ALLIANCE FRANÇAISE FRENCH FILM Film FESTIVAL
2021
It’s hard to believe that it is only a year since the 2020 Alliance Française French Film Festival was interrupted mid-run due to a weird virus that had emerged in China before moving into Europe and the rest of the world. It seems more than 12 months ago because it was such an extraordinary period and so much has changed since then. Luckily for us in Australia, unlike in many other countries, we can now sit back and enjoy movies in fully-occupied cinemas. As Philippe Ostermann, General Manager of the Alliance Française de Sydney, said at the launch of the 2021 French Film Festival, Australia is one of the few places on Earth that could host a film festival like this in the current COVID environment. He also pointed out that, while we Aussies are still not able to travel to France physically, “you can travel by movies”, so at least we now have almost a month of movies to transport us to the French Republic. Vive le cinéma!
The Festival commences on Tuesday 2 March in Sydney, with other states and regional centres in the days following. Check the website for dates in your city. The new Artistic Director, Karine Mauris, has chosen 37 titles (some centres won’t be exhibiting the entire complement - check your local guides or the website for details), comprised of dramas, thrillers, comedies, romances, biographies, children’s and family films and documentaries, plus a screening of the 1960 Jean-Luc Godard classic, Breathless. The Opening Night film stars Romain Duris, an actor well-known to lovers of French cinema, as the engineer Gustave Eiffel, designer of Paris’s most notable landmark, the Eiffel Tower. The script of Eiffel reveals the story behind his remarkable feat and the woman who inspired him. Closing Night is the romantic comedy #Iamhere, about a chef undergoing a mid-life crisis. On a whim, he flies to Seoul, South Korea, to meet a woman he has only met online and, of course, real-life doesn’t quite match up to his fantasy.
Many of the great names of Gallic cinema are to be seen during the Festival: familiar faces like Isabelle Huppert (The Godmother), Karin Viard (Appearances), Catherine Frot (The Rose Maker), Lambert Wilson (De Gaulle), Gérard Depardieu (Fahim, The Little Chess Prince), Kristin Scott Thomas (Final Set), Omar Sy (Night Shift), Samir Guesmi (who stars in and also directed Ibrahim) and François Cluzet (Poly).
There are a number of award-winning films in the line-up, too. Delete History, a delightful comedy about three hapless people trying to get revenge on Big Tech, won the Silver Bear at last year’s Berlin International Film Festival; The Big Hit, the true story of an out-of-work actor trying to get a group of prisoners to workshop Waiting for Godot, won Best Comedy at the European Film Awards; Little Girl, a powerful documentary about a girl who was born in the wrong skin, won the Best Documentary Award at The Chicago International Film Festival; and The Man Who Sold His Skin, won its star, Yahya Mahayni, the Best Actor Award at the 2020 Venice Film Festival. The film tells how a Syrian refugee agreed to get tattooed in order to become a living art work in the hope that it would allow him to stay in Europe.
In addition, there is a handful of movies that were in the official selection for the Cannes Film Festival last year: comedy Antoinette In The Cévennes; romantic drama Love Affair(s); the latest work from director François Ozon, Summer of 85 (shot on 16 mm. stock); and drama Gagarine.
So, if you can’t find something to your taste on this groaning table of French delights, you’re really not trying, although I suggest you think about Delicious, the story of the creation of the very first French restaurant. It’s sure to whet your appetite for something more.
The Festival commences on Tuesday 2 March in Sydney, with other states and regional centres in the days following. Check the website for dates in your city. The new Artistic Director, Karine Mauris, has chosen 37 titles (some centres won’t be exhibiting the entire complement - check your local guides or the website for details), comprised of dramas, thrillers, comedies, romances, biographies, children’s and family films and documentaries, plus a screening of the 1960 Jean-Luc Godard classic, Breathless. The Opening Night film stars Romain Duris, an actor well-known to lovers of French cinema, as the engineer Gustave Eiffel, designer of Paris’s most notable landmark, the Eiffel Tower. The script of Eiffel reveals the story behind his remarkable feat and the woman who inspired him. Closing Night is the romantic comedy #Iamhere, about a chef undergoing a mid-life crisis. On a whim, he flies to Seoul, South Korea, to meet a woman he has only met online and, of course, real-life doesn’t quite match up to his fantasy.
Many of the great names of Gallic cinema are to be seen during the Festival: familiar faces like Isabelle Huppert (The Godmother), Karin Viard (Appearances), Catherine Frot (The Rose Maker), Lambert Wilson (De Gaulle), Gérard Depardieu (Fahim, The Little Chess Prince), Kristin Scott Thomas (Final Set), Omar Sy (Night Shift), Samir Guesmi (who stars in and also directed Ibrahim) and François Cluzet (Poly).
There are a number of award-winning films in the line-up, too. Delete History, a delightful comedy about three hapless people trying to get revenge on Big Tech, won the Silver Bear at last year’s Berlin International Film Festival; The Big Hit, the true story of an out-of-work actor trying to get a group of prisoners to workshop Waiting for Godot, won Best Comedy at the European Film Awards; Little Girl, a powerful documentary about a girl who was born in the wrong skin, won the Best Documentary Award at The Chicago International Film Festival; and The Man Who Sold His Skin, won its star, Yahya Mahayni, the Best Actor Award at the 2020 Venice Film Festival. The film tells how a Syrian refugee agreed to get tattooed in order to become a living art work in the hope that it would allow him to stay in Europe.
In addition, there is a handful of movies that were in the official selection for the Cannes Film Festival last year: comedy Antoinette In The Cévennes; romantic drama Love Affair(s); the latest work from director François Ozon, Summer of 85 (shot on 16 mm. stock); and drama Gagarine.
So, if you can’t find something to your taste on this groaning table of French delights, you’re really not trying, although I suggest you think about Delicious, the story of the creation of the very first French restaurant. It’s sure to whet your appetite for something more.
