Oct 15, 2015
SFFILM
San Francisco, CA — The San Francisco Film Society has announced the schedule for the eighth annual French Cinema Now, November 19–22 at the Vogue Theatre (3290 Sacramento Street), presented in association with the French American Cultural Society and the Consulate General of France in San Francisco. The four-day festival brings the most significant new work from international francophone cinema to discerning Bay Area audiences. Covering a broad spectrum of subject matters and genres, French Cinema Now offers a comprehensive snapshot of the current moment in French-language cinema.
For complete program information, visit sffs.org/Exhibition/Fall-Season.
“This year’s French Cinema Now program highlights French-language cinema’s facility exploring human relationships and the variety of creative talent deployed to parse man’s-or woman’s-relationship to his fellow man, ” said SFFS Director of Programming Rachel Rosen. “This year also highlights the dynamic skills of French-language acting talent, with wonderful new talent alongside first-rate performances from quite a few established artists.”
Returning for its eighth year, French Cinema Now consists of four delightful days dedicated to significant new works of francophone cinema from France, Belgium and anywhere else you hear the sweet sounds of the French language. European cinema’s biggest names, whether they be filmmakers (Arnaud Desplechin, Philippe Garrel) or actors (Isabelle Huppert, Mathieu Amalric, Diane Kruger, Vincent Lindon, Gérard Depardieu) will illuminate the screen throughout this festival dedicated to Gallic pleasures.
THURSDAY NOVEMBER 19 OPENING NIGHT
7:30 pm My Golden Days
Arnaud Desplechin (France 2015, 123 min)
In Arnaud Desplechin’s latest film, episodes from the past reverberate through the life of Paul Dédalus (Mathieu Amalric), an anthropologist preparing to return to Paris from Tajikistan. Critical chapters from his troubled youth, including his first romantic attachment to Esther, a schoolmate of his younger sister, are brought vividly to life by first-time actors Quentin Dolmaire and Lou Roy-Lecollinet, who bring fresh radiance to a coming-of-age tale full of both youthful passion and knowing regret.
FRIDAY NOVEMBER 20
7:00 pm My Friend Victoria
Jean-Paul Civeyrac (France 2014, 95 min)
A rich and multi-dimensional portrait of a woman who both struggles with and is attracted by assimilation into a world different from her own, My Friend Victoria follows its eponymous French African protagonist through several key episodes of her life. Adapted from a Doris Lessing story, the film features terrific performances by several unknown actors, including Guslagie Malanda as the older incarnation of the title character.
9:15 pm Disorder
Alice Winocour (France/Belgium 2015, 99 min)
A soldier (Matthias Schoenaerts) suffering from PTSD is assigned to protect the wife (Diane Kruger) and son of a shady Lebanese businessman in this taut character-driven thriller. Though everything at “Maryland”-the lush, private Antibes estate where they are staying-seems calm, Vincent is anxious and on edge, and just because he suffers from paranoia doesn’t mean that he shouldn’t be wary.
SATURDAY NOVEMBER 21
1:00 pm Asterix – The Mansions of the Gods
Louis Clichy, Alexandre Astier (France/Belgium 2014, 85 min) Co-director expected
The latest filmic incarnation of the beloved French comic Asterix continues its winning tradition, going on 50 years now, of combining goofy puns and skewering social satire. Appealing to all ages, this French box office blockbuster features the expert 3-D animation of co-director Louis Clichy (animator on Pixar’s Wall-E and Up) and centers on Caesar’s attempts to conquer Asterix and his fellow villagers by building garish condominiums around their paradise in Brittany. Recommended for ages eight and up.
4:00 pm All Cats Are Grey
Savina Dellicour (Belgium 2014, 84 min)
Dorothy (Manon Capelle) is almost sixteen and reaching a difficult stage of adolescence. She’d like to know more about her real father, but asking her mother about him is “just not possible.” Then one day she meets a private detective named Paul (Bouli Lanners) and solicits his help finding her missing dad. The problem is that Paul is convinced that he is Dorothy’s father and has already been watching her.
