Skip to main content

French Film Festival · 2021

French Film Festival 2021

Discovery

Programme

11 films · 8 reviews

Jump to a film

Between Two Worlds (Ouistreham)

Review preview for Between Two Worlds

Binoche gives her all, stripping away any vestiges of actressy pretence to assimilate herself in the community while at the same time investing her performance with an authentic conviction.

Richard Mowe · 4 out of 5
Marianne Winckler, a well-known author, goes to live in northern France to research for her new book on the subject of job insecurity. Without revealing her true identity, she gets hired as a cleaner, working with a group of other women.

(Country: France; Year: 2021; Director: Emmanuel Carrère; Writer: Florence Aubenas, Emmanuel Carrère, Hélène Devynck; Stars: Juliette Binoche)

Full review See: Juliette Binoche on Between Two Worlds

The Big Hit

Review preview for The Big Hit

Less would be more, as Beckett knew all too well.

Amber Wilkinson · 3 out of 5
Drama about a prison theatre workshop, who are staging Waiting For Godot.

(Country: France; Year: 2020; Director: Emmanuel Courcol; Writer: Khaled Amara, Emmanuel Courcol, Thierry de Carbonnières; Stars: Kad Merad, David Ayala, Lamine Cissokho, Sofian Khammes, Pierre Lottin, Wabinlé Nabié, Aleksandr Medvedev, Saïd Benchnafa, Marina Hands, Laurent Stocker, Mathilde Courcol-Rozès, Catherine Lascault, Yvon Martin, Adama Bathily, Brigitte Froment)

Full review

Good Mother (Bonne Mère)

After her son is arrested in a gas station robbery, housekeeper Nora does everything she can to help him as he remains incarcerated awaiting trial.

(Country: France; Year: 2021; Director: Hafsia Herzi; Writer: Hafsia Herzi; Stars: Sabrina Benhamed)

Ibrahim

A youngster who gets on the wrong side of the law is determined to make it up to his father.

(Country: France; Year: 2020; Director: Samir Guesmi; Writer: Rosa Attab, Samir Guesmi, Camille Lugan, Sylvie Verheyde; Stars: Abdel Bendaher, Samir Guesmi, Rabah Nait Oufella, Luàna Bajrami, Philippe Rebbot, Marilyne Canto, Souad Arsane, Florence Loiret Caille, Djemel Barek, Jean-Charles Clichet, Riton Liebman, Farid Bouzenad, Abdelkrim Grini, Youssouf Gueye, David Loyola)

Playground (Un Monde)

Review preview for Playground

This is the playground as a warzone, where the sandpit might, indeed, be as deep as the sea and hold dead bodies and where adult authority might only make things worse.

Amber Wilkinson · 4.5 out of 5
A little girl faces a moral dilemma after she sees her brother being bullied.

(Country: Belgium; Year: 2021; Director: Laura Wandel; Writer: Laura Wandel; Stars: Maya Vanderbeque, Günter Duret, Lena Girard Voss, Laura Verlinden, Karim Leklou)

Full review See: Playground politics: Laura Wandel on bullying and working with children on her first feature

Promises (Les promesses)

Review preview for Promises

If Kruithof’s main ambition with Promises is to make audiences debate and ponder over the relationships between politicians and the public then it is definitely succeeds in its efforts to bring these puzzling and interesting topics to light.

Stephanie Brown · 3.5 out of 5
A mayor in the final term of her political career faces a choice between integrity and ambition.

(Country: France; Year: 2021; Director: Thomas Kruithof; Writer: Jean-Baptiste Delafon, Thomas Kruithof; Stars: Isabelle Huppert, Reda Kateb, Naidra Ayadi, Jean-Paul Bordes, Mustapha Abourachid, Soufiane Guerrab, Hervé Pierre, Laurent Poitrenaux, Walid Afkir, Vincent Garanger, Mustapha Abourachid, Christian Benedetti, Anne Loiret, Mama Prassinos, Youssouf Wague, Gauthier Battoue, Bruno Georis, Stefan Crepon, Rosita Fernandez)

Full review

A Radiant Girl (Une Jeune Fille Qui Va Bien)

Review preview for A Radiant Girl

The best scenes are those where the human condition and awareness of teenagers everywhere at the cusp of adulthood encounters the unfathomable.

