patronage

F ocus on French Cinema is non-profit event held by the Alliance Française of Greenwich, French Feeling Films, and Tournées, in partnership with Purchase College, Westchester Accueil, the Greenwich Arts Council and the Délégation Générale du Québec in New York. It is placed under the patronage of his Excellency the Ambassador of to the United States, Monsieur Jean-David Levitte, his Excellency the Consul Général of France to New York, Monsieur François Delattre, and Monsieur Michel Robitaille, Québec Delegate General in New York.

The festival was made possible with the support of the Cultural Services of the French Embassy and the French Minister of Culture. (CNC)

table of contents

5 - letter from the chairs 18 - Le Bonheur, c’est une 7 - schedule at a glance chanson triste 9 - who we are 20 - L’Anniversaire 11 -our partners 22 - Rois et Reines the movies sunday, march 26 friday, march 24 23 - Brodeuses 12 - Monsieur N. 24 - Mon petit doigt m’a dit 13 - Moolaadé 26 - Les Soeurs fâchées 14 - Le Petit Lieutenant 27 - Confidences trop intimes saturday, march 25 29 - the Festival committee 31 - our mission statement 16 - Breakfast Meet the directors 33 - merci to our sponsors 17 - La Petite Lili 37 - information & directions

Focus on French Cinema 2006 Focus on French Cinema 2006 3 information & directions

Web site www.focusonfrenchcinema.org Check the website during the year to updated nformation about Focus on French Cinema 2007.

On site Additional tickets can be purchased at the Performing Arts Center. Festival T-Shirts will be on sale, $20. Sandwiches from Méli-Mélo will be sold on site from 11:30 AM.

Directions to the Performing Arts Center

FROM NEW YORK CITY & SOUTHERN WESTCHESTER Take the Henry Hudson Parkway North to The Cross County Parkway then to The Hutchinson River Parkway North. Follow the Hutch north to exit 28. Turn left at the bottom of the ramp onto Lincoln Avenue. After about 1 Mile, take a right onto Anderson Hill Road. Take a left at the next light onto the campus of Purchase College.

FROM CONNECTICUT & NEW ENGLAND Take the Merritt Parkway south through Greenwich and into New York State. Take New York exit 28, Lincoln Avenue. Take a right at the bottom of the ramp onto Lincoln Avenue. A the end of Lincoln Avenue (about 1 mile), take a right onto Anderson Hill Road. Take your first left onto the campus of Purchase College.

PUBLIC TRANSPORTATION-METRO NORTH'S HARLEM LINE From Grand Central Station, take Metro North's Harlem line to White Plains. Once in White Plains take a taxi from the station to Purchase College. Or, walk to the bus station across the street and take the #12 Bee Line Bus to Purchase College.

We hope you enjoyed your festival and that we will have the pleasure to see you next

Focus on French Cinema 2006

Focus on French Cinema 2006 37 a letter from the chairs

ast year’s adventure of starting a Festival of French Cinema was a success thanks to the trust of our partners, sponsors, our guest directors from France and the great audience. The 2006 version Lexpands on the same ingredients of genuine emotion and brings more of everything: we have more films (11 total), more directors and actors to share their vision with you, a larger theater and 3 US premieres to make you feel the thrill of a new movie. We wanted to open the selection of films from other francophone countries and welcome The Delegation Generale du Qubec as a new partner. Finally but not least, more partners and sponsors joined us to support our passion for cinema allowing us to reach a larger audience including students with dedicated movies.

It is a hard choice to choose among 200 new French films released each year. We want to show a whole variety of situations, presented with an angle, a specific touch, that might well be the real definition of French Cinema: from the young graduate from the police academy who dreams of fighting crime, to the 17 year old Claire who wants to hide her pregnancy ; from the demoted of Monsieur N., so human in his weakness to the harsh of friendship in L’Anniversaire, not mentioning the unrealistic secrets of an Agatha Christie mystery set in Switzerland, to the eccentricity, yet so profound Rois et Reine ()… With it comes a whole array of emotions that we wanted to share with you.

Our guests for this year are and , both famous directors, Anne Marie Cadieux from Québec and Jalil Lespert among the young leading actors in France. They are the best ambassadors of their art and their culture, they are our gift to you. It’s a great privilege to welcome them here for the second edition of the festival Focus on French Cinema. We wish that, like us, this festival starts for you the beginning of a love story: the love of great cinema, the celebration of French Cinema with a twist.

Catherine, Renee, Gail, Isabelle, Catherine and Florence

Focus on French Cinema 2006 Focus on French Cinema 2006 Focus on French Cinema 2006 36 5 opening night sponsors

JEAN-LOUIS

Focus on French Cinema 2006 Focus on French Cinema 2006 Focus on French Cinema 2006 6 35

schedule at a glance

E FRIDAY 5:00 pm IER REM L’Anniversaire S P Dir. Diane Kurys U 12:30 pm Introduction by Iris Cahn, film editor, Monsieur N Professor of Film Dir. Q&A with Diane Kurys, director Introduction by Geoff Field, Professor of European History 8:00 pm

Rois et Reine 3:30 pm Dir. Arnaud Desplechin Moolaadé Q&A with Anne Kern, Professor of Dir. Ousmane Sembène Cinema Studies Introduction by Elise Lemire, Associate Professor of Literature Round table discussion SUNDAY

OPENING NIGHT 7:30 pm 12:00 pm Le Petit Lieutenant Brodeuses Dir. Xavier Beauvois Dir. Eléonore Faucher Introduction by David Schwartz, chief Introduction by Tristane Theisen, curator at the Museum of Moving Image professional translator and graduate in Q&A with Jalil Lespert actor comparative literature, The Sorbonne Buffet “après-théâtre” 2:30 pm E ER Mon Petit Doigt m’a dit EMI SATURDAY PR Dir. Pascal Thomas US Introduction by Ronnie Scharfman, 10:00 am Professor of French Breakfast Meet the Directors / actors Q&A with Pascal Thomas, director With Diane Kurys, Anne Marie Cadieux, Jalil Lespert, Pascal Thomas, David 5:00 pm Schwartz, Patrick Gimenez, Anne Kern, Les Sœurs Fâchées Ronnie Scharfman... Dir. Alexandra Leclère Introduction by Irina Patkanian, 12.00 pm Associate Profesor of Media Production La Petite Lili Dir. 7:30 pm Introduction by Masha Salazkina, Confidences trop intimes Assistant Professor Film Studies Dir. Introduction and Q&A to follow with Dr. 2:30 pm Joseph Youngerman, psychiatrist Le Bonheur, c’est une chanson triste

Dir. François Delisle All screenings Pepsico Theatre - Introduction by Deanna Kamiel, Performing Arts Center - Purchase, NY. documentary filmmaker, Professor of Film All screenings are in French with English Q&A with Anne Marie Cadieux, actress subtitles.

Focus on French Cinema 2006 Focus on French Cinema 2006 7 sponsor merci beaucoup...

any thanks to the following supporters of the festival Fo- M cus on French Cinema 2006:

>> our opening night sponsors >> the foundations The Florence Gould Foundation >> cuisine and food Bread Venture The Norman Foundation D’Artagnan as directed by Sandy and Terry Ann Weil Délégation Générale du Québec The Raymond Debbane Family Foun- Jean-Louis Dumonet, Saks Fifth avenue dation Kathinka & Niel from Fjord Catering Anonymus La Bonne Cuisine Catering sponsor of Méli-Mélo restaurant Restaurant JEAN-LOUIS >> our sponsors ShopRite Meet the Director Breakfast >> producers White Toque Air France JLToGo catering by JEAN-LOUIS, pre CALYON Crédit Lyonnais theatre welcoming amuse bouche CIC Crédit Industriel et Commercial >> beverages LVMH Louis Vuitton Moët Hennessy Continental Wine Le Wine Shop

Slocum & Sons salutes >> directors Champagne Pommery Titra Films Group Perrier / Nestlé Van Cleef & Arpels >> and our generous donors

Focus on French Cinema >> actors Mr & Mrs Robert Corroon JC Decaux Michael & Gail Covney 2006 Bill & Meri Erickson French American School of New York Bao & Sandra Finch-Nguyen Kinko’s Mrs Erika Hall Renée Ketcham Sir Speedy Stamford Bernard and Catherine Laleuf TV5 Etienne & Catherine Lamairesse Logfret, Inc. Pam & Chris Tasik >> supporting actors Denis & Katia Streiff Lecoq cuisine Daniel & Suzie Vock Logfret, Inc. Mimi Wind Focus on French Cinema 2006 Focus on French Cinema 2006 Focus on French Cinema 2006 Focus on French Cinema 2006

8 33 who we are

school where adults and children can Alliance learn French with native speakers: all Française level including conversation, AllianceFrancaise accelerated courses, French for of Greenwich travelers… The AFG awards scholarships to students in French in An organization whose mission is to local public and private schools. promote and further the knowledge of French Culture and language and to A resource center, conveniently reinforce friendship between American located in downtown Greenwich, in the and French people. Greenwich Arts Center Building, that provides books, magazines, videos, An international community of more DVD's and information about France. than 300 francophiles and francophones that organizes activities The Alliance Française of Greenwich and events (lectures, conversations, was founded in 1918 and is a non- book club, Cine-club, theater…), profit organization. targeted toward the French culture. http://www.afgreenwich.org

French Feeling Films rected by two professionals of the movie industry for the last 20 years.

Patrick Gimenez and André Lazare have produced and distributed, alone or together, over 150 films. An American company distributing They are located in Miami and in . French movies in VO-STA (Original Version with American sub-titles) di- http://www.frenchfeelingfilms.com

Westchester Accueil ing families to get acquainted with the American way of life. It also creates links between the American and A welcome French communities by organizing service for fran- fundraising events to the benefit of cophone fami- local social services, such as the Tag lies settling in Sale April 29th in Mamaroneck and Westchester the Promenade des Artistes May 5-6 County. It proposes gatherings every in Larchmont. month, and the opportunity to join many of its activity clubs. It currently WA is a non-profit organization has 200 members. founded in 1985.

The WA tries to help French speak- http://www.westaccueil.org Focus on French Cinema 2006 Focus on French Cinema 2006 Focus on French Cinema 2006 9 our mission statement

Through the powerful medium of film, and great French cinema, the Alliance Française of Greenwich or- ganizes a special annual event in Fairfield/Westchester County that:

Brings French Cinema to our community. Focus on French Cinema exposes the community to the vitality of the French film industry by screening films not usually available in the US.

Showcases the amazing French cultural diversity beyond the usual preconceived image. The French film festival promotes French films as an artistic entertainment and powerful storytelling tool.

Offers a unique opportunity to meet with franco- phone directors and actors.

Fosters ties of friendship between our French and American cultures by reaching out to a large public of avid movie goers, students, francophiles and anyone curious and interested in French cinema.

Provides a learning tool to teachers and students. What better way than the medium of film to convey the French culture and language in an authentic way!

Focus on French Cinema 2006 Focus on French Cinema 2006 Focus on French Cinema 2006 10 31 our partners

Purchase College Délégation Générale du Québec in New York

A public university of 4,000 students specifically known for its strong com- mitment to the Arts and Design. A college with a long history of excel- lence in film. It also has a large Hu- manities Department with a world- Established in 1940 at Rockefeller renowned faculty. Graduates are a Center in New York, Québec Gov- strong presence in the film industry - ernment House is Québec's principal the percentage of Purchase College office in the United States. Its mis- graduates who become feature film sion is to promote cooperation and directors is among the highest in the good relations between Québec and country. The Performing Arts Center major American institutions, and to (PAC) presents world-class artists provide Americans with the opportu- with an incredible selection of per- nity to learn more about Qué- formances. bec. Québec Government House www.purchase.edu serves a territory that includes the Mid-Atlantic States. Tournées www.quebecusa.org

The Greenwich Arts Council

A non-profit arts or- ganization serving Tournées, a program of FACE, was Greenwich and the launched in 1995 to help build a new surrounding communi- public for French cinema by encour- ties for over 30 years. aging film screenings on American college and university campuses. In Promotes the arts by nurturing artists collaboration with the French Minis- and building audiences. try of Foreign Affairs, Tournées sup- Encourages individual creativity and ports French Film screenings on broadens community participation in, over 50 campuses across the coun- appreciation of, and support for the try each year. visual, performing and literary arts. www.facecouncil.org/tournees/ www.greenwicharts.org/

Focus on French Cinema 2006 Focus on French Cinema 2006 Focus on French Cinema 2006 28 11 MONSIEUR N. festival committee

Friday, March 24 - 12.30 PM The Founding Members Director: Antoine de Caunes Screenplay: René Manzor Coline Serreau Patrick Gimenez Philippe Muyl David Schwartz Cast: Philippe Torreton: Napoléon Bonaparte Executive Board Richard E. Grant: Hudson Lowe Jay Rodan: Basil Heathcote Catherine Lamairesse Catherine Laleuf Elsa Sylbertstein: Albine de Montholon Renee Ketcham Isabelle Treton : Marshal Bertrand Gail Covney Florence Gatté