6:15 pm Gaby Baby Doll
Sophie Letourneur (France 2014, 88 min)
Gaby is incapable of sleeping alone. When her boyfriend figures out that she is keeping him around mostly as a sleep aide, he abandons her in the house where they are staying in the Burgundy countryside. Unable to endure solitude, Gaby invades the groundskeeper shack of a loner who has fashioned his life to avoid all human companionship. Lolita Chammah, Isabelle Huppert’s daughter, gives a charmingly offbeat performance as the equally exasperating and endearing Gaby in this romantic comedy of opposites.
9:00 pm The Great Man
Sarah Leonor (France 2014, 107 min)
Two French legionnaires survive an ambush while on duty in Afghanistan, setting off opposing forces of loyalty, nationality, ethnicity and identity that will test their friendship. Divided into chapters that reflect the shifting identities of the film’s two main protagonists, Sarah Léonor’s sophomore feature mixes reserved formalism, empathetic visual storytelling and strong performances from Dardennes regular Jérémie Renier and newcomer Surho Sugaipov to enliven this fable of family, country and codes among men.
SUNDAY NOVEMBER 22
1:30 pm Valley of Love
Guillaume Nicloux (France 2015, 92 min)
It’s been 35 years since Isabelle Huppert and Gérard Depardieu starred together in a film, so this funny and touching metaphysical drama is cause for celebration. Here, they play a divorced couple reuniting in the transcendental setting of Death Valley because their deceased son Michael had made a promise to appear to them there on a specific date.
4:00 pm Maestro
Léa Fazer (France 2014, 85 min)
Based on an actor’s experience of working on Eric Rohmer’s final film, The Romance of Astrea and Celadon (SFIFF 2008), Léa Fazer’s charming romantic comedy takes place on a film set and depicts the paternal relationship that forms between a young man full of joie de vivre (Pio Marmaï) and a master filmmaker nearing the end of his life and career (the always wonderful Michel Lonsdale).
6:00 pm The Measure of a Man
Stéphane Brizé (France 2015, 91 min)
Thierry Taugourdeau (Vincent Lindon) has been out of work for a year; one of hundreds laid off from his factory, he is struggling to make ends meet for his family on his meager unemployment. From the job center to the bank, each transaction in his life-whether large or small-now holds consequences. Working skillfully beside non-professionals, Lindon gives a forceful but restrained performance that won him the best actor prize at Cannes.
8:30 pm In the Shadow of Women
Philippe Garrel (France/Switzerland 2015, 70 min)
Philippe Garrel once more delves into the emotional currents of male/female relationships in his beautifully modulated new film about a married couple who work closely together on documentary projects. When the husband meets a pretty young archivist, a fault line opens between the couple and the narrative explores the manifold sides of this romantic quandary. Evocatively shot in black and white, Garrel’s latest is a beautiful miniature, a reflective and moving exploration of life, love and filmmaking.
Every year, SFFS Education presents the French Films & Schools program as part of French Cinema Now. This program exposes high-school level students of French to the language and culture of France. Past offerings have included Suzanne by Katell Quillévéré, Brodeuses by Éléonore Faucher, Cyrano de Bergerac by Jean-Paul Rappeneau, L’Enfant by Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne and The Class by Laurent Cantet. This year’s program, offered free to all participating students and their teachers, will feature Savina Dellicour’s All Cats Are Grey and Asterix – The Mansions of the Gods by Louis Clichy and Alexandre Astier. Co-director Louis Clichy will be in attendance for his screenings and will also be participating in several classroom visits. Seats for the French Films & Schools program are available exclusively to Bay Area educators and students and may be reserved only through the SFFS Education office by contacting Keith Zwölfer at 415-561-5040 or kzwolfer@sffs.org.
Film tickets $12 for SFFS members, $14 general, $13 seniors, students and persons with disabilities, $10 children (12 and under); Fall Season CineVoucher 10-Packs $110 for SFFS members, $130 general. Box office now open online at sffs.org.
To request screeners and interviews contact bproctor@sffs.org.
For photos and press materials visit sffs.org/pressdownloads.
French Cinema Now is sponsored by Bank of the West; the Consulate General of France, San Francisco; and the French American Cultural Society. Hotel sponsorship is provided by the Mystic Hotel. Special support is provided by Margaret and Will Hearst, and Netta and Michael Fedor. Media sponsors are KQED, SF Weekly, San Francisco Examiner and SF Evergreen.