Anne-Katrin Titze · 4 out of 5
Paris, summer 1942. Irene is Jewish and French. She is 19 and living a life of passions - Her friendships, her new love, her desire to be an actress. Nothing suggests that Irene's time is running out.

(Country: France; Year: 2021; Director: Sandrine Kiberlain; Writer: Sandrine Kiberlain; Stars: Rebecca Marder, Françoise Widhoff, André Marcon, Anthony Bajon, Ben Attal, India Hair, Cyril Metzger, Léa Rostain, Florence Viala, Jean Chevalier, Lucie Gallo)

Full review

Roaring 20's (Années 20)

In a single unbroken shot, this film gives viewers the chance not only to travel to Paris, but to live a day in the life there during the Covid-19 pandemic.

(Year: 2021; Director: Elisabeth Vogler; Writer: François Mark, Elisabeth Vogler, Noémie Schmidt, Joris Avodo; Stars: Vladimir Seguin, Alice de Lencquesaing, Noémie Schmidt, Aurore Déon, Manuel Severi, Adil laboudi, Zoé Fauconnet, Léo Poulet, Fanny Santer, Lila Poulet-Berenfeld, Lilou Guillot, Elsa Guedj, Guillaume Pottier, Mehdi Djaadi, François Mark, Margaux Bonin, François De Brauer, François Rollin, Elie Salleron, Joris Avodo, Paul Scarfoglio, Léa Moret, Elise Tilloloy, Jean Thevenin)

Robust (Robuste)

Review preview for Robust

There's a subtlety to all this that speaks well of Meyer's thoughtfulness - she never goes for easy options such as having one character be prejudiced against the other, instead simply allowing a respectful attitude to grow into an increasingly strengthening bond.

Amber Wilkinson · 4 out of 5
An actor forges and unlikely friendship with the woman assigned to provide him with security.

(Country: France; Year: 2021; Director: Constance Meyer; Writer: Constance Meyer, Marcia Romano; Stars: Gérard Depardieu, Déborah Lukumuena, Megan Northam, Lucas Mortier, Caroline Donnelly, Hugues Duchêne, Lola Dueñas, Florence Janas, Théodore Le Blanc, Julie Lesgages, François Loriquet, Cédric Meusburger, Léa Millet, Florence Muller, Sébastien Pouderoux)

Full review See: A Robust approach - Constance Meyer on her debut film

A Tale Of Love And Desire (Une histoire d'amour et de désir)

Review preview for A Tale Of Love And Desire

A film that celebrates the joy and fears associated with youthful lust, while exploring ideas of internal cultural conflict, without making it feel tacky or like a diatribe.

Amber Wilkinson · 4 out of 5
Ahmed’s world is thrown off-balance when he encounters Farah, newly-arrived from Tunis, who challenges everything he thought he knew.

(Country: France, Tunisia; Year: 2021; Director: Leyla Bouzid; Writer: Leyla Bouzid; Stars: Sami Outalbali, Zbeida Belhajamor, Diong-Kéba Tacu, Aurélia Petit, Mahia Zrouki, Bellamine Abdelmalek, Mathilde Lamusse, Samir El Hakim, Khemissa Zarouel, Sofia Lesaffre, Baptiste Carrion-Weiss, Charles Poitevin, Omar Khasb, Zaineb Bouzid, Céline Rotard)

Full review

Titane

Review preview for Titane

The audience laughed at times that were not meant to be that kind of funny, a primate exhalation of surprise and relief.

Andrew Robertson · 4.5 out of 5
A dancer becomes pregnant after having sex with a car.

(Country: France, Belgium; Year: 2021; Director: Julia Ducournau; Writer: Julia Ducournau; Stars: Vincent Lindon, Nathalie Boyer, Dominique Frot, Anaïs Fabre)

Full review