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New York's Rendez-Vous With French Cinema · 2016

New York's Rendez-Vous With French Cinema 2016

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Programme

21 films · 6 reviews

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21 Nights With Pattie (Vingt et une nuits avec Pattie, 21 nuits avec pattie)

Review preview for 21 Nights With Pattie

This initially seems like a set-up for a film exploring mental reconciliation after estrangement but the Larrieus have other ideas - perhaps too many of them.

Amber Wilkinson · 3 out of 5
After her mother has died, Caroline befriends a woman who was looking after her mother, but events take a mysterious turn.

(Country: France; Year: 2015; Director: Arnaud Larrieu, Jean-Marie Larrieu; Writer: Arnaud Larrieu, Jean-Marie Larrieu; Stars: Karin Viard, Sergi López, Denis Lavant, Isabelle Carré, André Dussollier, Philippe Rebbot, Laurent Poitrenaux, Mathilde Monnier)

Full review

The Apaches

A young French-Algerian man lured into making a mysterious business deal within one of Paris’s largest Kabyle communities, while falling in love with a beautiful single mother.

(Country: France; Year: 2015; Director: Nassim Amaouche; Writer: Nassim Amaouche, Guillaume Bréaud; Stars: Nassim Amaouche, André Dussollier, Laetitia Casta, Djemel Barek, Alexis Clergeon, Kamel Labroudi, Mohand Taferka, Hammou Graïa, Moussa Brahimi, Abbes Zahmani, Mustapha Belabbas, Afida Tahri, Ahcène Nini, François-Xavier Phan, Dominique Reymond)

Bang Gang (A Modern Love Story) (Bang Gang (une histoire d'amour moderne))

A group of 16-year-olds engage in a summer of sex.

(Country: France; Year: 2015; Director: Eva Husson; Writer: Eva Husson; Stars: Finnegan Oldfield, Daisy Broom, Marilyn Lima, Fred Hotier, Lorenzo Lefèbvre)

Dark Inclusion (Diamant noir)

Thriller sees a son plot vengeance on relatives who abandoned his father.

(Country: France, Belgium; Year: 2016; Director: Arthur Harari; Writer: Agnès Feuvre, Arthur Harari, Vincent Poymiro, Olivier Séror; Stars: Niels Schneider, August Diehl, Hafed Benotman, Hans-Peter Cloos, Raphaële Godin, Raghunath Manet, Jos Verbist, Guillaume Verdier, Hilde Van Mieghem, Andreas Cojocaru, Vassili Schneider, Gilles Le Roy, Jacques Gabbanella, Ania Svetovaya, Jean-Luc Tartes)

Dheepan

Review preview for Dheepan

The director is adept at confronting ordinary people with extraordinary situations to test their resilience.

Richard Mowe · 3 out of 5
The story of a Sri Lankan Tamil warrior who flees to France and ends up working as a caretaker outside Paris.

(Country: France; Year: 2015; Director: Jacques Audiard; Writer: Jacques Audiard, Thomas Bidegain, Noé Debré; Stars: Jesuthasan Antonythasan, Kalieaswari Srinivasan, Franck Falise, Vincent Rottiers, Marc Zinga, Claudine Vinasithamby)

Full review

Closing night gala

A Decent Man (Je ne suis pas un salaud)

A man wins the sympathy of his family after being mug, but when the case starts to collapse, he finds himself on the defensive.

(Country: France; Year: 2015; Director: Emmanuel Finkiel; Writer: Emmanuel Finkiel, Julie Peyr; Stars: Nicolas Duvauchelle, Mélanie Thierry, Driss Ramdi, Maryne Cayon, Nicolas Bridet, Johan Soulé, Alain Beigel, Antoine Gouy, Maryne Bertieaux, Isabelle Kubiak, Xavier Nogueras, Pascal Gastineau, Jean-Yves Debailleul, Christian Babelaere, Zinedine Benchenine)

Disorder

When her world starts to crumble, a businessman's isolated wife turns to her bodyguard for help.

