Welcome from Alliance Française of Greenwich Renée Ketcham, Chair President of the Alliance Francaise of Greenwich BIENVENUE... Welcome to Focus on French Cinema 2019 ( FFC 2019), the 15th AN- NIVERSARY of Francophone film presented by the Alliance Française of Greenwich. During the past year, the Selection Committee has traveled to some of the most prestigious film festivals around the world…from Angoulême to TIFF, Namur, Locarno, Cinemania, Rendez- Vous in Paris and beyond in order to curate a diverse and dynamic selection of newly released U.S. Premiere and feature films that represent the vitality of Francophone cinema . FFC 2019 will screen 12 U.S. Premieres—the most in FFC history—EXCEPTIONNEL!—with a focus on “NEW” and young talent in French and Francophone cinema. From the Opening Night and festival weekend at Purchase College in 2005 with 800 enthusiastic ciné- philes to our 2018 audience of close to 7,000 , from DVDs to DCPs, a dazzling array of actors and directors, Focus on French Cinema of the Alliance Française of Greenwich continues to present the best of newly released Francophone cinema. Film runs through our veins at FFC, opening our eyes to the international world around us. We invite you every year to journey to new destinations, offering new ideas and new convictions elated by the energy of Francophone film. Thank you for your loyalty and your support Vive Le Cinéma Francophone! Team Focus on French Cinema EXECUTIVE Renée Amory Ketcham - Chair, President, Alliance Française of Greenwich COMMITTEE Gail Covney - Co-President, Alliance Française of Greenwich Fereshteh Priou - Vice-President & Treasurer, Alliance Française of Greenwich SELECTION Mary Hardy, Renée Amory Ketcham, Harry McLachlin, Joe Meyers, Sylvie Sergent, COMMITTEE Guilhem Caillard- Québec selection Joe Meyers, Director of Programming My second year as Director of Programming for Focus on French Cinema has reaffirmed my love of French language filmmaking in all of its various guises. The selection committee was presented with a fabulous array of dramas, thrillers, comedies, documentaries and family films to choose from. Paring the list down to the dozen or so movies we will be sharing with you was a real challenge but I am thrilled by our final choices. I am especially excited to present two young writer-directors and their new films: Paper Flags (Les drapeaux de papier) by Nathan Ambrosioni and A Colony (Une Colonie) by Genevieve Dulude-De Celles. I am confident both of these filmmakers are at the start of major careers and I am delighted they are joining us with their extraordinary movies. BIO: Joe Meyers has written about movies, theater and books for more than 30 years, for Hearst Connecti- cut Media Group and other publications. For several years Meyers has hosted the monthly French Cinema- theque screenings at the Avon Theatre, presented in partnership with the Alliance Francaise of Greenwich. He has also done many public interviews at the Stamford non-profit movie theater, ranging from Frank Langella and Paul Schrader to Gene Wilder and John Cameron Mitchell. In the 1970s, Meyers ran the first (and only) art house on the Delmarva Peninsula—the Lewes Cine- ma—where he programmed films by Francois Truffaut, Luis Bunuel and other great European directors. In 2012, the Mystery Writers of America gave Meyers the Ellery Queen Award for his writing on crime fiction. A Message from Guilhem Caillard I had the great pleasure of discovering Focus on French Cinema Festival five years ago. At the time, Renée Ketcham and her acolytes—including Mary Hardy, Anne Kern and Sylvie Sergent—regularly attended the CINEMANIA Film Festival in Montreal, Quebec, which I have had the pleasure of leading since 2014. So, every year in November, the Focus team used to come to “shop” in our event that shares the same passion for the Francophonie. Of course, this tradition continues, and the happy band of Focus returns not only each year to CINEMANIA, but I also have had the pleasure to meet them in Angoulême, France in August and even in Belgium, on the occasion of the International Festival of Francophone film of Namur in September…The organizers of Focus have always perfectly understood that the Francophonie has no boundaries: its unifying and creative values shine everywhere, from Montreal to Paris via Africa, Switzer- land, Luxembourg, the rest of Canada and even Connecticut. In 2017 at the invitation of the organizers, I came to Focus accompanied by no less than 10 Quebec artists and as many films. The enthusiasm of the spectators was such that we wanted to renew this collaboration. The following year, we renewed the initiative, always with the same interest for the youth and the new talents of Quebec cinema: the actor Noah Parker came to Greenwich to present the American premiere of Ailleurs. In this continuity, 2019 is no exception to the rule: I have proposed to Focus several recent Quebec titles, and their choice fell on two feature