Pierre Lemaitre, Perrine Margaine, Pierre Lemaitre, Perrine Margaine; Stars: Sandrine Bonnaire, Pablo Pauly, Charles Berling, Philippe Torreton, Margot Bancilhon, Jeremy Senez, Dimitri Storoge, Arben Bajraktaraj, Yoann Blanc, Igor van Dessel, Murielle Texier, Pauline Sakellaridis, Léo Lévy, Stéphanie Van Vyve, Alice D'Hauwe)

The Translators (Les Traducteurs)

Review preview for The Translators

This starts as a chamber mystery about blackmail where everyone involved is massively aware of genre conventions, and from there furls and folds into something else.

Andrew Robertson · 3.5 out of 5
To ensure absolute secrecy for the global publication of a bestseller, nine skilled translators are invited to a remote location. They are given a number of pages to translate each day. There is no contact with the outside world. Then the publisher receives a blackmail demand, threatening to release the manuscript online.

(Country: France, Belgium; Year: 2019; Director: Régis Roinsard; Writer: Romain Compingt, Daniel Presley, Régis Roinsard; Stars: Alex Lawther, Olga Kurylenko, Riccardo Scamarcio)

Full review