Running time: 127 min Year of production: France - 2003 Committees Rating: Not rated (brief nudity) Introduction by Geoff Field, Professor Fund-raising Program School Relations of European History Language: French and English Catherine Laleuf Florence Gatté Gail Covney Renée Ketcham Catherine Lamairesse Catherine Laleuf Distributor: Empire Pictures Madeleine Strass THIS MOVIE IS PART OF THE TOURNÉES PROGRAM www.empirepicturesusa.com Programming Ticketing Graphic Design Patrick Gimenez Isabelle Treton Robin Horton Catherine Lamairesse Leigh Gage Gail Covney Biographical thriller + US press Invitation/Mailing Publicity "Fascinating and likable…I liked it better Renée Ketcham Renée Ketcham Relations with The most widely accepted explanation than the more blustery Master & Com- Isabelle Treton Sandra Finch-Nguyen Distributors for Napoleon Bonaparte’s death is that mander, which it distantly resembles." Madeleine Strass Patrick Gimenez he was poisoned, but the case is still Stephen Holden The New York Times Purchase College Gail Covney open and the enigma surrounding his Marketing Ronnie Scharfman last years in exile is at the heart of Catherine Lamairesse Anne Kern Web design "An intricate, fetchingly lensed tale of histori- Monsieur N. Franck Juliano David Schwartz Corinne Timon cal speculation framed as a plausible Iris Cahn Isabelle Treton In 1815, Bonaparte arrives on the thriller…Beautifully appointed Franco-British Opening Night windswept and overcast island of St. co-production is dramatically dense, neatly Catherine Laleuf Helena. Bonaparte’s jailer and the thesped and visually involving." Jean-Louis Gérin island’s governor, Sir Hudson Lowe, a Lisa Nesselson Variety Westchester Accueil stubborn and authoritarian figure, maintains the island’s security at ab- surd levels. Bonaparte is kept under house arrest at Longwood with rem- + Antoine de Caunes, director nants of his general staff and a British officer under orders to watch over him. Antoine de Caunes is a figure of French Relations within Napoleon’s inner cir- television. In the 90’s, he was the wild co- cle are fraught with jealousy, bicker- presenter of a notorious daily cultural tv ing, greed, plotting and hatred. On his show, insolent, provocative, disguised, very deathbed in 1831, Bonaparte is ac- funny. Born in 1953, his parents, a presenter companied by only three of his staff. and an announcer, made him the first me- The British liaison officer, the only dia-child in France. Monsieur N. is his sec- ond feature film as a director, following Les fictional character, investigates the mystery of his death and discovers an Morsures de l’aube (Love Bites, 2001), a inconceivable plot... vampire-movie starring and Asia Argento. Focus on French Cinema 2006 Focus on French Cinema 2006 Focus on French Cinema 2006 Focus on French Cinema 2006 12 29

SPONSORS MOOLAADÉ Friday, March 24 - 3.30 PM Director: Ousmane Sembene Screenplay: Ousmane Sembene

Cast: Fatoumata Coulibaly: Collé Ardo Gallo Sy Maïmouna Diarra: Hadjatou Salimata Traoré: Amasatou Dominique Zeïda: Mercenaire Mah Compaoré: Doyenne des exciseuses Aminata Dao: Alima Ba

Running time: 134 min Year of production: Senegal - 2004 Introduction by Elise Lemire, Associate Language: Jula & French Professor of Literature, Purchase College, followed by a round table discussion Rating: Not rated (general public) Distributor: New Yorker Films www.newyorkerfilms.com THIS MOVIE IS PART OF THE TOURNÉES PROGRAM

Drama In Moolaadé, the old wise director Ousmane Sembene (73) continues to Set in a small African village, four provoke his audience and reiterates young girls face a ritual purification. the strong feminist consciousness They flee to the house of Collé Ardo that marked his previous film, Faat Gallo Sy, a strong-willed woman who Kiné. once managed to shield her teenage

daughter from circumcision. Collé + director’s Tauw (1969) invokes the time-honored custom of filmography Le Mandat Mandabi “moolaadé” (sanctuary) to protect the Moolaadé (2004) (1968) fugitives, creating a conflict in the Faat Kiné (2000) Borom sarret (1966) community and forcing every villager Guelwaar (1991) La Noire de ... to take sides. Sembene sets the Le Camp de (1966) action amidst a colorful, vibrant Thiaroyé (1988) Niaye (1964) tapestry of village life and expands Ceddo (1977) L’Empire sonhrai (1963) the narrative well beyond the bounds Xala (1975) of straightforward, socially-conscious Emitai (1971) realism. Moolaadé is the second of a trilogy of films about the heroism of + US press everyday life and, to use Sembene’s own words, about the ‘underground “Here, without any compromise, Sembene struggle’ of people often overlooked by their governments and the rest of captures and captivates, telling a tale of world. contemporary urgency and fable-like + awards timelessness. Moolaade crystallizes the sympathies and strategies of a lifetime. It's a great work that opens up a whole culture for Cannes Film Festival (2004): Grand Prize, us.” Best Film Award, Un Certain Regard Michael Wilmington, Chicago Tribune Focus on French Cinema 2006 Focus on French Cinema 2006 Focus on French Cinema 2006 28 13 LE PETIT LIEUTENANT CONFIDENCES TROP INTIMES INTIMATE STRANGERS

Friday, March 24 - 7.30 PM Sunday, March 26 - 7.30 PM comeback on the ring, in the first : Patrice Leconte of Mabrouk El Mechri. Screenplay: Jérôme Tonnerre

Jalil Lespert has lately shot Arménie Cast: with Robert Guédiguian, which is : Anna planned to be released in France later Fabrice Luchini: William this year. Michel Duchaussoy: Monnier : Jeanne : Marc Laurent Gamelon: Luc Jalil Lespert Urbain Cancelier: Chatel actor Running time: 104 min Introduction and Q&A to follow the film Year of production: France - 2004 with Dr. Joseph Youngerman, As a teenager, Jalil Lespert Rating: Restricted (sexual dialogue) accompanied his father, Jean, a psychoanalyst and psychiatrist theater actor, to a casting. They both Distributor: Swank Motion Pictures landed roles, as the director, Laurent www.swank.com THIS MOVIE IS PART OF THE TOURNÉES PROGRAM Cantet, was looking for 2 actors to play father and son in a short he was directing called Jeux de plage (1995). Jalil Lespert in Virgil, dir. Mabrouk El Mechri. Drama In 1999, Jalil Lespert was cast in his + Patrice Leconte, director first full-length feature film, Nos vies + Bérangère Allaux, actress Anna has an appointment to meet with Know in the 80’s as the heureuses, by Jacques Maillot. In Dr. Monnier, a psychiatrist, for the first Splendid’s company 2000, thanks to Laurent Cantet once Plays the role of Julie Derouère, Antoine's time. She accidentally knocks on the filmmaker, Leconte directed again, he is recognized for his role in wife in Le Petit Lieutenant, who does not wrong door and ends up confessing her Les Bronzés, followed Ressources humaines (Human want to follow him and move to Paris. She marriage problems to William Faber, a promptly by Viens chez moi resources), the director’s first full- has recently been seen in Pas sur la tax accountant. Surprised by her j’habite chez une copine and bouche, the last musical "a la Feydeau" set Circulez y’a rien à voir. The length feature film. For his role, he in the 20’s, from the famous director Alain mistake, unsettled by her distress and wins a Cesar for best upcoming actor. somewhat excited by this unexpected two latter films were huge Resnais (2003). She also played in 2002 popular successes, and Patrice Leconte with Patrice Leconte in Rue des Plaisirs situation, William does not have the Jalil Lespert has become one of the moved to intimate and psychological (Love street). courage to tell her that he is not an movies. In 1989, Monsieur Hire, based on a most popular actors of his generation. analyst. As the two begin to meet on a Georges Simenon’s novel, (with Michel He prefers roles with character + David Schwartz, moderator regular basis, a strange ritual develops Blanc and Sandrine Bonnaire), gave him development over action shoots. He between them. Anna is comforted by unexpected critical acclaim. In 1991, plays the sensual gardner in the film David Schwartz is the chief curator of Film these regular visits and by William’s Ridicule, a master piece about the inner Sade by Benoit Jacquot. In Vivre me at the Museum of the Moving Image. He is keen ability to listen to her. William is workings of the royal court in Louis XVI’s tue (Life kills me), directed by Jean- the moderator of the Museum’s Pinewood deeply moved by her confessions and Versailles, was nominated for a Best Foreign Film Oscar. This cemented his Pierre Sinapi, he plays a loser Dialogues, an ongoing series of discussions fascinated by the secrets that no one obsessed with popular culture. The with creative figures in film and television reputation as a fixture of contemporary else has ever heard. Incapable of French Cinema. Since then, he alternates master director casts such as Martin Scorsese, John Malkovich, Tim Robbins and Jonathan Demme. Mr. telling Anna the truth, he is compelled intimate films and blockbusters, with various him as a gigolo in his 2003’s operetta Schwartz programmed the series Novel to consult Dr. Monnier, as Anna and achievement. His last three movies to date Pas sur la bouche. Not long Ideas: Books into Films at the Jacob Burns William become attracted to each other. include L’Homme du Train (Man on the afterwards, Lespert portrays a jounalist Film Center. He was the program director of Train, 2002) with and inspired by Georges-Marc Benamou in the Hamptons International Film Festival in + US press Johnny Hallyday, and Confidences trop the film Le Promeneur du Champ de 1998. intimes (Intimate Strangers), which both Mars, the story of the last years of “The suspenseful, sophisticated spirit of continue to display fortuitous and unsetting Alfred Hitchcock hovers benevolently over François Mitterrand, directed by Robert David Schwartz is teaching a course this face to face, and Les Bronzés 3 in 2006 semester at Purchase on the films of Intimate Strangers, a stylish psychosexual marks his return to the genre of popular Guédiguian. In 2005, he also plays Stanley Kubrick. thriller…” comedy. Virgil, a former boxer who makes his Ann Hornaday, The Washington Post Focus on French Cinema 2006 Focus on French Cinema 2006 Focus on French Cinema 2006 Focus on French Cinema 2006 14 27 LES SOEURS FÂCHÉES ME AND MY SISTER LE PETIT LIEUTENANT

Sunday, March 26 - 2:30 PM Friday, March 24 - 7.30 PM Director: Alexandra Leclère Director: Xavier Beauvois Screenplay: Alexandra Leclère Screenplay: Xavier Beauvois, Guillaume Breaud, Jean-Eric Troubat Cast : : Martine Demouthy Cast: : Louise Mollet Caroline Vaudieu: François Berléand: Pierre Demouthy Antoine Derouère: Jalil Lespert Brigitte Catillon: Sophie Solo: Roschdy Zem : Richard Mallet: Antoine Chappey Christiane Millet: Géraldine Clermont: Jacques Perrin Rose Thiéry: Fernanda, la bonne / the maid Nicolas Morbé: Xavier Beauvois Introduction by David Schwartz Bruno Chiche: Charles Julie Derouère: Bérangère Allaux

Introduction by Irina Patkanian, Running time: 93 min Q&A with Jalil Lespert, actor Running time: 110 min Associate Professor of Media Year of production: France - 2004 Year of production: France - 2005 Production, Brooklyn College, CUNY Rating: not rated (-12 in Europe) Buffet “après-théâtre” will follow Rating: Not Rated (-14 in Europe)

Language: French Language: French Distributor: Pan Européenne distribution Distributor: Mars Distribution (France) CIC BANK IS PROUD TO PRESENT THIS SCREENING OF LE PETIT LIEUTENANT Family comedy-drama own: she wants to become a writer, and after sending a manuscript to a Cop Thriller + director’s filmography

Martine (Isabelle Huppert) lives a publisher in Paris, she's soon invited comfortable bourgeois existence in to the city for a Monday appointment. Antoine graduates from police acad- Paris - having married 'up' in the world To Martine's exasperated horror, emy and moves to Paris with dreams Le Petit Lieutenant (2005) to escape her working class upbring- Louise is coming to stay with her for of fighting crime. His wife Julie re- Selon Matthieu (To Mathieu) (2000) ing. She has no interest in her hus- the weekend! fuses to leave their Normandy home, so during the week, he stays in N'oublie pas que tu vas mourir band Pierre (Francois Berleand) - so In the presence of guests, Louise's rented digs in the city. The division's (Don't Forget You're Going to Die) (1995) long as he pays for her lifestyle. Her provincial openness quickly becomes new chief inspector Captain younger sister Louise (Catherine an embarrassment for her elegant and Vaudieu, a recovering alcoholic who Nord (North) (1991) Frot), however, never left the prov- uptight sister - who has done her very lost her own son years ago, takes inces, and works as a beautician in Le best to conceal and erase her check- him under her wing. Antoine fits eas- Mans. Louise has aspirations of her ered past. When alone, however, they ily into her team of work-hard, play- slowly begin to reconnect. But social hard detectives. She involves him in + French press catastrophe looms - Martine has in- + US press the investigation of the murder of a vited her snappy friend Sophie “…en misant sur l'énergie d'un vrai cinéma homeless Pole. Then tragedy strikes (Brigitte Catillon) and her husband d'action, Beauvois parvient à remonter la "This enjoyably bitchy comedy about two and Vaudieu has to fight the old de- mis-matched sisters offers great roles for over for dinner - and the unwitting pente tragique de son récit, et atteint en mons that she used to drown in bout de course une forme d'apaisement, both Isabelle Huppert and Catherine Frot, Louise, clearly, will be out of her drink. presque une sagesse.” and the actresses miss none of the depth... opportunities provided." Louis Guichard, Télérama David Satratton, ABC This stylish comedy from first time + awards writer-director Alexandra Leclère is “Mieux qu'un thriller, Le Petit Lieutenant est "Light comedy-drama about a bourgeois packed with plenty of verbal fireworks un implacable constat social, indispensable Parisienne embarrassed by a visit from her and provides a great platform for its Cesar: Best actress Nathalie Baye (2006) à une époque où l'image de la réalité est ditzy sis from the sticks avoids both elegant cast. The scene is set for two de plus en plus floutée.” knockabout humor and over-heavy bathos fabulous actresses to transport these Label Europa Cinema: Xavier Beauvois for 90 minutes of easy, thesp-driven (2005) Alex Masson, Score entertainment." lively characters into the hearts of the audience. Derek Elley, Variety

Focus on French Cinema 2006 Focus on French Cinema 2006 Focus on French Cinema 2006 Focus on French Cinema 2006 26 15

BREAKFAST - MEET THE DIRECTORS MON PETIT DOIGT M’A DIT Saturday, March 25 - 10:00 AM Sunday, March 26 - 2:30 PM If you would like to learn more about Director: Pascal Thomas

