Bring out the champagne – The French Film Festival is celebrating its 10th anniversary! The festival will take place from March 9 – 19, 2013 with screenings in Tel Aviv, Jerusalem, Haifa, Sderot, Rosh Pina, Holon and Herzliya.
Opening the festival will be Philippe Le Guay’s Alceste a bicyclette (Cycling with Moliere), screened in the presence of the director on Saturday, March 9, 2013 at the Tel Aviv Cinematheque. The festival brings a plethora of special guests to Israel: Elie Wajeman, director of Aliyah, Pascal Bonitzer, director of Cherchez Hortense; Cedric Kahn, director of Un Vie Meilleure; Noemie Lvovsky, director of Camille Redouble; Idit Cebula, director of Rue Mandar; and Lorraine Levy, director of Le Fils de L’Autre. A joint initiative of the Culture Department of the French Embassy in Israel and Eden Cinema, the festival’s films were selected by Olivier Rubinstein, Director of the French Institute in Tel Aviv, and Olivier Tournaud, the Film Attaché, and Caroline Boneh, owner of Cinema Eden. The festival is produced in cooperation with TV5 Monde, now celebrating their 20th year of broadcasting in Israel. Claud Miller’s last film, Thérèse Desqueyroux, starring Audrey Tatou will be the closing film of the festival, and as a tribute to the late director, several of his films spanning a range from 1976 until 2012, will be shown at the festival.
French Film Festival 2013 – The Full Program
Alceste a bicyclette (France, 2013, 104 min, French with Hebrew and English subtitles)
Director: Philippe Le Guay; Cast: Lambert Wilson, Fabrice Luchini.
Synopsis: Serge Tanneur, once the greatest theater actor and now retired from the stage, lives a secluded life on an island. Gauthier, a successful working actor, is planning a new production of Moliere’s The Misanthrope, and hopes to get the famed Serge on board. But Serge is playing hard-to-get, and offers that they rehearse for a week before he makes a decision. A week passes and decisions need to be made. Is Serge, the misanthrope, taunting the naive Gauthier, or does he actually plan to go back on stage? A witty, intelligent, funny, and touching film that presents a complex and sharp look at the nature of relationships.
Screenings: Tel Aviv – March 9th; Jerusalem – March 10th; Haifa – March 11th; Sderot – March 10th; Rosh Pina – March 12th; Herzliya – March 9th
L’Air de Rien (France, 2012, 91 min, French with Hebrew and English subtitles)
Director: Grégory Magne, Stéphane Viard; Cast: Michel Delpech, Gregory Montel
Synopsis: Michel was once a successful recording artist. But today, deep in debt, he moves to the countryside. Gregory, was a big fan of Michel’s music, now he is in charge of confiscating his property. Gregory decides to help his once idol and convinces Michel to go on a new tour. There, the two will bond and come to terms with the issues burdening their lives.
Screenings: Tel Aviv – March 10th & 15th; Jerusalem – March 12th; Haifa – March 17th.
Cherchez Hortense (France, 2012, 100 min, French with Hebrew and English subtitles)
Director: Pascal Bonitzer; Cast: Jean-Pierre Bacri, Kristin Scott-Thomas
Synopsis: The relationship of married couple Damien and Iva has drifted into routine that has drained it of love. When Iva demands that Damien ask his estranged father for help in preventing Zorica, a woman Iva knows, from being deported, their strained relationship is stretched to its limits. A French drama-comedy that successfully looks at the immobilization of couplehood.
Screenings: Tel Aviv – March 10th; Jerusalem – March 11h; Haifa – March 9th; Rosh Pina – March 20th
Ombline (France, 2012, 90 min, French with Hebrew and English subtitles)
Director: Stéphane Cazes; Cast: Mélanie Thierry, Corinne Masiero
Synopsis: A moving realistic drama that centers on Ombline, who, while serving a jail sentence, discovers that she’s pregnant. With no close family members or friends to lend a helping hand, she decides to bring up her son in the prison. When he is taken into foster care, Ombline will have to learn how to control her feelings if she ever wants to reunite with her son.
Screenings: Tel Aviv – March 11th & 16th; Jerusalem – March 27th; Haifa – March 14th
Aliyah (France, 2012, 87 min, French with Hebrew and English subtitles)
Director: Elie Wajeman; Cast: Pio Marami, Cedric Kahn
Synopsis: When Alex’s cousin tells him he’s opening a restaurant in Tel Aviv, Alex thinks that joining him might be the life-changing opportunity he was waiting for. Torn between making his aliyah, his drug selling, his complicated love life, and a destructive brother, Alex will have to find his own way and make a final decision.
Screenings: Tel Aviv – March 11th; Jerusalem – March 12th; Haifa – March 13th; Herzliya – March 15th
Comme un Lion (France, 2012, 101 min, French with Hebrew and English subtitles)
Director: Samuel Collardey; Cast: Mytri Attal, Marc Barbe
Synopsis: Mitri, 15 and living in a village in Senegal, dreams of playing for Barחa and Chelsea. When a recruiting agent shows him some interest, Mitri believes his day has come. But after scrapping enough money for his travels and arriving in Paris, the dream is shattered. Mitri is left alone penniless in the unknown city, and so his French Odyssey begins.