(Country: France, Belgium; Year: 2015; Director: Alice Winocour; Stars: Matthias Schoenaerts, Diane Kruger, Percy Kemp)

Fatima

(Country: France; Year: 2015; Director: Philippe Faucon; Writer: Philippe Faucon; Stars: Zita Hanrot, Mehdi Senoussi, Yolanda Mpele, Franck Andrieux)

The Great Game (Le Grand Jeu)

A novelist is tempted into ghostwriting a manifesto aiming to change the landscape of French public opinion.

(Country: France; Year: 2015; Director: Nicolas Pariser; Writer: Nicolas Pariser; Stars: Melvil Poupaud, André Dussollier, Clémence Poésy, Sophie Cattani, Nicolas Wanczycki, Gavino Dessi, Antoine Chappey, Audrey Bastien, Camille Constantin, Chloé Mazlo, Lucie Borleteau, Bernard Verley, Vanessa Larré, Thomas Chabrol, Nathalie Richard)

Lolo

On holiday in the south of France, chic Parisian sophisticate Violette meets life-loving IT geek Jean-René... there's a romantic spark but will it survive their radically different backgrounds?

(Country: France; Year: 2015; Director: Julie Delpy; Writer: Julie Delpy, Eugénie Grandval; Stars: Julie Delpy, Dany Boon, Vincent Lacoste, Karin Viard, Xavier Alcan, Georges Corraface, Julie Tristant, Christophe Vandevelde)

Much Loved

Marrakech today. Noha, Randa, Soukaina, Hlima and others live a life of ‘love for sale’.

(Country: Morocco, France; Year: 2015; Director: Nabil Ayouch; Stars: Loubna Abidar, Asmaa Lazrak, Hlima Karaouane Sara, Elmhamdi Elalaoui)

My King (Mon Roi)

Review preview for My King

If you ever threw safety to the wind and sailed deeply into the love that could be your undoing, you will be able to identify with what Maïwenn and her brilliant actors are exploring.

Anne-Katrin Titze · 4 out of 5
An injured woman in a rehabilitation centre recalls an all encompassing love.

(Country: France; Year: 2015; Director: Maïwenn; Writer: Etienne Comar, Maïwenn; Stars: Vincent Cassel, Emmanuelle Bercot, Louis Garrel, Isild Le Besco, Chrystèle Saint Louis Augustin)

Full review See: Interview with Maïwenn and Louis Garrel about My King , Louis Garrel in conversation on Two Friends (Les Deux Amis) and My King (Mon Roi) , Interview with Maiwenn about Mon Roi

The New Kid (Le Nouveau)

Benoit, 14 years old, leaves the country-side for Paris. His first day at school turns out to be more difficult than expected, and he quickly becomes isolated. Until one day a new girl arrives in class...

(Country: France; Year: 2015; Director: Rudi Rosenberg; Writer: Igor Gotesman, Bruno Muschio, Rudi Rosenberg; Stars: Raphaël Ghrenassia, Joshua Raccah, Géraldine Martineau, Guillaume Cloud-Roussel, Johanna Lindstedt, Max Boublil, Eythan Chiche, Gabriel Nahum, Ismaël Mandile, Arthur Grégoire, Iléana Courbey, Yiling Luo, Pauline Leblond, Samuel Jami, Zélie Pouyanne)

Parisienne

An intrepid and self-possessed young Lebanese woman restlessly accommodates herself to her new home in Paris during the mid-90s.

(Country: France; Year: 2015; Director: Danielle Arbid; Writer: Danielle Arbid, Julie Peyr; Stars: Manal Issa, Vincent Lacoste, Paul Hamy, Damien Chapelle, Dominique Blanc, Clara Ponsot, India Hair, Bastien Bouillon, Alain Libolt, Waleed Zuaiter, Mathilde Bisson, Orelsan, Elina Löwensohn, Philippe Résimont, Dima Al Joundi)

Standing Tall (La Tête Haute)

Review preview for Standing Tall

With heart-rending emotion and considerable physical punch Emmanuelle Bercot immerses us in French young offenders’ procedures.