French cinema or to ask some Screenplay: Pascal Thomas, Nathalie Lafauri, François Caviglioli questions to our special guests, we Based on a novel by Agatha Christie offer you the tremendous opportunity Cast: to meet our guests at our MEET THE Catherine Frot: Prudence Beresford DIRECTOR BREAKFAST. André Dussollier: Bélisaire Beresford Geneviève Bujold: Rose Evangelista David Schwartz, chief curator of Film Laurent Terzieff: Maître Anet at the Museum of the Moving Image, Valérie Kaprisky: Melle Blayes will be the moderator of this round Introduction by Ronnie Scharfman, Running time: 105 min Professor of French, Purchase College table. He will explore the following David Schwartz Year of production: France - 2004 ) Rating: Not rated (general public) RE subjects: MIE Q&A with Pascal Thomas, director PRE Language: French (US - The current place of French cinema in the international film scene. Distributor: UGC International

- What distinguishes French cinema from other national cinemas? CALYON BANK IS PROUD TO PRESENT THIS SCREENING OF MON PETIT DOIGT M’A DIT - What is the current market for French films in the United States? - What is the place of Québec's cinema in North America and in France ? Mystery + director’s filmography - How is French cinema different than it was 10 or 20 years ago? An old woman disappears. A village - What is the place of women in French film--both in front of and behind the Mon petit doigt m'a dit... (2005) hiding a well kept secret beneath the camera? Mercredi, folle journée! (Day off) (2001) gossips of the town. Graves you La Dilettante (1999) shouldn't look at, a missed doll that La Pagaille (1991) We are welcoming guests both from the movie industry and from universities: comes back from the past, a frighten- Les Maris, les femmes, les amants (1989) ing notary who is wearing the mask of Celles qu'on n'a pas eues (1981) Diane Kurys, Director Pascal Thomas, Director death… And when several pensioners Confidences pour confidences (Heart to of an old people's home start dying heart) (1979) Jalil Lespert, Actor Anne-Marie Cadieux, Actress mysteriously, Prudence and Belisaire, Un oursin dans la poche (1977) La Surprise du chef (1976) with patience and humour, are only Patrick Gimenez, Producer and Anne Kern, Assistant Professor of Le Chaud lapin (The Hot Rabbit) (1974) too happy to follow the trail of adven- Pleure pas la bouche pleine (Don’t cry with Distributor Cinema Studies ture to discover the stunning truth. your Mouth Full) (1973) Sounds like a board game? Well it Les Zozos (1973) Robert Kesten, Founder & Director of Masha Salazkina, Assistant Professor could be, since it is adapted from the Director's View Film Festival. of Media Production master of English mystery Agatha + French press Christie’s By the Pricking of My Marie Bonnel, Cultural Services of Deanna Kamiel, Documentary Thumbs, transposed in Switzerland "Le charme de ce nouvel opus [de Pascal the French Embassy filmmaker and Professor of Film Thomas] vient, comme souvent, du plaisir Since the death of Agatha Christie, his qu'il a à explorer les ressources du Ronnie Scharfman, Professor of Irina Patkanian, Assistant Professor legatee required the 1920’s as the langage." French of Media Production setting of the story - even for a movie Michel Ciment, Positif adaptation - which had curb French "La parodie est sympathique quand JC DECAUX IS PROUD TO SPONSOR THE MEET THE DIRECTOR BREAKFAST directors. Now that this constraint has been lifted, Pascal Thomas is the first Catherine Frot mime les enquêtrices de salon [...] Mais c'est quand Pascal Thomas to take advantage of it. And you can Free, open to the public, seats are limited. No reservations. First-come, first-served basis. opère de malicieux glissements entre la bet he won’t be the last. phrase et l'image qu'il ravit." Jean-Luc Douin, Le Monde Focus on French Cinema 2006 Focus on French Cinema 2006 Focus on French Cinema 2006 Focus on French Cinema 2006 16 25 MON PETIT DOIGT M’A DIT LA PETITE LILI

Sunday, March 26 - 2:30 PM Saturday, March 25 - 12:00 PM Director: Claude Miller Pascal Thomas Screenplay: Claude Miller & Julien Boivent director Based on Chekhov play’s

In 1972, when Pascal Thomas Cast: Ludivine Sagnier: Lili produced his first feature Les Zozos, : Mado Marceaux he wanted to make the point that : Brice “happy people have a story and that Jean-Pierre Marielle: Simon Marceaux happiness is worth telling”. Les Zozos Robinson Stévenin: Julien Marceaux: is a semi - autobiographical story in : Jeanne-Marie which Thomas recounts with tenderness and humor the amorous Running time: 104 min Introduction by Masha Salazkina, Year of production: France - 2003 misadventures of high school students. Rating: Not rated (brief nudity and sexual content) + quote Assistant Professor of Slavic and Film The same feeling of charm and Studies, Colgate University nostalgia appears again in his Language: French "Directing ironic movies and comedies, it’s following films, Pleure pas la bouche Distributor: First Run Features about to feel the grotesque of the world – pleine (1973) and Le chaud lapin THIS MOVIE IS PART OF THE TOURNÉES PROGRAM www.firstrunfeatures.com which is pretty much unrealistic. Logically (1974). With the help of actors such as we are attracted by figuring out some Daniel Ceccaldi and Bernard Menez, Theatrical Drama obscure power, by the charms of night and Thomas directed in the 70’s comedies + awards with impeccable dialogues and warm mystery. (…) One of the reasons that led Set in a beautiful country house in portrayals of French provincial life - not César Awards (2004): me to adapt “Mon petit doigt…” is related to Brittany, Claude Miller adapts Anton far from Maurice Pialat and Jacques Chekov’s classic play The Seagull. Best Young Actress (Julie Depardieu) his unique atmosphere: behind the quietest Rozier and their new realistic movies. country lands, behind the most friendly After Celles qu’on n’a pas eues, in When the young and overly sensitive Chicago International Film Festival (2003): faces, horror can pop up. It’s the principle of 1981, the director took a 9 year Julien screens his first art film for his Best Female Performance (Ludivine Sagnier) antagonism, what suspense is made of ." sabbatical and focused his efforts and mother, a famous actress, and her Pascal Thomas talents in advertising. In 1989 he boyfriend Brice, an accomplished film- returned to directing with Les maris, maker, the delicate peace of the + Claude Miller, director les femmes, les amants, a household begins to unravel. The + casting lighthearted, summer film. Two years sexy young Lili, who stars in Julien’s After graduation from the IDHEC film school later he directed La Pagaille after film, dreams of becoming a famous in Paris in 1963, Claude Miller acted as assistant and supervisor for the crews of Pascal Thomas chose his cast carefully. which Pascal Thomas disappeared actress like Mado, Julien’s mother. many notable directors of France’s Nouvelle Apart from the leading roles of Catherine again from the directing scene until La Fascinated by Brice, she sets her Frot and André Dussolier, you can see stars Vague, including Jean-Luc Godard and from another time and place: great stars Dilettante. La Dilettante became a mind on seducing him and he gladly Francois Truffaut. Under Truffaut’s aegis, usually seen on stage (Francoise Seigner, sleeper hit in 1999, with Catherine Frot falls prey to her charms. Miller directed his first feature film in 1976, Laurent Terzieff, ), an 80’s playing the part of an independent and The Best Way to Walk. Miller completed sex-symbol (Valérie Kaprisky, capricious bourgeois. His next film, + US press several more features and script adaptations unrecognizable as a bigot), two renowned with the perceptible influence of his mentor, Mercredi folle journée, is a poetic “… La Petite Lili pays off in a revelatory canadian actresses (Alexandra Stewart et comedy in which the heroes are and after Truffaut’s death in 1984, Miller completed the filming of Truffaut’s half- Geneviève Bujold) and a very popular comic children. With Mon petit doigt m’a dit, final act…[it] becomes a Pirandellian puzzle actor from the 70’s (Maurice Risch). This is completed in 1988. Miller has he explores his love of literature by reminiscent of Truffaut’s Day for Night. It also the first time on big screen for Sarah since come into his own, and has directed Biasini, the Romy Schneider’s daughter, adapting an Agatha Christie thriller, but argues that people, given the opportunity, such critically-acclaimed films as La Classe who play the daughter of Catherine Frot. with a personal tone. In his films, de Neige (The , 1998), and Betty move on and mature their memories intact And the former CEO of Canal +, French Thomas displays his unusual style and , Fisher and other Stories (2001). In 2000, cable TV, Pierre Lescure, appears here in skill in portraying colorful, nuanced but their wounds still healing.” Stephen Hopkins directed Under Suspicion, his first real part as a police officer. characters. remake of Claude Miller’s Garde à vue, Stephen Holden, The New York Times (1981).

Focus on French Cinema 2006 Focus on French Cinema 2006 24 17 LE BONHEUR, C’EST UNE CHANSON TRISTE BRODEUSES SEQUINS

Saturday, March 25 - 2:30 PM Sunday, March 26 - 12:00 PM well as such classics as Marie Stuart, Electre… She has won numerous awards Director: Eléonore Faucher in Québec. Screenplay: Eléonore Faucher and Gaëlle Macé One of Robert Lepage’s loyal collabora- tors, she has toured with many of his inter- Cast: national productions, most notably the Lola Neymark: Claire river-play The Seven Streams of the River Mme Melikian: Ariane Ascaride Ota. In 1994, Cadieux premiered on Marie Felix: Lucile Thomas Laroppe: Guillaume Anne-Marie Cadieux screen in Robert Lepage’s The Confes- sional, in which she won public and critic Arthur Quehen: Thomas actress recognition. Running time: 88 min In Montréal, Québec (Canada), More recently, she appeared in Seraphin, Year of production: France - 2004 Introduction by Tristane Theisen, Anne-Marie Cadieux is leading for many Heart of Stone (Séraphin, un homme et Rating: Not rated (general public) Professional translator and graduate in years an active career as an actor in thea- son pêché) by Charles Binamé, Sébastien comparative literature, The Sorbonne tre, television and film. Rose’s How my mother gave birth to me Language: French during menopause (Comment ma mère Distributor: New Yorker Films On stage, she has had unforgettable per- accoucha de moi durant sa ménopause), www.newyorkerfilms.com THIS MOVIE IS PART OF THE TOURNÉES PROGRAM formances in several occasions and for and in Robert Lepage’s latest film, The far extremely demanding parts, including Side of the Moon (La Face cachée de la Heiner Müller’s Quartett, Bernard-Marie Lune). Drama + awards Koltès’ Combat de nègre et de chien, as Since she moved from her parents’ farm, seventeen-year-old Claire Cannes Film Festival (2004): Critics Week Moutiers is doing quite well. A cash- Grand Prix, SACD’s Screenwriters Award eignty-Association was a turning point in + cinema in Québec ier’s job helps pay the bills and leaves Québec history and culture. Deauville Film Festival (2004): Best French made his most acclaimed picture, Le con- her enough time to pursue her pas- The history of cinema in Québec began on script fort et l'indifférence, about the result of the sion: embroidery. She exchanges the June 27, 1896 when the French Louis referendum, followed by 1986's Le Déclin cabbage heads she steals from her Minier inaugurated the first movie projec- French Syndicate of cinema critics (SACD) de l'empire américain and 1989's Jésus de tion in North America in a Montreal theatre. parents’ garden with the precious rab- (2005): Best first film Eléonore Faucher However, it was the 1960s when a genuine Montréal. bit skins she needs for her art. Her Quebec cinema industry would emerge. After 1980, Québec filmmakers began to new life is jeopardized though when Few films were produced in Québec during make movies that were no longer centered she learns that she is pregnant. Claire this period, until Cinema-Vérité directors on Québec identity. Thanks to the consoli- quits her job and intends to give birth + US press Michel Brault and Pierre Perrault made dation of Québec's movie industry, inde- in secret. She learns that her best their debut. Other important filmmakers of pendent films such as Denis Villeneuve's friend’s brother recently had a motor- “What counts in Sequins isn't the narrative but the feelings underneath it - made more the 60's include Gilles Groulx and Claude Maelström, and André Turpin’s Un crabe cycle accident that killed the son of dans la tête caught the media's attention. poignant by the beautiful images and Jutra. That decade also heralded the begin- Mrs. Melikian, a designer of haute nings of directors Gilles Carle and Denys 2003 was a year of increased recognition Michael Galasso's stirring score. This is Arcand. with Arcand winning the foreign film Oscar couture embroideries. Mrs. Melikian about the quiet desperation of these for Les Invasions barbares, Gaz bar blues hires Claire and is quick to discover characters' lives, how they can slip below In 1967, Québec's (religious) censorship (Louis Bélanger), and Seducing Doctor that Claire is pregnant. Day by day, the surface with barely a ripple. But it's also bureau was replaced by a film ratings sys- Lewis (Jean-François Pouliot). This year, stitch by stitch, Claire’s belly grows about how people can resurface.” tem administered by the province, and film the film C.R.A.Z.Y. by Jean-Marc Vallée is distribution was now free of Catholic rigid- and the friendship between the two gaining national and international critical women strengthens, creating a bond Desson Thomson, Washington Post ity. In the 70’s, Arcand and Carle found acclaim. critical and some commercial success and between them. “Sequins hinges on its performances and in 1975, director Claude Jutra released one Québec is also the home of the legendary newcomer Naymark is a marvel of quiet of the most critically praised Québecois film Frédéric Back, master of animation and The direction, photography, sound intelligence, endowing Claire with a complex winner of innumerable awards, including an to date, Mon oncle Antoine. and music contribute to the lyricism mix of virginal purity and hormonal rage.” Oscar in 1982 for Crac! The defeat of the referendum on Sover- and dream-like quality of Eléonore Faucher’s first feature film. David NG, The Village Voice

FocusFocus onon FrenchFrench CinemaCinema 20062006 FocusFocus onon FrenchFrench CinemaCinema 20062006 18 23 ROIS ET REINES KINGS AND QUEEN LE BONHEUR, C’EST UNE CHANSON TRISTE