Screenings: Tel Aviv – March 12th; Jerusalem – March 21st; Haifa – March 19th
Une Vie Meilleure/A Better Life (Canada, France, 2011, 111 min, French with Hebrew subtitles)
Director: Cedric Kahn; Cast: Guillaume Canet, Leȉla Bekhti
Synopsis: When Yan and Nadia meet, the two instantly click and begin a passionate affair. The two leave Paris with her son and plan to open a restaurant in an abandoned property by a lake. But when things don’t go as planned, the stormy affair becomes a turbulent relationship. A precise and sincere romantic drama.
Screenings: Tel Aviv – March 12th; Jerusalem – March 13th; Haifa – March 15th; Rosh Pina – March 19th; Herzliya – March 16th
Camille Redouble/Camille Rewinds (France, 2012, 115 min, French with Hebrew subtitles)
Director: Noemie Lvovsky; Cast: Noemie Lvovsky, Samir Guesmi
Synopsis: Camille was sixteen years-old when she met Eric. They fell madly in love and had a daughter… 25 years later: Eric is leaving Camille for a younger woman. That’s New Year’s Eve, and Camille suddenly finds herself back in her past. She is sixteen again and has returned to her parents, her girlfriends, her childhood… and Eric. Will she flee and try to change the course of their lives? Will she fall in love with him again, even though she knows how their story will end?
Screenings: Tel Aviv – March 13th & 16th; Jerusalem – March 14th; Haifa – March 15th; Sderot – March 20th; Rosh Pina – March 29th
Rue Mandar (France, 2012, 95 min, French with Hebrew subtitles)
Director: Idit Cebula; Cast: Sandrine Kiberlain , Richard Berry, Emmanuelle Devos
Synopsis: When their mother dies, Emma, Charles, and Rosemonde are left with the grief, memories, and belongings left in her apartment in Rues Manadar. The Shiv’ah will offer the three siblings plenty of time to bicker and fight on the way to the inevitable family reconciliation. A French comedy-drama that charmingly looks at the Jewish family institute.
Screenings: Tel Aviv – March 14th; Jerusalem – March 15th; Haifa – March 17th; Herzliya – March 16th
Renoir (2012, 111 min, French with Hebrew subtitles)
Director: Gilles Bourdos; Cast: Michel Bouquet, Christa Theret
Synopsis: In his twilight years, celebrated artist Pierre-Auguste Renoir is tormented by the loss of his beloved wife and the pains of old age. But when a young girl enters his life and becomes his last model, the old artist is filled with unexpected rejuvenated energy. When his son Jean returns home to recuperate from an injury, he also falls for the girl. A film about the passion for life, painting, and love.
Screenings: Tel Aviv – March 15th; Jerusalem – March 14th; Haifa – March 18th; Holon March 26th
A Perdre La Raison (France, Switzerland , Belgium , Luxembourg, 2012, 111 min, French with Hebrew subtitles)
Director: Joachim Lafosse; Cast: Niels Arestrup , Tahar Rahim, Emilie Dequenne
Synopsis: Murielle and Mounir fall in love and move into his adoptive father’s place. The happy couple quickly set about preparing to make a family. However, with family come ties, and none come so tight as that between Mounir and his father. How long will Murielle be able to handle the situation before she makes a drastic move?
Screenings: Tel Aviv – March 15th; Jerusalem – March 18th; Haifa – March 20th
Café de Flore (Canada, 2011, 120 min, French with Hebrew and English subtitles)
Director: Jean-Marc Vallée; Cast: Vanessa Paradis , Kevin Parent, Hélène Florent
Synopsis: A love story between a man and woman. And between a mother and her son. A mystical and fantastical odyssey on love.
Screenings: Tel Aviv – March 15th; Jerusalem – March 23rd; Haifa – March 10th; Sderot – April 8th; Rosh Pina – March 18th
Trois Mondes (France, 2012, 101 min, French with Hebrew and English subtitles)
Director: Catherine Corsini; Cast: Coltilde Hesme, Raphael Personnaz
Synopsis: Al hits a man with his car and flees the scene. Juliette, who witnessed the accident, lends help to the injured man, a Moldavian illegal immigrant. She decides to find the person responsible and innocently tries to mediate between the two. A human drama that centers on characters that have to cope with the cards life has dealt them.
Screenings: Tel Aviv – March 16th; Jerusalem – March 20th; Haifa – March 10th; Holon – March 22nd
Bowling (France, 2012, 90 min, French with Hebrew and English subtitles)
Director: Marie-Castille Mention-Schaar; Cast: Catherine Frot, Mathilde Seigner
Synopsis: The peaceful life of a small village and its bowling team, made out of the local maternity ward’s workers, is thrown into turmoil, when Catherine, a new HR manager from Paris, comes to work in the hospital. When the bowling team asks her to join the team, they discover that Catherine’s mission is to close the ward. The special group embarks on a touching and humorous journey, filled of full strikes, to fight this decision.
