French Film Festival | Institut francais du Royaume-Uni - French Institute in the U.K - Institut francais du Royaume-Uni

Wed 9 - Sun 27 Nov

The 19th French Film Festival (9 November - 5 December) presents an unparalleled selection of cinéma français, returning this year to Ciné Lumière, along with several other leading cinemas around the country. There are a wealth of genres to suit all tastes and impressive performances from an array of household names and emerging talents.

Daniel Auteuil returns to the familiar and beloved territory of Marcel Pagnol's work with his latest film The Well Digger's Daughter, this time as director but also mastering beautifully the role of the peasant father on screen.

Stirring up a flurry of media attention in France, writer-director Xavier Durringer's political farce The Conquest chronicles President Nicolas Sarkozy's rise to power.

André Téchiné is back with Unforgivable, a luminous and atmospheric adaptation of Philippe Djian's novel.

Plunging us deep into the sublime and mysterious world of the ocean, Jacques Perrin signs another breathtaking documentary with Oceans.

Audiences at Ciné Lumière will also have a chance to see All the Suns, Philippe Claudel's second feature after I've Loved You So Long.

Finally the Institut français has cause to celebrate the arrival of Christophe Honoré's eagerly awaited film The Beloved, as part of the film was shot here in the vicinity! An overt homage to Jacques Demy, The Beloved stars Catherine Deneuve, Chiara Mastroianni, Ludivine Sagnier and Louis Garrel.

www.frenchfilmfestival.org.uk

Programme

Romantics Anonymous

Les Émotifs anonymes

fff_pater Jean-René is the boss of a chocolate factory and Angélique is a talented chocolate maker. Drawn together through a shared passion for chocolate, they fall in love, but neither is able to express how they feel. Eventually, they manage to overcome their lack of self-confidence, and risk baring their true feelings. Carré and Poelvoorde inhabit their offbeat romance with subtle comic skill in this exxquisite and irresistible romantic comedy.

Screening

Wed 9 Nov 8.40pm

Pater

fff_pater It's witty, urbaine and quintessentially French. Pater is a game two famous adult men play with the camera in an offbeat film closer to documentary than to fiction. Veteran Alain Cavalier and his friend, actor Vincent Lindon, film themselves as they pretend to be businessmen-politicians campaigning for office. The politics are so tongue-in-cheek and the protagonists so articulate and funny that the film works. Though both Cavalier and Lindon mention their fathers, the Pater of the title seems to refer to a political dynasty that just goes on and on, whoever wins the elections.

Screening

Thu 10 Nov 8.40pm

The Well Digger's Daughter

La Fille du puisatier

fff_welldiggerdaughter One day unexpectedly, Patricia encounters Jacques. She is a pretty eighteen-year-old young lady, he is a twenty-six-year old fighter pilot and handsome. A little bit of moonlight will do the rest during their second meeting. There will not be a third: Jacques is sent to the front. The second encounter leads to Patricia's pregnancy and both families are thrown into turmoil...

Daniel Auteuil's first feature is as beautiful as the original by Marcel Pagnol. Auteuil's impressive performance and simplicity of direction make this one of the most eargely awaited films of the year.

'Daniel Auteuil is magnificently poor and proud, archaic, harsh and yet filled with tenderness.' (Le Figaroscope)

Followed by Q&A with Daniel Auteuil

Preview screening courtesy of Pathé UK

Screening

Fri 11 Nov 7.00pm | £15, conc. £12

Exclusive London release at Ciné Lumière from 9 December

Titeuf, le film

ck_titeuf What a catastrophe! Nadia is throwing a birthday party but Titeuf is not invited! But something even more important is about to change his life because once again, the grown-ups try to make things more complicated. Titeuf tries everything possible to get his life back on the right track … making his main objective that of being invited to Nadia's birthday party! Zep's adaptation of his own BD on the big screen is not to be missed!

Screening

Sat 12 Nov 2.00pm | £8, concession £6

All the Suns

Tous les soleils

fff_allthesuns Alessandro is an Italian teacher of Baroque music who lives in Strasbourg with Irina, his fifteenyear- old daughter, who is going though a typical teenage crisis, and her brother Crampone, a sweet and crazy anarchist who has constantly been requesting political asylum ever since Berlusconi came to power. Sometimes Alessandro has the feeling he's raising two teenagers, when he doesn't even realize that he is himself powerless when it comes to existence. Wanting to be a model father, he has forgotten to build a relationship, even more so since he is surrounded by a bunch of pals whose burlesque fantasy prevents him from feeling alone. But when Irina discovers love for the first time, without expecting it, everything will be turned on its head for Alessandro.

The screening on 12 Nov will be followed by a Q&A with lead actor Denis Podalydès (tbc)

Screenings

Sun 13 Nov 8.00pm

Mon 14 Nov 6.15pm

The Conquest

La Conquête

fff_conquest May 6, 2007, the second round of the French presidential elections. While the French prepare to elect their new president, Nicolas Sarkozy, convinced of his victory, remains shut up at home. All day, he tries to get hold of his wife Cécilia, who is avoiding him. The five years that have just passed unfold: they recount the story of a man who gains power and loses his wife. Writer-director Xavier Durringer’s chronicle of President Nicolas Sarkozy's ascent to power, caused a media scrum in France.