Saturday, March 25 - 8:00 PM Saturday, March 25 - 2:30 PM Director: Arnaud Desplechin Director: François Delisle Screenplay: Roger Bohbot, Arnaud Screenplay: François Delisle Desplechin Cast : Cast : Anne-Marie Cadieux: Anne-Marie : Nora Cotterelle Miro: Stéphan : Ismaël Vuillard Frédérick de Grandpré: Pascal : Mme Vasset Kent McQuaid: Mike Maurice Garrel: Louis Jenssens Luc Proulx: Zénon Nathalie Boutefeu: Chloé Jenssens Running time: 84 min Running time: 150 min Introduction by Deanna Kamiel, Year of production: Canada - 2004 Year of production: France - 2004 documentary filmmaker and Professor Rating: not rated (PG)

Q&A with Anne Kern, Assistant Rating: not rated (general public) of Film, Purchase Langage: French Professor of Cinema Studies, Purchase Language: French Q&A with Anne-Marie Cadieux, actress Distributor: Les films du 3 mars www.f3m.ca Distributor: Wellspring media VAN CLEEF AND ARPELS IS PROUD TO PRESENT THIS SCREENING OF ROIS ET REINE THIS MOVIE IS SPONSORED BY THE DELEGATION GENERALE DU QUÉBEC A NEW YORK

Psycho (analytic) drama + director’s filmography An existential quest Anne-Marie dives head-first into her project. She meets a medley of Nora, the manager of a Parisian art Rois et reine (Kings and Queen) (2004) Imagine it is summer and that, for the characters whom she engages in gallery, has her life interrupted when Léo, en jouant 'Dans la compagnie des hom- last several days, Montreal has been engrossing, thought-provoking her father, Louis, is diagnosed with a mes’ (In the Company of Men) (2003) swimming in sweltering heat and discussions about happiness. Anne- terminal disease. Meanwhile, Nora's (2000) smog. Then imagine that you are Marie moves from one character to former husband, a tax-burdened intel- Comment je me suis disputé... ou ma vie sexuelle (My Sex Life... or How I Got Into an downtown and a woman holding a the next, from one idea to the next in lectual violinist named Ismaël, is Argument) (1996) small video camera approaches you. her survey, gathering reactions and carted off to a mental institution. Once La Sentinelle (The Sentinel ) (1992) She asks you to participate in a one challenging viewpoints that give her a there, he soon stops trying to figure La Vie des morts (1991) question survey. Although you are chance to reflect upon her own life. out who arranged his stay and starts slightly wary of this proposal, you stop sexing up another, more fragile pa- + US press to listen. She asks you, “What does tient. + François Delisle, director happiness mean to you?” and awaits "…I might as well admit that the story of your answer. With her father dying and still reeling Rois et reine, one of the most brilliant films Born in Montreal in 1967, François Delisle from her recent divorce, Nora realizes of recent years, can’t be synopsized and has been directing films for over twelve Go on! What are you waiting for? that her son, whose father passed that much of the interest of the film lies not years. After several short movies and a Answer! away before his birth, could be left just in trying to keep up with it but in trying to medium length film, Beebe–Plain, his first alone. She goes to the hospital and formulate it and recount it to yourself as you feature-length movie, Ruth, was released in watch." Happiness is a Sad Song tells the asks Ismaël, who raised the child, to 1994. Chris Fujiwara, The Boston Phoenix disjointed story of Anne-Marie, an His films have been screened at several adopt him. unemployed publicist who rounds the international festivals. Ever since he "The film is a soap opera that through pavement in Montreal with her mini- completed his university studies, Delisle + awards layering and texture is made into something cam, collecting testimonials on the has staunchly defended his independent

rich, strange, and unforgettable." subject of happiness. It is happiness and personal approach to the creation and Cesar 2005: best actor Mathieu Amalric Wesley Morris, Boston Globe that she appears to seek - or production of his films. Happiness is a sad

understand - to the point of obsession. song is his second feature film. Louis Delluc Prize 2004: Arnaud Desplechin "It's a puzzle of a film, but not the kind that Along with his film projects, François intimidates you with inscrutability so much Guided by serendipity and a series of Delisle teaches cinematography, sharing French syndicate of cinema critique 2005: as one that beckons you into its antic his experiences with the next generation of critic award Arnaud Desplechin eccentricity. " surprising and varied encounters, Québecois filmmakers. Desson Thomson, Washington Post

Focus on French Cinema 2006 Focus on French Cinema 2006 22 19 MON PETIT DOIGT M’A DIT LA PETITE LILI

Sunday, March 26 - 2:30 PM Saturday, March 25 - 12:00 PM Director: Claude Miller Pascal Thomas Screenplay: Claude Miller & Julien Boivent director Based on Chekhov play’s The Seagull

In 1972, when Pascal Thomas Cast: Ludivine Sagnier: Lili produced his first feature Les Zozos, Nicole Garcia: Mado Marceaux he wanted to make the point that Bernard Giraudeau: Brice “happy people have a story and that Jean-Pierre Marielle: Simon Marceaux happiness is worth telling”. Les Zozos Robinson Stévenin: Julien Marceaux: is a semi - autobiographical story in Julie Depardieu: Jeanne-Marie which Thomas recounts with tenderness and humor the amorous Running time: 104 min Introduction by Masha Salazkina, Year of production: France - 2003 misadventures of high school students. Rating: Not rated (brief nudity and sexual content) + quote Assistant Professor of Slavic and Film The same feeling of charm and Studies, Colgate University nostalgia appears again in his Language: French "Directing ironic movies and comedies, it’s following films, Pleure pas la bouche Distributor: First Run Features about to feel the grotesque of the world – pleine (1973) and Le chaud lapin THIS MOVIE IS PART OF THE TOURNÉES PROGRAM www.firstrunfeatures.com which is pretty much unrealistic. Logically (1974). With the help of actors such as we are attracted by figuring out some Daniel Ceccaldi and Bernard Menez, Theatrical Drama obscure power, by the charms of night and Thomas directed in the 70’s comedies + awards with impeccable dialogues and warm mystery. (…) One of the reasons that led Set in a beautiful country house in portrayals of French provincial life - not César Awards (2004): me to adapt “Mon petit doigt…” is related to Brittany, Claude Miller adapts Anton far from Maurice Pialat and Jacques Chekov’s classic play The Seagull. Best Young Actress (Julie Depardieu) his unique atmosphere: behind the quietest Rozier and their new realistic movies. country lands, behind the most friendly After Celles qu’on n’a pas eues, in When the young and overly sensitive Chicago International Film Festival (2003): faces, horror can pop up. It’s the principle of 1981, the director took a 9 year Julien screens his first art film for his Best Female Performance (Ludivine Sagnier) antagonism, what suspense is made of ." sabbatical and focused his efforts and mother, a famous actress, and her Pascal Thomas talents in advertising. In 1989 he boyfriend Brice, an accomplished film- returned to directing with Les maris, maker, the delicate peace of the + Claude Miller, director les femmes, les amants, a household begins to unravel. The + casting lighthearted, summer film. Two years sexy young Lili, who stars in Julien’s After graduation from the IDHEC film school later he directed La Pagaille after film, dreams of becoming a famous in Paris in 1963, Claude Miller acted as assistant and supervisor for the crews of Pascal Thomas chose his cast carefully. which Pascal Thomas disappeared actress like Mado, Julien’s mother. many notable directors of France’s Nouvelle Apart from the leading roles of Catherine again from the directing scene until La Fascinated by Brice, she sets her Frot and André Dussolier, you can see stars Vague, including Jean-Luc Godard and from another time and place: great stars Dilettante. La Dilettante became a mind on seducing him and he gladly Francois Truffaut. Under Truffaut’s aegis, usually seen on stage (Francoise Seigner, sleeper hit in 1999, with Catherine Frot falls prey to her charms. Miller directed his first feature film in 1976, Laurent Terzieff, Bernard Verley), an 80’s playing the part of an independent and The Best Way to Walk. Miller completed sex-symbol (Valérie Kaprisky, capricious bourgeois. His next film, + US press several more features and script adaptations unrecognizable as a bigot), two renowned with the perceptible influence of his mentor, Mercredi folle journée, is a poetic “… La Petite Lili pays off in a revelatory canadian actresses (Alexandra Stewart et comedy in which the heroes are and after Truffaut’s death in 1984, Miller completed the filming of Truffaut’s half- Geneviève Bujold) and a very popular comic children. With Mon petit doigt m’a dit, final act…[it] becomes a Pirandellian puzzle actor from the 70’s (Maurice Risch). This is completed The Little Thief in 1988. Miller has he explores his love of literature by reminiscent of Truffaut’s Day for Night. It also the first time on big screen for Sarah since come into his own, and has directed Biasini, the Romy Schneider’s daughter, adapting an Agatha Christie thriller, but argues that people, given the opportunity, such critically-acclaimed films as La Classe who play the daughter of Catherine Frot. with a personal tone. In his films, de Neige (The Class Trip, 1998), and Betty move on and mature their memories intact And the former CEO of Canal +, French Thomas displays his unusual style and , Fisher and other Stories (2001). In 2000, cable TV, Pierre Lescure, appears here in skill in portraying colorful, nuanced but their wounds still healing.” Stephen Hopkins directed Under Suspicion, his first real part as a police officer. characters. remake of Claude Miller’s Garde à vue, Stephen Holden, The New York Times (1981).

Focus on French Cinema 2006 Focus on French Cinema 2006 24 17 LE BONHEUR, C’EST UNE CHANSON TRISTE BRODEUSES SEQUINS

Saturday, March 25 - 2:30 PM Sunday, March 26 - 12:00 PM well as such classics as Marie Stuart, Electre… She has won numerous awards Director: Eléonore Faucher in Québec. Screenplay: Eléonore Faucher and Gaëlle Macé One of Robert Lepage’s loyal collabora- tors, she has toured with many of his inter- Cast: national productions, most notably the Lola Neymark: Claire river-play The Seven Streams of the River Mme Melikian: Ariane Ascaride Ota. In 1994, Cadieux premiered on Marie Felix: Lucile Thomas Laroppe: Guillaume Anne-Marie Cadieux screen in Robert Lepage’s The Confes- sional, in which she won public and critic Arthur Quehen: Thomas actress recognition. Running time: 88 min In Montréal, Québec (Canada), More recently, she appeared in Seraphin, Year of production: France - 2004 Introduction by Tristane Theisen, Anne-Marie Cadieux is leading for many Heart of Stone (Séraphin, un homme et Rating: Not rated (general public) Professional translator and graduate in years an active career as an actor in thea- son pêché) by Charles Binamé, Sébastien comparative literature, The Sorbonne tre, television and film. Rose’s How my mother gave birth to me Language: French during menopause (Comment ma mère Distributor: New Yorker Films On stage, she has had unforgettable per- accoucha de moi durant sa ménopause), www.newyorkerfilms.com THIS MOVIE IS PART OF THE TOURNÉES PROGRAM formances in several occasions and for and in Robert Lepage’s latest film, The far extremely demanding parts, including Side of the Moon (La Face cachée de la Heiner Müller’s Quartett, Bernard-Marie Lune). Drama + awards Koltès’ Combat de nègre et de chien, as Since she moved from her parents’ farm, seventeen-year-old Claire Cannes Film Festival (2004): Critics Week Moutiers is doing quite well. A cash- Grand Prix, SACD’s Screenwriters Award eignty-Association was a turning point in + cinema in Québec ier’s job helps pay the bills and leaves Québec history and culture. Denys Arcand Deauville Film Festival (2004): Best French made his most acclaimed picture, Le con- her enough time to pursue her pas- The history of cinema in Québec began on script fort et l'indifférence, about the result of the sion: embroidery. She exchanges the June 27, 1896 when the French Louis referendum, followed by 1986's Le Déclin cabbage heads she steals from her Minier inaugurated the first movie projec- French Syndicate of cinema critics (SACD) de l'empire américain and 1989's Jésus de tion in North America in a Montreal theatre. parents’ garden with the precious rab- (2005): Best first film Eléonore Faucher However, it was the 1960s when a genuine Montréal. bit skins she needs for her art. Her Quebec cinema industry would emerge. After 1980, Québec filmmakers began to new life is jeopardized though when Few films were produced in Québec during make movies that were no longer centered she learns that she is pregnant. Claire this period, until Cinema-Vérité directors on Québec identity. Thanks to the consoli- quits her job and intends to give birth + US press Michel Brault and Pierre Perrault made dation of Québec's movie industry, inde- in secret. She learns that her best their debut. Other important filmmakers of pendent films such as Denis Villeneuve's friend’s brother recently had a motor- “What counts in Sequins isn't the narrative but the feelings underneath it - made more the 60's include Gilles Groulx and Claude Maelström, and André Turpin’s Un crabe cycle accident that killed the son of dans la tête caught the media's attention. poignant by the beautiful images and Jutra. That decade also heralded the begin- Mrs. Melikian, a designer of haute nings of directors Gilles Carle and Denys 2003 was a year of increased recognition Michael Galasso's stirring score. This is Arcand. with Arcand winning the foreign film Oscar couture embroideries. Mrs. Melikian about the quiet desperation of these for Les Invasions barbares, Gaz bar blues hires Claire and is quick to discover characters' lives, how they can slip below In 1967, Québec's (religious) censorship (Louis Bélanger), and Seducing Doctor that Claire is pregnant. Day by day, the surface with barely a ripple. But it's also bureau was replaced by a film ratings sys- Lewis (Jean-François Pouliot). This year, stitch by stitch, Claire’s belly grows about how people can resurface.” tem administered by the province, and film the film C.R.A.Z.Y. by Jean-Marc Vallée is distribution was now free of Catholic rigid- and the friendship between the two gaining national and international critical women strengthens, creating a bond Desson Thomson, Washington Post ity. In the 70’s, Arcand and Carle found acclaim. critical and some commercial success and between them. “Sequins hinges on its performances and in 1975, director Claude Jutra released one Québec is also the home of the legendary newcomer Naymark is a marvel of quiet of the most critically praised Québecois film Frédéric Back, master of animation and The direction, photography, sound intelligence, endowing Claire with a complex winner of innumerable awards, including an to date, Mon oncle Antoine. and music contribute to the lyricism mix of virginal purity and hormonal rage.” Oscar in 1982 for Crac! The defeat of the referendum on Sover- and dream-like quality of Eléonore Faucher’s first feature film. David NG, The Village Voice