Screenings: Tel Aviv – March 17th; Jerusalem – March 21st; Haifa – March 23rd; Sderot – March 16th & 27th
Cloclo (France, 2012, 148 min, French with Hebrew and English subtitles)
Director: Florent Emilio-Siri; Cast: Jeremie Renier, Benoit Magimel
Synopsis: A fascinating portrait of one of France’s greatest pop stars, Claude (Cloclo) Francois, whose hit song “Comme d’habitude” was purchased in 1967 by Paul Anka and became Frank Sinatra’s greatest hit-“My Way”. With its intoxicating periodic fragrance, a captivating soundtrack, and a charismatic and narcissistic protagonist that cannot be ignored, My Way has all the ingredients of a fantastic musical biography.
Screenings: Tel Aviv – March 18th; Jerusalem – March 20th; Haifa – March 16th; Sderot – March 24th & April 3rd; Rosh Pina – March 23rd
Le Fils de L’Autre (France, 2011, 105 min, French with Hebrew and English subtitles)
Director: Lorraine Levy; Cast: Emmanuelle Devos , Pascal Elbé, Jules Sitruk, Mehdi Dehbi
Synopsis: Joseph is an ordinary 18-year-old who writes folk songs and plays the guitar. He has never looked much like the other members of his family. When he reports for his pre-induction interview prior to his army service, a blood test reveals that he is not his parents’ son. Research quickly reveals that at the time of his birth during the Gulf War, he was mixed up with another baby in a hospital evacuation. The Palestinian newborn went home to the Silver’s to live in a comfortable suburb of Tel Aviv, while the Israeli baby went home to an Arab couple in the West Bank…
Screenings: Tel Aviv – March 18th; Jerusalem – March 17th; Haifa – March 16th
Homage to Claud Miller
Thérèse Desqueyroux (France, 2012, 110 min, French with Hebrew and English subtitles)
Cast: Audrey Tautou, Gilles Lellouche
Synopsis: In the Landes region of France, marriages are arranged to merge land parcels and unite neighboring families. When young Thérèse Larroque becomes Mrs. Desqueyroux, her avant-garde ideas clash with local conventions. In order to break free from this imposed life, she will resort to tragically extreme measures…. Miller, who passed away a month before the film’s premiere at Cannes, uses his delicate hand and Audrey Tautou’s exquisite performance to present this well-made adaptation of the classic novel.
Screenings: Tel Aviv – March 19th; Jerusalem – March 18th; Haifa – March 12th; Rosh Pina – March 16th; Herzliya – March 13th
Mortelle Randonee (France, 1983, 120 min, French with Hebrew subtitles)
Cast: Michael Serrault, Isabelle Adjani, Guy Marchand
Synopsis: A lonely aging detective is on the track of the beautiful Catherine Leiris, who kills her rich husbands on their wedding nights. Although he never approaches her directly, he follows her and increasingly feels telepathically connected to her, because she reminds him of the daughter he never met.
Screenings: Tel Aviv – March 13th; Jerusalem – March 16th; Haifa – March 18th; Sderot – April 4th; Rosh Pina – March 20th
La Petite Lili
Screenings: Tel Aviv – March 14th
Un Secret (France, 2007, 105 min, French with Hebrew subtitles)
Cast: Cécile De France , Patrick Bruel
Synopsis: An adaptation of a Philippe Grimbert’s novel based on a true story. The story of a Jewish family in post-WWII Paris is told from the perspective of 10-year-old François . He is a typical Jewish boy – a good student and not very athletic. His parents try as hard as they can to escape Jewish stereotypes. They are both athletes, exemplary French citizens, and avoid talking about the Holocaust. François retreats into himself and invents an imaginary brother who is a great athlete. From here on in unfolds a drama that takes place over the course of thirty years and gradually exposes the family secret.
Screenings: Tel Aviv – March 15th; Jerusalem – March 14th; Haifa – March 22nd; Sderot – April 10th; Rosh Pina – March 22nd; Holon – March 30th
La Meilleure Facon de Marcher (France, 1976, 86 min, French with Hebrew and English subtitles)
Cast: Patrick Dewaere, Patrick Bouchitey, Christine Pascal
Synopsis: Claud Miller‘s first film is the story of the awakening of sexual identity that takes place in a summer camp in 1960. Marc and Philippe are both camp counsellors. Marc is very manly, while Philippe is more reserved. After Marc catches Philippe dressed as a women, Philippe‘s life is turned up־side־down.
Screenings: Tel Aviv – March 16th; Jerusalem – March 13th; Haifa – March 19th; Sderot – March 18th; Rosh Pina – March 21st
Garde a Vue
Screenings: Tel Aviv – March 17th; Rosh Pina – March 27th