films that embody so well the vitality of the cinema of the Belle Prov- ince: A Colony and 1991. These two feature films have recently made news in Quebec, and it is an honor for Focus to welcome their representatives—in particular, filmmaker Geneviève Dulude-De Celles and actor Jean-Carl Boucher. Even more special, both films are North American premieres. Long live Quebec cinema, Francophonie, and Focus! — Guilhem Caillard Guilhem Caillard is the Managing Director of the CINEMANIA Film Festival in Montreal celebrating its 25th edition in November. He plays an important role in film selection and the fund- raising of this event. Guilhem previously worked for several European festivals, among them the Avignon Festival and the Mediterranean Film Festival of Montpellier (CINEMED). He studied at the Université Paul Valery (Montpellier) and most recently in Film Studies at the Concordia University (Quebec). Guilhem’s specialty is “Cultural Management”; with a focus on the history of cinema. He has served as a member of the jury at major film festivals. 7 The Mystery of Henri Pick Le mystère Henri Pick Friday, April 26 - 11:00am Bow Tie Cinemas, Greenwich, CT Greenwich Opening Night Friday, April 26 - 8:00pm Bow Tie Cinemas, Greenwich, CT GENRE Comedy DIRECTOR Rémy Bezançon SCREENPLAY Vanessa Portal, Rémy Bezançon STARRING Fabrice Luchini, Camille Cottin, Alice Isaaz, Bastien Bouillon LENGTH 100 min COUNTRY France US RELEASE US Premiere DISTRIBUTOR Gaumont SPONSORED BY SYNOPSIS In a strange library in the heart of Brittany, a young editor finds an extraordinary manuscript. Education Screening She immediately decides to publish it. The novel Friday 11am becomes a bestseller. But the author, Henri Pick, a Breton pizza chef who died two years earlier, “never wrote anything besides a grocery list”, according to his widow. Suspecting a literary hoax, REVIEWS a famed critic decides to investigate, with the Leave it up to the French to craft a delectable unexpected help of the daughter of the mysterious Agatha Christie-style caper whose main characters Henri Pick. Based on the 2016 novel, Le Mystère include a famous literary critic, a deceased Henri Pick, by award winning French author and best-selling author and his bookworm daughter, screenwriter, David Foenkinos an ambitious young publisher and an up-and- coming writer. – Hollywood Reporter “Le duo Camille Cottin, dans la peau de la fille Pick, et Fabrice Luchini, reconverti en fin limier de bibliothèque, fait belle impression. Bref, tout ceci est virtuose à plus d’un titre.” – Le Parisien 11 Virtual Attraction Friday, April 26 - 1:30pm Bow Tie Cinemas, Greenwich, CT GENRE Romantic Comedy DIRECTOR Sophie Picciotto SCREENPLAY Sophie Picciotto STARRING Florence Pernel, Eric Perez, James Gerard, Raphaël Desprez, Bernard Yerles LENGTH 15 min COUNTRY France US RELEASE US Premiere DISTRIBUTOR Pixaway SYNOPSIS Married to Laurent for more than 20 years, Elizabeth loves her job and her daily life. She never leaves anything to chance and, above all, never lets herself go. But the day when she mistakenly friends Gontrand on Messenger, all of her certain- SPONSORED BY ties are shattered. Without ever meeting Gontrand, Elizabeth will live a carnal passion on the web and this experience will awaken a forgotten and liberating desire. GUEST BIOGRAPHY Sophie Picciotto REVIEW In 2008, Sophie Picciotto returned to the role of “De formidables comédiens au service d’une actress. Her meeting with Philippe Leguay and histoire actuelle et traitée avec beaucoup d’orig- Fabrice Luchini on the filming of Women on the inalité. Le film est drôle, émouvant mais pas que. 6th floor will be decisive. Sophie wants to play but La musique est formidable et participe au rythme also write for cinema and theater. Sophie co-wrote du film. Bravo!” her first play 22 v’là les filles with Sandra Colombo, – Juliette Chanaud et JM Ribes which they will play in 2010 at the Montorgueil theater. Other plays will follow as Anyone can be wrong, named for the Bajen Foundation’s 2014 Author Award. Sophie is then trained in screen- writing. She co-wrote several series including a literary adaptation and a feature film. Sophie writes and directs her first short Virtual Attraction. 13 Lola and Her Brothers Lola et ses frères Friday, April 26 - 1:30pm Bow Tie Cinemas, Greenwich, CT GENRE Dramatic Comedy DIRECTOR Jean Paul Rouve SCREENPLAY Jean-Paul Rouve and David Foenkinos STARRING Ramzy Bedia, José Garcia, Jean Paul Rouve, Ludivine Sagnier, Pauline Clément from La Comédie Française LENGTH 105 min COUNTRY France US RELEASE US Premiere DISTRIBUTOR TF1 Studio SYNOPSIS Lola (Ludivine Sagnier) has two brothers: Benoît (Jean-Paul Rouve), who is getting married for the AllianceFrançaise SPONSORED BY ofGreenwich third time, and Pierre (José Garcia), who shows up Founded 1911 late for the wedding. Excuses, reproaches, argu- ments, misunderstandings…beneath it all, they’re just doing their best to live their own lives.