FocusFocus onon FrenchFrench CinemaCinema 20062006 FocusFocus onon FrenchFrench CinemaCinema 20062006 18 23 L’ANNIVERSAIRE THE BIRTHDAY L’ANNIVERSAIRE THE BIRTHDAY

Saturday, March 25 - 5:00 PM Saturday, March 25 - 5:00 PM Director: Diane Kurys + question to Diane Kurys Screenplay: Diane Kurys, Daniel Saint- Hamont Why did you decide to participate in Fo- cus on French Cinema sponsored by the Cast : Alliance Française of Greenwich? : Raphaël I have a long lasting experience with the Michèle Laroque: Élisabeth USA, and more specially with NYC, which I Jean-Hugues Anglade: Alberto love. Very few French productions manage : Jacques Leroy to get visibility on this side of the Atlantic, Antoine Duléry: Charlie and Focus on French Cinema is a great opportunity to show our work in America. It is Running time: 100 min a young and fresh event managed by pas- Year of production: France - 2005 ) Diane Kurys RE Introduction by Iris Cahn, film editor, sionate people and it would be a shame for Rating: not rated (- 12) MIE Professor of Film and Chair of The Film director me not to support it. PRE (US Program, Purchase College Language: French After her Russian immigrant parents’ + Michèle Laroque Distributor: Mars distribtion Q&A with Diane Kurys, director divorce, Diane Kurys settled in Paris with her mother and her sister. She Born in Nice to a French father and a Roma- LVMH IS PROUD TO PRESENT THIS SCREENING OF L’ANNIVERSAIRE started a career as an actress, playing nian mother (who was a dancer), Laroque a number of roles in the theater and grew up taking lessons in sports, piano, singing, and theater. Buddy movie one feeling good about life, family and with the well-known Compagnie enduring friendships. Renaud-Barrault. In l976, she had a She trained with teachers from La Comédie- Raphaël Kessler is a successful reality small role in the movie Française, the legendary French institution. TV producer. After reading his brother The score consists of a range of mu- Casanova. She acted in theatre for seven years, before Alberto's autobiographical book in sic from the 80’s, including Murray French director Patrice Leconte noticed her which he is accused of blatant cyni- head, Sting, Blondie, Rita Mitsouko, In 1977, she decided to try her hand at on the stage and hired her for her cinema the Buggles... directing with Diabolo menthe, an debut in Le Mari de la Coiffeuse (1990). cism and treason, he decides to invite autobiography of adolescence in which him and his gang of old friends to his she also wrote the script. The film was Today, Laroque is a top actress in France, beautiful villa in Marrakech, Morocco. + director’s filmography well received and won the Prix Louis best known for her comedic talents, though The official reason for the celebration - she has also tackled dramatic roles. To audi- his 45th birthday - is only a pretext. Delluc. In Cocktail Molotov, Diane ences in the United States, she is best L’Anniversaire (2005) Kurys tells again a semi- known for her portrayal of the mother in His friends first met in the specific autobiographical story of young adults Belgian director Alain Berliner’s Oscar- climate in which socialist Francois Je reste! (2003) in 1968. In Coup de foudre, she nominated Ma Vie en Rose (My Life in Mitterrand rose to power and first Pink)." Les Enfants du siècle (The Children of the relates the unusual friendship between opened the government-controlled two women during the 50's and in La Century) (1999) Michèle Laroque spends valuable time on airwaves, to the benefit of the major Baule-les-Pins, she recalls a family players in pirate radio in the late who destroys itself during a summer this side of the Atlantic, she lives both in À la folie (Six Days, Six Nights ) (1994) Paris and in Los Angeles. 1970's and early 1980's. But their vacation. forty something life is at times far from Après l'amour (Love After Love) (1992) their twenty year old idealism. And Diane Kurys continues to direct more La Baule-les-Pins (C'est la vie) (1990) films about tumultuous and tragic when Raphaël reveals he betrayed them two decades before, the party relationships between couples: Apres Un homme amoureux (A Man in Love) l’amour (1992), A la folie (l994) and will turn sour… (1987)

Les Enfants du siecle with Juliette Kurys’ talent for exploring the bounda- Binoche and Benoit Magimel in the Coup de foudre (At First Sight) (1983) ries of relationship is apparent roles of and Alfred de in L’Anniversaire: transporting as Musset. Later she returned to comedy Cocktail Molotov (1980) well as thought-provoking, this is an with Je reste and L’anniversaire. entertaining film for adults that leaves Diabolo menthe (Peppermint Soda) (1977)

FocusFocus onon FrenchFrench CinemaCinema 20062006 FocusFocus onon FrenchFrench CinemaCinema 20062006 20 21 L’ANNIVERSAIRE THE BIRTHDAY L’ANNIVERSAIRE THE BIRTHDAY

Saturday, March 25 - 5:00 PM Saturday, March 25 - 5:00 PM Director: Diane Kurys + question to Diane Kurys Screenplay: Diane Kurys, Daniel Saint- Hamont Why did you decide to participate in Fo- cus on French Cinema sponsored by the Cast : Alliance Française of Greenwich? Lambert Wilson: Raphaël I have a long lasting experience with the Michèle Laroque: Élisabeth USA, and more specially with NYC, which I Jean-Hugues Anglade: Alberto love. Very few French productions manage Pierre Palmade: Jacques Leroy to get visibility on this side of the Atlantic, Antoine Duléry: Charlie and Focus on French Cinema is a great opportunity to show our work in America. It is Running time: 100 min a young and fresh event managed by pas- Year of production: France - 2005 ) Diane Kurys RE Introduction by Iris Cahn, film editor, sionate people and it would be a shame for Rating: not rated (- 12) MIE Professor of Film and Chair of The Film director me not to support it. PRE (US Program, Purchase College Language: French After her Russian immigrant parents’ + Michèle Laroque Distributor: Mars distribtion Q&A with Diane Kurys, director divorce, Diane Kurys settled in Paris with her mother and her sister. She Born in Nice to a French father and a Roma- LVMH IS PROUD TO PRESENT THIS SCREENING OF L’ANNIVERSAIRE started a career as an actress, playing nian mother (who was a dancer), Laroque a number of roles in the theater and grew up taking lessons in sports, piano, singing, and theater. Buddy movie one feeling good about life, family and with the well-known Compagnie enduring friendships. Renaud-Barrault. In l976, she had a She trained with teachers from La Comédie- Raphaël Kessler is a successful reality small role in the Federico Fellini movie Française, the legendary French institution. TV producer. After reading his brother The score consists of a range of mu- Casanova. She acted in theatre for seven years, before Alberto's autobiographical book in sic from the 80’s, including Murray French director Patrice Leconte noticed her which he is accused of blatant cyni- head, Sting, Blondie, Rita Mitsouko, In 1977, she decided to try her hand at on the stage and hired her for her cinema the Buggles... directing with Diabolo menthe, an debut in Le Mari de la Coiffeuse (1990). cism and treason, he decides to invite autobiography of adolescence in which him and his gang of old friends to his she also wrote the script. The film was Today, Laroque is a top actress in France, beautiful villa in Marrakech, Morocco. + director’s filmography well received and won the Prix Louis best known for her comedic talents, though The official reason for the celebration - she has also tackled dramatic roles. To audi- his 45th birthday - is only a pretext. Delluc. In Cocktail Molotov, Diane ences in the United States, she is best L’Anniversaire (2005) Kurys tells again a semi- known for her portrayal of the mother in His friends first met in the specific autobiographical story of young adults Belgian director Alain Berliner’s Oscar- climate in which socialist Francois Je reste! (2003) in 1968. In Coup de foudre, she nominated Ma Vie en Rose (My Life in Mitterrand rose to power and first Pink)." Les Enfants du siècle (The Children of the relates the unusual friendship between opened the government-controlled two women during the 50's and in La Century) (1999) Michèle Laroque spends valuable time on airwaves, to the benefit of the major Baule-les-Pins, she recalls a family players in pirate radio in the late who destroys itself during a summer this side of the Atlantic, she lives both in À la folie (Six Days, Six Nights ) (1994) Paris and in Los Angeles. 1970's and early 1980's. But their vacation. forty something life is at times far from Après l'amour (Love After Love) (1992) their twenty year old idealism. And Diane Kurys continues to direct more La Baule-les-Pins (C'est la vie) (1990) films about tumultuous and tragic when Raphaël reveals he betrayed them two decades before, the party relationships between couples: Apres Un homme amoureux (A Man in Love) l’amour (1992), A la folie (l994) and will turn sour… (1987)

Les Enfants du siecle with Juliette Kurys’ talent for exploring the bounda- Binoche and Benoit Magimel in the Coup de foudre (At First Sight) (1983) ries of relationship is apparent roles of George Sand and Alfred de in L’Anniversaire: transporting as Musset. Later she returned to comedy Cocktail Molotov (1980) well as thought-provoking, this is an with Je reste and L’anniversaire. entertaining film for adults that leaves Diabolo menthe (Peppermint Soda) (1977)

FocusFocus onon FrenchFrench CinemaCinema 20062006 FocusFocus onon FrenchFrench CinemaCinema 20062006 20 21 ROIS ET REINES KINGS AND QUEEN LE BONHEUR, C’EST UNE CHANSON TRISTE

Saturday, March 25 - 8:00 PM Saturday, March 25 - 2:30 PM Director: Arnaud Desplechin Director: François Delisle Screenplay: Roger Bohbot, Arnaud Screenplay: François Delisle Desplechin Cast : Cast : Anne-Marie Cadieux: Anne-Marie Emmanuelle Devos: Nora Cotterelle Miro: Stéphan Mathieu Amalric: Ismaël Vuillard Frédérick de Grandpré: Pascal Catherine Deneuve: Mme Vasset Kent McQuaid: Mike Maurice Garrel: Louis Jenssens Luc Proulx: Zénon Nathalie Boutefeu: Chloé Jenssens Running time: 84 min Running time: 150 min Introduction by Deanna Kamiel, Year of production: Canada - 2004 Year of production: France - 2004 documentary filmmaker and Professor Rating: not rated (PG)

Q&A with Anne Kern, Assistant Rating: not rated (general public) of Film, Purchase Langage: French Professor of Cinema Studies, Purchase Language: French Q&A with Anne-Marie Cadieux, actress Distributor: Les films du 3 mars www.f3m.ca Distributor: Wellspring media VAN CLEEF AND ARPELS IS PROUD TO PRESENT THIS SCREENING OF ROIS ET REINE THIS MOVIE IS SPONSORED BY THE DELEGATION GENERALE DU QUÉBEC A NEW YORK

Psycho (analytic) drama + director’s filmography An existential quest Anne-Marie dives head-first into her project. She meets a medley of Nora, the manager of a Parisian art Rois et reine (Kings and Queen) (2004) Imagine it is summer and that, for the characters whom she engages in gallery, has her life interrupted when Léo, en jouant 'Dans la compagnie des hom- last several days, Montreal has been engrossing, thought-provoking her father, Louis, is diagnosed with a mes’ (In the Company of Men) (2003) swimming in sweltering heat and discussions about happiness. Anne- terminal disease. Meanwhile, Nora's Esther Kahn (2000) smog. Then imagine that you are Marie moves from one character to former husband, a tax-burdened intel- Comment je me suis disputé... ou ma vie sexuelle (My Sex Life... or How I Got Into an downtown and a woman holding a the next, from one idea to the next in lectual violinist named Ismaël, is Argument) (1996) small video camera approaches you. her survey, gathering reactions and carted off to a mental institution. Once La Sentinelle (The Sentinel ) (1992) She asks you to participate in a one challenging viewpoints that give her a there, he soon stops trying to figure La Vie des morts (1991) question survey. Although you are chance to reflect upon her own life. out who arranged his stay and starts slightly wary of this proposal, you stop sexing up another, more fragile pa- + US press to listen. She asks you, “What does tient. + François Delisle, director happiness mean to you?” and awaits "…I might as well admit that the story of your answer. With her father dying and still reeling Rois et reine, one of the most brilliant films Born in Montreal in 1967, François Delisle from her recent divorce, Nora realizes of recent years, can’t be synopsized and has been directing films for over twelve Go on! What are you waiting for? that her son, whose father passed that much of the interest of the film lies not years. After several short movies and a Answer! away before his birth, could be left just in trying to keep up with it but in trying to medium length film, Beebe–Plain, his first alone. She goes to the hospital and formulate it and recount it to yourself as you feature-length movie, Ruth, was released in watch." Happiness is a Sad Song tells the asks Ismaël, who raised the child, to 1994. Chris Fujiwara, The Boston Phoenix disjointed story of Anne-Marie, an His films have been screened at several adopt him. unemployed publicist who rounds the international festivals. Ever since he "The film is a soap opera that through pavement in Montreal with her mini- completed his university studies, Delisle + awards layering and texture is made into something cam, collecting testimonials on the has staunchly defended his independent

rich, strange, and unforgettable." subject of happiness. It is happiness and personal approach to the creation and Cesar 2005: best actor Mathieu Amalric Wesley Morris, Boston Globe that she appears to seek - or production of his films. Happiness is a sad

understand - to the point of obsession. song is his second feature film. Louis Delluc Prize 2004: Arnaud Desplechin "It's a puzzle of a film, but not the kind that Along with his film projects, François intimidates you with inscrutability so much Guided by serendipity and a series of Delisle teaches cinematography, sharing French syndicate of cinema critique 2005: as one that beckons you into its antic his experiences with the next generation of critic award Arnaud Desplechin eccentricity. " surprising and varied encounters, Québecois filmmakers. Desson Thomson, Washington Post

Focus on French Cinema 2006 Focus on French Cinema 2006 22 19 LE BONHEUR, C’EST UNE CHANSON TRISTE BRODEUSES SEQUINS