The screening on 12 Nov will be followed by a Q&A with lead actor Denis Podalydès (tbc)

Screenings

Sat 12 Nov 8.00pm

Mon 14 Nov 8.40pm

No and Me

No et moi

fff_noandme Word has it that Lou is a precocious child. She is thirteen years old and two classes ahead of everyone else. Lou must write an essay about a young, homeless woman. She is 18 years old, called No, Nora in fact, but everyone calls her No, and very soon Lou cannot get by without her. But No is unpredictable; she has grown up in state homes and is totally unlike anyone else. One day, she disappears. When No reappears in an exhausted, wretched state, Lou knows what she must do... Actress-director Zabou Breitman (Someone I Loved) delivers a heartfelt story based on the bestselling novel by Delphine de Vigan.

Screening

Tue 15 Nov 6.15pm

La Route 132

fff_route132 After a tragic and devastating loss, middle-aged professor Gilles runs into Bob, a childhood friend who now hustles sketchy goods for a living and sometimes commits small-time crimes. Bob and Gilles get to talking and consuming large quantities of beer. Soon enough, Bob convinces the near suicidal Gilles to head to the countryside to rob a bank. Unable to cope, Gilles agrees and embarks on a journey through rural Quebec which, perhaps inadvertently, becomes a journey through his and his family's past. Louis Belanger's tale of grief, never hits a wrong note, thanks to standout performances and a script that patiently builds characters.

Screening

Wed 16 Nov 6.15pm

Oceans

Océans

fff_oceans Threading your way at 10 knots through a shoal of tuna on the hunt, accompanying dolphins in their joyous rush, swimming with a great while shark, shoulder to fin... Watching this superbly fascinating documentary is like being a fish among the fishes. After Le Peuple migrateur (Winged Migration), Jacques Perrin and Jacques Cluzaud lead us, thanks to new and ingenious film shooting techniques, to the heart of the oceans on the path of discovery of unknown or neglected marine creatures. Océans asks serious questions about the imprint mankind imposes on wildlife and responds with images and emotions. We ignore its message at our peril.

Screenings

Wed 16 Nov 8.45pm

Thu 17 Nov 3.00pm

The Beloved

Les Bien-aimés

fff_beloved From Paris in the 60s to 21st century London, Madeleine and her daughter Vera waltz in and out of the lives of the men they love. But not every era allows us to love blithely and lightheartedly. How are we to resist the sands of time that attack our deepest feelings? Honoré sensitively looks at how the passage of time changes realities related to emotions. With part of the film shot at the Institut français thare's yet another good reason to enjoy Honoré's latest film at Ciné Lumière!

Followed by Q&A with dir. Christohe Honoré

Screening

Fri 18 Nov 6.15pm | £12, conc. £10

The Look

fff_look Throughout her nearly half-century career, actress Charlotte Rampling has rarely shied away from exposing herself onscreen. In this engaging documentary she bares it all yet again, but this time in a series of compelling discussions with different artists, writers, photographers and filmmakers. It emerges less of a standard biographical study than a free-wheeling tête-à-tête separated into thematic chapters with titles like 'Demons,' 'Desire' and 'Death.' Director Angelina Maccarone (Vivere) accompanies Rampling on visits to various artists-cum-friends, with who she chats about her unique approach to working in front of the camera - from early nude work with Helmut Newton to her controversial portrayal of S&M practicing concentration camp survivor in Liliani Cavani’s 1974 shocker, The Night Porter.

Screening

Sat 19 Nov 6.00pm

Unforgivable

Impardonnables

fff_unforgivable Francis arrives in Venice seeking peace and quiet to write his next novel. Looking to rent a small apartment, he meets Judith a real estate broker. For Francis, it's love at first sight. Judith insists that he should see a remote house on Sant' Erasmo island. Taking the plunge, Francis says: 'If we move in together, I'll sign right away.' So begins their life as a couple. The following summer, his daughter Alice arrives in his retreat on vacation. Then she suddenly disappears... André Téchiné's adaotation transforms Philippe Djian's novel into a dense, fast-moving narrative with his unique style.

Screenings

Sat 19 Nov 2.00pm

Sun 20 Nov 5.00pm

Think Global, Act Rural

Solutions locales pour un désordre global

fff_thinkglobalactrural In what’s already been called a 'radical and exhilarating' documentary manifesto, the unstoppable Coline Serreau digs into the problem of industrialised agriculture, quizzing farmers and philosophers alike, across the globe. 'Films full of warnings and disasters have been made and have served their purpose, but now it is time to show that solutions do exist,' states Serreau. 'It is time to hear what farmers, philosophers and economists have to say.'

Screening

Tue 22 Nov 6.15pm

A Cat in Paris

(Une Vie de chat)

ck_uneVieDeChat Dino the cat has two lives. During the day, he lives with Zoé, the daughter of Jeanne; a police officer. By night, he scales the rooftops of Paris alongside Nico, a skillful burglar. While Jeanne is working on several cases, Zoé runs into Victor Costa, a gangster who killed her father. A chase ensues and all their paths cross leading them as far as the rooftops of Notre Dame.