Rendez-Vous with French Cinema 2008
February 29 - March 9, 2008
Advance tickets go on sale at Noon on Thursday, February 14 online and at the Walter Reade Theater's box office.
"The word auteur — simply the French word for “author” — continues, for both good and bad reasons, to haunt practically all discussion of French film. Sometimes a kind of shorthand for the glorification of the director, auteurism has at times been used to ignore the contributions of other creative talents (especially scriptwriters), or to justify all kinds of cinematic obscurities and excesses. Yet at its heart, and to its great credit, French cinema at its best has remained a cinema of personal expression — the quintessential auteur’s cinema — and it’s this quality that allows it to stand out within the increasing din of that effects-driven, committee-made cinema that passes for the so-called mainstream." -- Richard Peña
New Yorkers can explore France’s vineyards and Riviera without leaving Manhattan as the Film Society of Lincoln Center and Unifrance host the 13th Rendez-Vous with French Cinema at the Walter Reade Theater and IFC Center, Feb. 29 – March 9. Fifteen films will make their U.S. or New York premieres in the popular annual showcase. Many featured guests will attend screenings throughout the series, including directors Charles Burns, Audrey Estrougo, Eric Guirado, Mia Hansen-Løve, Christophe Honoré, Cédric Klapisch, Nicolas Klotz, Claude Lelouch, Noémie Lvovsky, Richard McGuire, Claude Miller, Emmanual Mouret and Jean-Marc Moutout; actor/directors Sandrine Bonnaire, Sophie Marceau and Anne Le Ny; actor Elsa Zylberstein; writer Elizabeth Perceval-Klotz; and editor Zvetlana Vaynblat.
Academy-Award winner Claude Lelouch will kick off the series on Opening Night by introducing his wry, multifaceted thriller Roman de gare at the Walter Reade Theater, Friday, Feb. 29, at 6:30 p.m. and 9:00 p.m. Fanny Ardant stars in the film as a best-selling author researching her next crime story. At the same time, a notorious serial killer escapes from prison and Paris hair-dresser Huguette (Audrey Dana), looking to change her destiny, picks up a man at a roadside rest stop. Dana received a César nomination as Best Female Newcomer for her performance in the film.
Several other celebrated French filmmakers return to Rendez-Vous in top form. L’Auberge Espagnole director Cédric Klapisch presents Paris, an emotional tour of the city through the eyes of a man waiting for a heart transplant, starring Romain Duris and Juliette Binoche. Writer/director Noémie Lvovsky’s Let’s Dance! offers an original and energetic look at a Holocaust survivor turning 80, and just discovering that his life has not been fully lived. Christophe Honoré pays tribute to the movie musical in Love Songs, featuring 13 new songs composed by Alex Beaupain and performed by a cast that includes Louis Garrel, Ludivine Sagnier, Chiara Mastroianni and Clotilde Hesme. The Diving Bell and the Butterfly actor Mathieu Amalric stars in two films in the series, alongside Sagnier, Patrick Bruel, Cécile De France and Julie Depardieu in Claude Miller’s multiple César nominee A Secret and as a troubled corporate psychologist in Nicolas Klotz’s Heartbeat Detector. And acclaimed actresses Sandrine Bonnaire and Sophie Marceau demonstrate their impressive range by writing, directing, and appearing in a touching documentary memoir of autism, Her Name Is Sabine, and a gritty film noir, Trivial, respectively.
The 2008 edition of Rendez-Vous is replete with striking debuts and remarkable collaborations. Six cutting edge comic book artists join together to create Fear(s) of the Dark, a provocative, black-and-white fantasy that weaves horror into science fiction and adds to France’s growing reputation, following The Triplets of Belleville and Persepolis, as a hotbed for animation. 23-year-old director Audrey Estrougo debuts her first film, Ain’t Scared, a captivating, day-in-the-life story that explores racial dynamics and adolescent life in the Parisian housing projects known as “les cités.” Actress Mia Hansen-Løve steps behind the camera and delivers a refined and heartbreaking vision of a daughter’s reunion with her heroin addicted father, All Is Forgiven.
For a listing of the films in the series go to Program Overview.
Click on
Calendar to view the schedule, film descriptions and, beginning at noon on Thu Feb 14, to purchase tickets online.
Additional Rendez-Vous screenings are held at the IFC Center, located at 323 Sixth Ave. at West 3rd Street. Visit www.ifccenter.com for details and showtimes.
Rendez-Vous with French Cinema 2008 is sponsored by Société Générale Private Banking and TV5 Monde with major support from Maison de la France and The Florence Gould Foundation. Additional support comes from agnès b., LVT Laser Subtitling, Sofitel and the French Cultural Services.