Saturday, March 25 - 2:30 PM Sunday, March 26 - 12:00 PM well as such classics as Marie Stuart, Electre… She has won numerous awards Director: Eléonore Faucher in Québec. Screenplay: Eléonore Faucher and Gaëlle Macé One of Robert Lepage’s loyal collabora- tors, she has toured with many of his inter- Cast: national productions, most notably the Lola Neymark: Claire river-play The Seven Streams of the River Mme Melikian: Ariane Ascaride Ota. In 1994, Cadieux premiered on Marie Felix: Lucile Thomas Laroppe: Guillaume Anne-Marie Cadieux screen in Robert Lepage’s The Confes- sional, in which she won public and critic Arthur Quehen: Thomas actress recognition. Running time: 88 min In Montréal, Québec (Canada), More recently, she appeared in Seraphin, Year of production: France - 2004 Introduction by Tristane Theisen, Anne-Marie Cadieux is leading for many Heart of Stone (Séraphin, un homme et Rating: Not rated (general public) Professional translator and graduate in years an active career as an actor in thea- son pêché) by Charles Binamé, Sébastien comparative literature, The Sorbonne tre, television and film. Rose’s How my mother gave birth to me Language: French during menopause (Comment ma mère Distributor: New Yorker Films On stage, she has had unforgettable per- accoucha de moi durant sa ménopause), www.newyorkerfilms.com THIS MOVIE IS PART OF THE TOURNÉES PROGRAM formances in several occasions and for and in Robert Lepage’s latest film, The far extremely demanding parts, including Side of the Moon (La Face cachée de la Heiner Müller’s Quartett, Bernard-Marie Lune). Drama + awards Koltès’ Combat de nègre et de chien, as Since she moved from her parents’ farm, seventeen-year-old Claire Cannes Film Festival (2004): Critics Week Moutiers is doing quite well. A cash- Grand Prix, SACD’s Screenwriters Award eignty-Association was a turning point in + cinema in Québec ier’s job helps pay the bills and leaves Québec history and culture. Denys Arcand Deauville Film Festival (2004): Best French made his most acclaimed picture, Le con- her enough time to pursue her pas- The history of cinema in Québec began on script fort et l'indifférence, about the result of the sion: embroidery. She exchanges the June 27, 1896 when the French Louis referendum, followed by 1986's Le Déclin cabbage heads she steals from her Minier inaugurated the first movie projec- French Syndicate of cinema critics (SACD) de l'empire américain and 1989's Jésus de tion in North America in a Montreal theatre. parents’ garden with the precious rab- (2005): Best first film Eléonore Faucher However, it was the 1960s when a genuine Montréal. bit skins she needs for her art. Her Quebec cinema industry would emerge. After 1980, Québec filmmakers began to new life is jeopardized though when Few films were produced in Québec during make movies that were no longer centered she learns that she is pregnant. Claire this period, until Cinema-Vérité directors on Québec identity. Thanks to the consoli- quits her job and intends to give birth + US press Michel Brault and Pierre Perrault made dation of Québec's movie industry, inde- in secret. She learns that her best their debut. Other important filmmakers of pendent films such as Denis Villeneuve's friend’s brother recently had a motor- “What counts in Sequins isn't the narrative but the feelings underneath it - made more the 60's include Gilles Groulx and Claude Maelström, and André Turpin’s Un crabe cycle accident that killed the son of dans la tête caught the media's attention. poignant by the beautiful images and Jutra. That decade also heralded the begin- Mrs. Melikian, a designer of haute nings of directors Gilles Carle and Denys 2003 was a year of increased recognition Michael Galasso's stirring score. This is Arcand. with Arcand winning the foreign film Oscar couture embroideries. Mrs. Melikian about the quiet desperation of these for Les Invasions barbares, Gaz bar blues hires Claire and is quick to discover characters' lives, how they can slip below In 1967, Québec's (religious) censorship (Louis Bélanger), and Seducing Doctor that Claire is pregnant. Day by day, the surface with barely a ripple. But it's also bureau was replaced by a film ratings sys- Lewis (Jean-François Pouliot). This year, stitch by stitch, Claire’s belly grows about how people can resurface.” tem administered by the province, and film the film C.R.A.Z.Y. by Jean-Marc Vallée is distribution was now free of Catholic rigid- and the friendship between the two gaining national and international critical women strengthens, creating a bond Desson Thomson, Washington Post ity. In the 70’s, Arcand and Carle found acclaim. critical and some commercial success and between them. “Sequins hinges on its performances and in 1975, director Claude Jutra released one Québec is also the home of the legendary newcomer Naymark is a marvel of quiet of the most critically praised Québecois film Frédéric Back, master of animation and The direction, photography, sound intelligence, endowing Claire with a complex winner of innumerable awards, including an to date, Mon oncle Antoine. and music contribute to the lyricism mix of virginal purity and hormonal rage.” Oscar in 1982 for Crac! The defeat of the referendum on Sover- and dream-like quality of Eléonore Faucher’s first feature film. David NG, The Village Voice

FocusFocus onon FrenchFrench CinemaCinema 20062006 FocusFocus onon FrenchFrench CinemaCinema 20062006 18 23 MON PETIT DOIGT M’A DIT LA PETITE LILI

Sunday, March 26 - 2:30 PM Saturday, March 25 - 12:00 PM Director: Claude Miller Pascal Thomas Screenplay: Claude Miller & Julien Boivent director Based on Chekhov play’s The Seagull

In 1972, when Pascal Thomas Cast: Ludivine Sagnier: Lili produced his first feature Les Zozos, Nicole Garcia: Mado Marceaux he wanted to make the point that Bernard Giraudeau: Brice “happy people have a story and that Jean-Pierre Marielle: Simon Marceaux happiness is worth telling”. Les Zozos Robinson Stévenin: Julien Marceaux: is a semi - autobiographical story in Julie Depardieu: Jeanne-Marie which Thomas recounts with tenderness and humor the amorous Running time: 104 min Introduction by Masha Salazkina, Year of production: France - 2003 misadventures of high school students. Rating: Not rated (brief nudity and sexual content) + quote Assistant Professor of Slavic and Film The same feeling of charm and Studies, Colgate University nostalgia appears again in his Language: French "Directing ironic movies and comedies, it’s following films, Pleure pas la bouche Distributor: First Run Features about to feel the grotesque of the world – pleine (1973) and Le chaud lapin THIS MOVIE IS PART OF THE TOURNÉES PROGRAM www.firstrunfeatures.com which is pretty much unrealistic. Logically (1974). With the help of actors such as we are attracted by figuring out some Daniel Ceccaldi and Bernard Menez, Theatrical Drama obscure power, by the charms of night and Thomas directed in the 70’s comedies + awards with impeccable dialogues and warm mystery. (…) One of the reasons that led Set in a beautiful country house in portrayals of French provincial life - not César Awards (2004): me to adapt “Mon petit doigt…” is related to Brittany, Claude Miller adapts Anton far from Maurice Pialat and Jacques Chekov’s classic play The Seagull. Best Young Actress (Julie Depardieu) his unique atmosphere: behind the quietest Rozier and their new realistic movies. country lands, behind the most friendly After Celles qu’on n’a pas eues, in When the young and overly sensitive Chicago International Film Festival (2003): faces, horror can pop up. It’s the principle of 1981, the director took a 9 year Julien screens his first art film for his Best Female Performance (Ludivine Sagnier) antagonism, what suspense is made of ." sabbatical and focused his efforts and mother, a famous actress, and her Pascal Thomas talents in advertising. In 1989 he boyfriend Brice, an accomplished film- returned to directing with Les maris, maker, the delicate peace of the + Claude Miller, director les femmes, les amants, a household begins to unravel. The + casting lighthearted, summer film. Two years sexy young Lili, who stars in Julien’s After graduation from the IDHEC film school later he directed La Pagaille after film, dreams of becoming a famous in Paris in 1963, Claude Miller acted as assistant and supervisor for the crews of Pascal Thomas chose his cast carefully. which Pascal Thomas disappeared actress like Mado, Julien’s mother. many notable directors of France’s Nouvelle Apart from the leading roles of Catherine again from the directing scene until La Fascinated by Brice, she sets her Frot and André Dussolier, you can see stars Vague, including Jean-Luc Godard and from another time and place: great stars Dilettante. La Dilettante became a mind on seducing him and he gladly Francois Truffaut. Under Truffaut’s aegis, usually seen on stage (Francoise Seigner, sleeper hit in 1999, with Catherine Frot falls prey to her charms. Miller directed his first feature film in 1976, Laurent Terzieff, Bernard Verley), an 80’s playing the part of an independent and The Best Way to Walk. Miller completed sex-symbol (Valérie Kaprisky, capricious bourgeois. His next film, + US press several more features and script adaptations unrecognizable as a bigot), two renowned with the perceptible influence of his mentor, Mercredi folle journée, is a poetic “… La Petite Lili pays off in a revelatory canadian actresses (Alexandra Stewart et comedy in which the heroes are and after Truffaut’s death in 1984, Miller completed the filming of Truffaut’s half- Geneviève Bujold) and a very popular comic children. With Mon petit doigt m’a dit, final act…[it] becomes a Pirandellian puzzle actor from the 70’s (Maurice Risch). This is completed The Little Thief in 1988. Miller has he explores his love of literature by reminiscent of Truffaut’s Day for Night. It also the first time on big screen for Sarah since come into his own, and has directed Biasini, the Romy Schneider’s daughter, adapting an Agatha Christie thriller, but argues that people, given the opportunity, such critically-acclaimed films as La Classe who play the daughter of Catherine Frot. with a personal tone. In his films, de Neige (The Class Trip, 1998), and Betty move on and mature their memories intact And the former CEO of Canal +, French Thomas displays his unusual style and , Fisher and other Stories (2001). In 2000, cable TV, Pierre Lescure, appears here in skill in portraying colorful, nuanced but their wounds still healing.” Stephen Hopkins directed Under Suspicion, his first real part as a police officer. characters. remake of Claude Miller’s Garde à vue, Stephen Holden, The New York Times (1981).

Focus on French Cinema 2006 Focus on French Cinema 2006 24 17 BREAKFAST - MEET THE DIRECTORS MON PETIT DOIGT M’A DIT Saturday, March 25 - 10:00 AM Sunday, March 26 - 2:30 PM If you would like to learn more about Director: Pascal Thomas

French cinema or to ask some Screenplay: Pascal Thomas, Nathalie Lafauri, François Caviglioli questions to our special guests, we Based on a novel by Agatha Christie offer you the tremendous opportunity Cast: to meet our guests at our MEET THE Catherine Frot: Prudence Beresford DIRECTOR BREAKFAST. André Dussollier: Bélisaire Beresford Geneviève Bujold: Rose Evangelista David Schwartz, chief curator of Film Laurent Terzieff: Maître Anet at the Museum of the Moving Image, Valérie Kaprisky: Melle Blayes will be the moderator of this round Introduction by Ronnie Scharfman, Running time: 105 min Professor of French, Purchase College table. He will explore the following David Schwartz Year of production: France - 2004 ) Rating: Not rated (general public) RE subjects: MIE Q&A with Pascal Thomas, director PRE Language: French (US - The current place of French cinema in the international film scene. Distributor: UGC International

- What distinguishes French cinema from other national cinemas? CALYON BANK IS PROUD TO PRESENT THIS SCREENING OF MON PETIT DOIGT M’A DIT - What is the current market for French films in the United States? - What is the place of Québec's cinema in North America and in France ? Mystery + director’s filmography - How is French cinema different than it was 10 or 20 years ago? An old woman disappears. A village - What is the place of women in French film--both in front of and behind the Mon petit doigt m'a dit... (2005) hiding a well kept secret beneath the camera? Mercredi, folle journée! (Day off) (2001) gossips of the town. Graves you La Dilettante (1999) shouldn't look at, a missed doll that La Pagaille (1991) We are welcoming guests both from the movie industry and from universities: comes back from the past, a frighten- Les Maris, les femmes, les amants (1989) ing notary who is wearing the mask of Celles qu'on n'a pas eues (1981) Diane Kurys, Director Pascal Thomas, Director death… And when several pensioners Confidences pour confidences (Heart to of an old people's home start dying heart) (1979) Jalil Lespert, Actor Anne-Marie Cadieux, Actress mysteriously, Prudence and Belisaire, Un oursin dans la poche (1977) La Surprise du chef (1976) with patience and humour, are only Patrick Gimenez, Producer and Anne Kern, Assistant Professor of Le Chaud lapin (The Hot Rabbit) (1974) too happy to follow the trail of adven- Pleure pas la bouche pleine (Don’t cry with Distributor Cinema Studies ture to discover the stunning truth. your Mouth Full) (1973) Sounds like a board game? Well it Les Zozos (1973) Robert Kesten, Founder & Director of Masha Salazkina, Assistant Professor could be, since it is adapted from the Director's View Film Festival. of Media Production master of English mystery Agatha + French press Christie’s By the Pricking of My Marie Bonnel, Cultural Services of Deanna Kamiel, Documentary Thumbs, transposed in Switzerland "Le charme de ce nouvel opus [de Pascal the French Embassy filmmaker and Professor of Film Thomas] vient, comme souvent, du plaisir Since the death of Agatha Christie, his qu'il a à explorer les ressources du Ronnie Scharfman, Professor of Irina Patkanian, Assistant Professor legatee required the 1920’s as the langage." French of Media Production setting of the story - even for a movie Michel Ciment, Positif adaptation - which had curb French "La parodie est sympathique quand JC DECAUX IS PROUD TO SPONSOR THE MEET THE DIRECTOR BREAKFAST directors. Now that this constraint has been lifted, Pascal Thomas is the first Catherine Frot mime les enquêtrices de salon [...] Mais c'est quand Pascal Thomas to take advantage of it. And you can Free, open to the public, seats are limited. No reservations. First-come, first-served basis. opère de malicieux glissements entre la bet he won’t be the last. phrase et l'image qu'il ravit." Jean-Luc Douin, Le Monde Focus on French Cinema 2006 Focus on French Cinema 2006 Focus on French Cinema 2006 Focus on French Cinema 2006 16 25 LES SOEURS FÂCHÉES ME AND MY SISTER LE PETIT LIEUTENANT