Richard Mowe · 4 out of 5
The story of a young delinquent and the woman who sets out to try to change his destiny.

(Country: France; Year: 2015; Director: Emmanuelle Bercot; Writer: Emmanuelle Bercot, Marcia Romano; Stars: Rod Paradot, Catherine Deneuve, Sara Forestier)

Full review See: Interview with Emmanuelle Bercot about Standing Tall (La Tête Haute)

Story Of Judas (Histoire de Judas)

The final days of Jesus, from the perspective of Judas.

(Country: France; Year: 2015; Director: Rabah Ameur-Zaïmeche; Writer: Rabah Ameur-Zaïmeche; Stars: Nabil Djedouani, Mohamed Aroussi, Rabah Ameur-Zaïmeche, Marie Loustalot, Patricia Malvoisin, Nouari Nezzar, Eliott Khayat, Régis Laroche, Xavier Mussel, Rolland Gervet, Rachid Ameur-Zaïmeche, Razak Ameur-Zaïmeche, Smaïn Abeur-Zaïmeche, Salim Ameur-Zaïmeche, Nicolas Bancilhon)

Summertime (La Belle Saison)

Review preview for Summertime

Though the events unfold forward, the feel of Summertime is that of a pleasantly painful memory recalled backwards, clutching you emotionally as if you were looking at a faded photo album.

Anne-Katrin Titze · 4 out of 5
Drama about social change in France in the early 1970s.

(Country: France; Year: 2015; Director: Catherine Corsini; Writer: Catherine Corsini, Laurette Polmanss; Stars: Cécile De France, Izïa Higelin, Noémie Lvovsky)

Full review See: Grégoire Hetzel in conversation on scoring Summertime (La Belle Saison) and The Innocents (Agnus Dei)

Three Sisters (Les Trois Soeurs)

Adaptation of Chekov's play.

(Country: France; Year: 2015; Director: Valeria Bruni Tedeschi; Writer: Noémie Lvovsky, Valeria Bruni Tedeschi, Caroline Deruas-Garrel, based on the play by Anton Chekov; Stars: Eric Ruf, Bruno Raffaelli, Florence Viala, Coraly Zahonero, Laurent Stocker, Michel Vuillermoz, Elsa Lepoivre, Gilles David, Stéphane Varupenne, Georgia Scalliet, Danièle Lebrun, Michel Robin)

Two Friends (Les deux amis)

Drama about a man who falls for a woman who is already in a relationship.

(Country: France; Year: 2015; Director: Louis Garrel; Writer: Louis Garrel, Christophe Honoré; Stars: Golshifteh Farahani, Vincent Macaigne, Louis Garrel, Mahaut Adam, Pierre Maillet, Christelle Deloze, Rhizlaine El Cohen, Yen Tram Le Thi, Hitomi Ryoke Duran, Ulysse Korolitsky, Laurent Laffargue, Rachid Hami, Emmanuel Matte, Manon Combes, Pierre Devérines)

Valley Of Love

Review preview for Valley Of Love

The natural wonders of the desert can be read as an invitation to reach into the vast barrenness inside.

Anne-Katrin Titze · 4 out of 5
Two estranged parents are brought together by a request from their son who committed suicide.

(Country: France; Year: 2015; Director: Guillaume Nicloux; Writer: Guillaume Nicloux; Stars: Gérard Depardieu, Isabelle Huppert)

Full review See: Isabelle Huppert in conversation on Valley Of Love , Interview with Guillaume Nicloux about Valley Of Love , Interview with John Waters and Isabelle Huppert

Opening night gala

Winter Song (Chant d'hiver)

Buddy comedy.

(Country: France; Year: 2015; Director: Otar Iosseliani; Writer: Otar Iosseliani; Stars: Rufus, Amiran Amiranashvili, Mathias Jung, Enrico Ghezzi, Mathieu Amalric, Altinaï Petrovitch-Njegosh, Sarah Brannens, Samantha Mialet, Fiona Monbet, Claudine Acs, Josef Roumanet-Monbellet, Pierre Étaix, Tony Gatlif, Fanie Zanini, Mile Stevic)