Sunday, March 26 - 2:30 PM Friday, March 24 - 7.30 PM Director: Alexandra Leclère Director: Xavier Beauvois Screenplay: Alexandra Leclère Screenplay: Xavier Beauvois, Guillaume Breaud, Jean-Eric Troubat Cast : Isabelle Huppert: Martine Demouthy Cast: Catherine Frot: Louise Mollet Caroline Vaudieu: Nathalie Baye François Berléand: Pierre Demouthy Antoine Derouère: Jalil Lespert Brigitte Catillon: Sophie Solo: Roschdy Zem Michel Vuillermoz: Richard Mallet: Antoine Chappey Christiane Millet: Géraldine Clermont: Jacques Perrin Rose Thiéry: Fernanda, la bonne / the maid Nicolas Morbé: Xavier Beauvois Introduction by David Schwartz Bruno Chiche: Charles Julie Derouère: Bérangère Allaux

Introduction by Irina Patkanian, Running time: 93 min Q&A with Jalil Lespert, actor Running time: 110 min Associate Professor of Media Year of production: France - 2004 Year of production: France - 2005 Production, Brooklyn College, CUNY Rating: not rated (-12 in Europe) Buffet “après-théâtre” will follow Rating: Not Rated (-14 in Europe)

Language: French Language: French Distributor: Pan Européenne distribution Distributor: Mars Distribution (France) CIC BANK IS PROUD TO PRESENT THIS SCREENING OF LE PETIT LIEUTENANT Family comedy-drama own: she wants to become a writer, and after sending a manuscript to a Cop Thriller + director’s filmography

Martine (Isabelle Huppert) lives a publisher in Paris, she's soon invited comfortable bourgeois existence in to the city for a Monday appointment. Antoine graduates from police acad- Paris - having married 'up' in the world To Martine's exasperated horror, emy and moves to Paris with dreams Le Petit Lieutenant (2005) to escape her working class upbring- Louise is coming to stay with her for of fighting crime. His wife Julie re- Selon Matthieu (To Mathieu) (2000) ing. She has no interest in her hus- the weekend! fuses to leave their Normandy home, so during the week, he stays in N'oublie pas que tu vas mourir band Pierre (Francois Berleand) - so In the presence of guests, Louise's rented digs in the city. The division's (Don't Forget You're Going to Die) (1995) long as he pays for her lifestyle. Her provincial openness quickly becomes new chief inspector Captain younger sister Louise (Catherine an embarrassment for her elegant and Vaudieu, a recovering alcoholic who Nord (North) (1991) Frot), however, never left the prov- uptight sister - who has done her very lost her own son years ago, takes inces, and works as a beautician in Le best to conceal and erase her check- him under her wing. Antoine fits eas- Mans. Louise has aspirations of her ered past. When alone, however, they ily into her team of work-hard, play- slowly begin to reconnect. But social hard detectives. She involves him in + French press catastrophe looms - Martine has in- + US press the investigation of the murder of a vited her snappy friend Sophie “…en misant sur l'énergie d'un vrai cinéma homeless Pole. Then tragedy strikes (Brigitte Catillon) and her husband d'action, Beauvois parvient à remonter la "This enjoyably bitchy comedy about two and Vaudieu has to fight the old de- mis-matched sisters offers great roles for over for dinner - and the unwitting pente tragique de son récit, et atteint en mons that she used to drown in bout de course une forme d'apaisement, both Isabelle Huppert and Catherine Frot, Louise, clearly, will be out of her drink. presque une sagesse.” and the actresses miss none of the depth... opportunities provided." Louis Guichard, Télérama David Satratton, ABC This stylish comedy from first time + awards writer-director Alexandra Leclère is “Mieux qu'un thriller, Le Petit Lieutenant est "Light comedy-drama about a bourgeois packed with plenty of verbal fireworks un implacable constat social, indispensable Parisienne embarrassed by a visit from her and provides a great platform for its Cesar: Best actress Nathalie Baye (2006) à une époque où l'image de la réalité est ditzy sis from the sticks avoids both elegant cast. The scene is set for two de plus en plus floutée.” knockabout humor and over-heavy bathos fabulous actresses to transport these Label Europa Cinema: Xavier Beauvois for 90 minutes of easy, thesp-driven (2005) Alex Masson, Score entertainment." lively characters into the hearts of the audience. Derek Elley, Variety

Focus on French Cinema 2006 Focus on French Cinema 2006 Focus on French Cinema 2006 Focus on French Cinema 2006 26 15

LE PETIT LIEUTENANT CONFIDENCES TROP INTIMES INTIMATE STRANGERS

Friday, March 24 - 7.30 PM Sunday, March 26 - 7.30 PM comeback on the ring, in the first film Director: Patrice Leconte of Mabrouk El Mechri. Screenplay: Jérôme Tonnerre

Jalil Lespert has lately shot Arménie Cast: with Robert Guédiguian, which is Sandrine Bonnaire: Anna planned to be released in France later Fabrice Luchini: William this year. Michel Duchaussoy: Monnier Anne Brochet: Jeanne Gilbert Melki: Marc Laurent Gamelon: Luc Jalil Lespert Urbain Cancelier: Chatel actor Running time: 104 min Introduction and Q&A to follow the film Year of production: France - 2004 with Dr. Joseph Youngerman, As a teenager, Jalil Lespert Rating: Restricted (sexual dialogue) accompanied his father, Jean, a psychoanalyst and psychiatrist theater actor, to a casting. They both Distributor: Swank Motion Pictures landed roles, as the director, Laurent www.swank.com THIS MOVIE IS PART OF THE TOURNÉES PROGRAM Cantet, was looking for 2 actors to play father and son in a short he was directing called Jeux de plage (1995). Jalil Lespert in Virgil, dir. Mabrouk El Mechri. Drama In 1999, Jalil Lespert was cast in his + Patrice Leconte, director first full-length feature film, Nos vies + Bérangère Allaux, actress Anna has an appointment to meet with Know in the 80’s as the heureuses, by Jacques Maillot. In Dr. Monnier, a psychiatrist, for the first Splendid’s company 2000, thanks to Laurent Cantet once Plays the role of Julie Derouère, Antoine's time. She accidentally knocks on the filmmaker, Leconte directed again, he is recognized for his role in wife in Le Petit Lieutenant, who does not wrong door and ends up confessing her Les Bronzés, followed Ressources humaines (Human want to follow him and move to Paris. She marriage problems to William Faber, a promptly by Viens chez moi resources), the director’s first full- has recently been seen in Pas sur la tax accountant. Surprised by her j’habite chez une copine and bouche, the last musical "a la Feydeau" set Circulez y’a rien à voir. The length feature film. For his role, he in the 20’s, from the famous director Alain mistake, unsettled by her distress and wins a Cesar for best upcoming actor. somewhat excited by this unexpected two latter films were huge Resnais (2003). She also played in 2002 popular successes, and Patrice Leconte with Patrice Leconte in Rue des Plaisirs situation, William does not have the Jalil Lespert has become one of the moved to intimate and psychological (Love street). courage to tell her that he is not an movies. In 1989, Monsieur Hire, based on a most popular actors of his generation. analyst. As the two begin to meet on a Georges Simenon’s novel, (with Michel He prefers roles with character + David Schwartz, moderator regular basis, a strange ritual develops Blanc and Sandrine Bonnaire), gave him development over action shoots. He between them. Anna is comforted by unexpected critical acclaim. In 1991, plays the sensual gardner in the film David Schwartz is the chief curator of Film these regular visits and by William’s Ridicule, a master piece about the inner Sade by Benoit Jacquot. In Vivre me at the Museum of the Moving Image. He is keen ability to listen to her. William is workings of the royal court in Louis XVI’s tue (Life kills me), directed by Jean- the moderator of the Museum’s Pinewood deeply moved by her confessions and Versailles, was nominated for a Best Foreign Film Oscar. This cemented his Pierre Sinapi, he plays a loser Dialogues, an ongoing series of discussions fascinated by the secrets that no one obsessed with popular culture. The with creative figures in film and television reputation as a fixture of contemporary else has ever heard. Incapable of French Cinema. Since then, he alternates master director Alain Resnais casts such as Martin Scorsese, John Malkovich, Tim Robbins and Jonathan Demme. Mr. telling Anna the truth, he is compelled intimate films and blockbusters, with various him as a gigolo in his 2003’s operetta Schwartz programmed the series Novel to consult Dr. Monnier, as Anna and achievement. His last three movies to date Pas sur la bouche. Not long Ideas: Books into Films at the Jacob Burns William become attracted to each other. include L’Homme du Train (Man on the afterwards, Lespert portrays a jounalist Film Center. He was the program director of Train, 2002) with Jean Rochefort and inspired by Georges-Marc Benamou in the Hamptons International Film Festival in + US press Johnny Hallyday, and Confidences trop the film Le Promeneur du Champ de 1998. intimes (Intimate Strangers), which both Mars, the story of the last years of “The suspenseful, sophisticated spirit of continue to display fortuitous and unsetting Alfred Hitchcock hovers benevolently over François Mitterrand, directed by Robert David Schwartz is teaching a course this face to face, and Les Bronzés 3 in 2006 semester at Purchase on the films of Intimate Strangers, a stylish psychosexual marks his return to the genre of popular Guédiguian. In 2005, he also plays Stanley Kubrick. thriller…” comedy. Virgil, a former boxer who makes his Ann Hornaday, The Washington Post Focus on French Cinema 2006 Focus on French Cinema 2006 Focus on French Cinema 2006 Focus on French Cinema 2006 14 27

SPONSORS MOOLAADÉ Friday, March 24 - 3.30 PM Director: Ousmane Sembene Screenplay: Ousmane Sembene

Cast: Fatoumata Coulibaly: Collé Ardo Gallo Sy Maïmouna Diarra: Hadjatou Salimata Traoré: Amasatou Dominique Zeïda: Mercenaire Mah Compaoré: Doyenne des exciseuses Aminata Dao: Alima Ba

Running time: 134 min Year of production: Senegal - 2004 Introduction by Elise Lemire, Associate Language: Jula & French Professor of Literature, Purchase College, followed by a round table discussion Rating: Not rated (general public) Distributor: New Yorker Films www.newyorkerfilms.com THIS MOVIE IS PART OF THE TOURNÉES PROGRAM

Drama In Moolaadé, the old wise director Ousmane Sembene (73) continues to Set in a small African village, four provoke his audience and reiterates young girls face a ritual purification. the strong feminist consciousness They flee to the house of Collé Ardo that marked his previous film, Faat Gallo Sy, a strong-willed woman who Kiné. once managed to shield her teenage

daughter from circumcision. Collé + director’s Tauw (1969) invokes the time-honored custom of filmography Le Mandat Mandabi “moolaadé” (sanctuary) to protect the Moolaadé (2004) (1968) fugitives, creating a conflict in the Faat Kiné (2000) Borom sarret (1966) community and forcing every villager Guelwaar (1991) La Noire de ... to take sides. Sembene sets the Le Camp de (1966) action amidst a colorful, vibrant Thiaroyé (1988) Niaye (1964) tapestry of village life and expands Ceddo (1977) L’Empire sonhrai (1963) the narrative well beyond the bounds Xala (1975) of straightforward, socially-conscious Emitai (1971) realism. Moolaadé is the second of a trilogy of films about the heroism of + US press everyday life and, to use Sembene’s own words, about the ‘underground “Here, without any compromise, Sembene struggle’ of people often overlooked by their governments and the rest of captures and captivates, telling a tale of world. contemporary urgency and fable-like + awards timelessness. Moolaade crystallizes the sympathies and strategies of a lifetime. It's a great work that opens up a whole culture for Cannes Film Festival (2004): Grand Prize, us.” Best Film Award, Un Certain Regard Michael Wilmington, Chicago Tribune Focus on French Cinema 2006 Focus on French Cinema 2006 Focus on French Cinema 2006 28 13 MONSIEUR N. festival committee

Friday, March 24 - 12.30 PM The Founding Members Director: Antoine de Caunes Screenplay: René Manzor Coline Serreau Patrick Gimenez Philippe Muyl David Schwartz Cast: Philippe Torreton: Napoléon Bonaparte Executive Board Richard E. Grant: Hudson Lowe Jay Rodan: Basil Heathcote Catherine Lamairesse Catherine Laleuf Elsa Sylbertstein: Albine de Montholon Renee Ketcham Isabelle Treton Roschdy Zem: Marshal Bertrand Gail Covney Florence Gatté

Running time: 127 min Year of production: France - 2003 Committees Rating: Not rated (brief nudity) Introduction by Geoff Field, Professor Fund-raising Program School Relations of European History Language: French and English Catherine Laleuf Florence Gatté Gail Covney Renée Ketcham Catherine Lamairesse Catherine Laleuf Distributor: Empire Pictures Madeleine Strass THIS MOVIE IS PART OF THE TOURNÉES PROGRAM www.empirepicturesusa.com Programming Ticketing Graphic Design Patrick Gimenez Isabelle Treton Robin Horton Catherine Lamairesse Leigh Gage Gail Covney Biographical thriller + US press Invitation/Mailing Publicity "Fascinating and likable…I liked it better Renée Ketcham Renée Ketcham Relations with The most widely accepted explanation than the more blustery Master & Com- Isabelle Treton Sandra Finch-Nguyen Distributors for Napoleon Bonaparte’s death is that mander, which it distantly resembles." Madeleine Strass Patrick Gimenez he was poisoned, but the case is still Stephen Holden The New York Times Purchase College Gail Covney open and the enigma surrounding his Marketing Ronnie Scharfman last years in exile is at the heart of Catherine Lamairesse Anne Kern Web design "An intricate, fetchingly lensed tale of histori- Monsieur N. Franck Juliano David Schwartz Corinne Timon cal speculation framed as a plausible Iris Cahn Isabelle Treton In 1815, Bonaparte arrives on the thriller…Beautifully appointed Franco-British Opening Night windswept and overcast island of St. co-production is dramatically dense, neatly Catherine Laleuf Helena. Bonaparte’s jailer and the thesped and visually involving." Jean-Louis Gérin island’s governor, Sir Hudson Lowe, a Lisa Nesselson Variety Westchester Accueil stubborn and authoritarian figure, maintains the island’s security at ab- surd levels. Bonaparte is kept under house arrest at Longwood with rem- + Antoine de Caunes, director nants of his general staff and a British officer under orders to watch over him. Antoine de Caunes is a figure of French Relations within Napoleon’s inner cir- television. In the 90’s, he was the wild co- cle are fraught with jealousy, bicker- presenter of a notorious daily cultural tv ing, greed, plotting and hatred. On his show, insolent, provocative, disguised, very deathbed in 1831, Bonaparte is ac- funny. Born in 1953, his parents, a presenter companied by only three of his staff. and an announcer, made him the first me- The British liaison officer, the only dia-child in France. Monsieur N. is his sec- ond feature film as a director, following Les fictional character, investigates the mystery of his death and discovers an Morsures de l’aube (Love Bites, 2001), a inconceivable plot... vampire-movie starring Guillaume Canet and Asia Argento. Focus on French Cinema 2006 Focus on French Cinema 2006 Focus on French Cinema 2006 Focus on French Cinema 2006 12 29 our mission statement

Through the powerful medium of film, and great French cinema, the Alliance Française of Greenwich or- ganizes a special annual event in Fairfield/Westchester County that:

Brings French Cinema to our community. Focus on French Cinema exposes the community to the vitality of the French film industry by screening films not usually available in the US.

Showcases the amazing French cultural diversity beyond the usual preconceived image. The French film festival promotes French films as an artistic entertainment and powerful storytelling tool.

Offers a unique opportunity to meet with franco- phone directors and actors.

Fosters ties of friendship between our French and American cultures by reaching out to a large public of avid movie goers, students, francophiles and anyone curious and interested in French cinema.

Provides a learning tool to teachers and students. What better way than the medium of film to convey the French culture and language in an authentic way!

Focus on French Cinema 2006 Focus on French Cinema 2006 Focus on French Cinema 2006 10 31 our partners

Purchase College Délégation Générale du Québec in New York

A public university of 4,000 students specifically known for its strong com- mitment to the Arts and Design. A college with a long history of excel- lence in film. It also has a large Hu- manities Department with a world- Established in 1940 at Rockefeller renowned faculty. Graduates are a Center in New York, Québec Gov- strong presence in the film industry - ernment House is Québec's principal the percentage of Purchase College office in the United States. Its mis- graduates who become feature film sion is to promote cooperation and directors is among the highest in the good relations between Québec and country. The Performing Arts Center major American institutions, and to (PAC) presents world-class artists provide Americans with the opportu- with an incredible selection of per- nity to learn more about Qué- formances. bec. Québec Government House www.purchase.edu serves a territory that includes the Mid-Atlantic States. Tournées www.quebecusa.org

The Greenwich Arts Council

A non-profit arts or- ganization serving Tournées, a program of FACE, was Greenwich and the launched in 1995 to help build a new surrounding communi- public for French cinema by encour- ties for over 30 years. aging film screenings on American college and university campuses. In Promotes the arts by nurturing artists collaboration with the French Minis- and building audiences. try of Foreign Affairs, Tournées sup- Encourages individual creativity and ports French Film screenings on broadens community participation in, over 50 campuses across the coun- appreciation of, and support for the try each year. visual, performing and literary arts. www.facecouncil.org/tournees/ www.greenwicharts.org/

Focus on French Cinema 2006 Focus on French Cinema 2006 Focus on French Cinema 2006 28 11 who we are

school where adults and children can Alliance learn French with native speakers: all Française level including conversation, AllianceFrancaise accelerated courses, French for of Greenwich travelers… The AFG awards scholarships to students in French in An organization whose mission is to local public and private schools. promote and further the knowledge of French Culture and language and to A resource center, conveniently reinforce friendship between American located in downtown Greenwich, in the and French people. Greenwich Arts Center Building, that provides books, magazines, videos, An international community of more DVD's and information about France. than 300 francophiles and francophones that organizes activities The Alliance Française of Greenwich and events (lectures, conversations, was founded in 1918 and is a non- book club, Cine-club, theater…), profit organization. targeted toward the French culture. http://www.afgreenwich.org

French Feeling Films rected by two professionals of the movie industry for the last 20 years.

Patrick Gimenez and André Lazare have produced and distributed, alone or together, over 150 films. An American company distributing They are located in Miami and in Paris. French movies in VO-STA (Original Version with American sub-titles) di- http://www.frenchfeelingfilms.com

Westchester Accueil ing families to get acquainted with the American way of life. It also creates links between the American and A welcome French communities by organizing service for fran- fundraising events to the benefit of cophone fami- local social services, such as the Tag lies settling in Sale April 29th in Mamaroneck and Westchester the Promenade des Artistes May 5-6 County. It proposes gatherings every in Larchmont. month, and the opportunity to join many of its activity clubs. It currently WA is a non-profit organization has 200 members. founded in 1985.

The WA tries to help French speak- http://www.westaccueil.org Focus on French Cinema 2006 Focus on French Cinema 2006 Focus on French Cinema 2006 9 sponsor merci beaucoup...

any thanks to the following supporters of the festival Fo- M cus on French Cinema 2006:

>> our opening night sponsors >> the foundations The Florence Gould Foundation >> cuisine and food Bread Venture The Norman Foundation D’Artagnan as directed by Sandy and Terry Ann Weil Délégation Générale du Québec The Raymond Debbane Family Foun- Jean-Louis Dumonet, Saks Fifth avenue dation Kathinka & Niel from Fjord Catering Anonymus La Bonne Cuisine Catering sponsor of Méli-Mélo restaurant Restaurant JEAN-LOUIS >> our sponsors ShopRite Meet the Director Breakfast >> producers White Toque Air France JLToGo catering by JEAN-LOUIS, pre CALYON Crédit Lyonnais theatre welcoming amuse bouche CIC Crédit Industriel et Commercial >> beverages LVMH Louis Vuitton Moët Hennessy Continental Wine Le Wine Shop

Slocum & Sons salutes >> directors Champagne Pommery Titra Films Group Perrier / Nestlé Van Cleef & Arpels >> and our generous donors

Focus on French Cinema >> actors Mr & Mrs Robert Corroon JC Decaux Michael & Gail Covney 2006 Bill & Meri Erickson French American School of New York Bao & Sandra Finch-Nguyen Kinko’s Mrs Erika Hall Renée Ketcham Sir Speedy Stamford Bernard and Catherine Laleuf TV5 Etienne & Catherine Lamairesse Logfret, Inc. Pam & Chris Tasik >> supporting actors Denis & Katia Streiff Lecoq cuisine Daniel & Suzie Vock Logfret, Inc. Mimi Wind Focus on French Cinema 2006 Focus on French Cinema 2006 Focus on French Cinema 2006 Focus on French Cinema 2006

8 33

schedule at a glance

E FRIDAY 5:00 pm IER REM L’Anniversaire S P Dir. Diane Kurys U 12:30 pm Introduction by Iris Cahn, film editor, Monsieur N Professor of Film Dir. Antoine de Caunes Q&A with Diane Kurys, director Introduction by Geoff Field, Professor of European History 8:00 pm

Rois et Reine 3:30 pm Dir. Arnaud Desplechin Moolaadé Q&A with Anne Kern, Professor of Dir. Ousmane Sembène Cinema Studies Introduction by Elise Lemire, Associate Professor of Literature Round table discussion SUNDAY

OPENING NIGHT 7:30 pm 12:00 pm Le Petit Lieutenant Brodeuses Dir. Xavier Beauvois Dir. Eléonore Faucher Introduction by David Schwartz, chief Introduction by Tristane Theisen, curator at the Museum of Moving Image professional translator and graduate in Q&A with Jalil Lespert actor comparative literature, The Sorbonne Buffet “après-théâtre” 2:30 pm E ER Mon Petit Doigt m’a dit EMI SATURDAY PR Dir. Pascal Thomas US Introduction by Ronnie Scharfman, 10:00 am Professor of French Breakfast Meet the Directors / actors Q&A with Pascal Thomas, director With Diane Kurys, Anne Marie Cadieux, Jalil Lespert, Pascal Thomas, David 5:00 pm Schwartz, Patrick Gimenez, Anne Kern, Les Sœurs Fâchées Ronnie Scharfman... Dir. Alexandra Leclère Introduction by Irina Patkanian, 12.00 pm Associate Profesor of Media Production La Petite Lili Dir. Claude Miller 7:30 pm Introduction by Masha Salazkina, Confidences trop intimes Assistant Professor Film Studies Dir. Patrice Leconte Introduction and Q&A to follow with Dr. 2:30 pm Joseph Youngerman, psychiatrist Le Bonheur, c’est une chanson triste

Dir. François Delisle All screenings Pepsico Theatre - Introduction by Deanna Kamiel, Performing Arts Center - Purchase, NY. documentary filmmaker, Professor of Film All screenings are in French with English Q&A with Anne Marie Cadieux, actress subtitles.

Focus on French Cinema 2006 Focus on French Cinema 2006 7 opening night sponsors

JEAN-LOUIS

Focus on French Cinema 2006 Focus on French Cinema 2006 Focus on French Cinema 2006 6 35 a letter from the chairs

ast year’s adventure of starting a Festival of French Cinema was a success thanks to the trust of our partners, sponsors, our guest directors from France and the great audience. The 2006 version Lexpands on the same ingredients of genuine emotion and brings more of everything: we have more films (11 total), more directors and actors to share their vision with you, a larger theater and 3 US premieres to make you feel the thrill of a new movie. We wanted to open the selection of films from other francophone countries and welcome The Delegation Generale du Qubec as a new partner. Finally but not least, more partners and sponsors joined us to support our passion for cinema allowing us to reach a larger audience including students with dedicated movies.

It is a hard choice to choose among 200 new French films released each year. We want to show a whole variety of situations, presented with an angle, a specific touch, that might well be the real definition of French Cinema: from the young graduate from the police academy who dreams of fighting crime, to the 17 year old Claire who wants to hide her pregnancy ; from the Napoleon demoted of Monsieur N., so human in his weakness to the harsh of friendship in L’Anniversaire, not mentioning the unrealistic secrets of an Agatha Christie mystery set in Switzerland, to the eccentricity, yet so profound Rois et Reine (Kings and Queen)… With it comes a whole array of emotions that we wanted to share with you.

Our guests for this year are Diane Kurys and Pascal Thomas, both famous directors, Anne Marie Cadieux from Québec and Jalil Lespert among the young leading actors in France. They are the best ambassadors of their art and their culture, they are our gift to you. It’s a great privilege to welcome them here for the second edition of the festival Focus on French Cinema. We wish that, like us, this festival starts for you the beginning of a love story: the love of great cinema, the celebration of French Cinema with a twist.

Catherine, Renee, Gail, Isabelle, Catherine and Florence

Focus on French Cinema 2006 Focus on French Cinema 2006 Focus on French Cinema 2006 36 5 information & directions

Web site www.focusonfrenchcinema.org Check the website during the year to updated nformation about Focus on French Cinema 2007.

On site Additional tickets can be purchased at the Performing Arts Center. Festival T-Shirts will be on sale, $20. Sandwiches from Méli-Mélo will be sold on site from 11:30 AM.

Directions to the Performing Arts Center

FROM NEW YORK CITY & SOUTHERN WESTCHESTER Take the Henry Hudson Parkway North to The Cross County Parkway then to The Hutchinson River Parkway North. Follow the Hutch north to exit 28. Turn left at the bottom of the ramp onto Lincoln Avenue. After about 1 Mile, take a right onto Anderson Hill Road. Take a left at the next light onto the campus of Purchase College.

FROM CONNECTICUT & NEW ENGLAND Take the Merritt Parkway south through Greenwich and into New York State. Take New York exit 28, Lincoln Avenue. Take a right at the bottom of the ramp onto Lincoln Avenue. A the end of Lincoln Avenue (about 1 mile), take a right onto Anderson Hill Road. Take your first left onto the campus of Purchase College.

PUBLIC TRANSPORTATION-METRO NORTH'S HARLEM LINE From Grand Central Station, take Metro North's Harlem line to White Plains. Once in White Plains take a taxi from the station to Purchase College. Or, walk to the bus station across the street and take the #12 Bee Line Bus to Purchase College.

We hope you enjoyed your festival and that we will have the pleasure to see you next

Focus on French Cinema 2006

Focus on French Cinema 2006 37

patronage

F ocus on French Cinema is non-profit event held by the Alliance Française of Greenwich, French Feeling Films, and Tournées, in partnership with Purchase College, Westchester Accueil, the Greenwich Arts Council and the Délégation Générale du Québec in New York. It is placed under the patronage of his Excellency the Ambassador of France to the United States, Monsieur Jean-David Levitte, his Excellency the Consul Général of France to New York, Monsieur François Delattre, and Monsieur Michel Robitaille, Québec Delegate General in New York.

The festival was made possible with the support of the Cultural Services of the French Embassy and the French Minister of Culture. (CNC)

table of contents

5 - letter from the chairs 18 - Le Bonheur, c’est une 7 - schedule at a glance chanson triste 9 - who we are 20 - L’Anniversaire 11 -our partners 22 - Rois et Reines the movies sunday, march 26 friday, march 24 23 - Brodeuses 12 - Monsieur N. 24 - Mon petit doigt m’a dit 13 - Moolaadé 26 - Les Soeurs fâchées 14 - Le Petit Lieutenant 27 - Confidences trop intimes saturday, march 25 29 - the Festival committee 31 - our mission statement 16 - Breakfast Meet the directors 33 - merci to our sponsors 17 - La Petite Lili 37 - information & directions

Focus on French Cinema 2006 Focus on French Cinema 2006 3