Quirky comedies and inspiring dramas set among the vineyards of France are some of the highlights at this year's French film festival.
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Albury Alliance Francaise teacher Paule Gauquie said the program consisted mainly of comedies.
"The selection was based on making people feel good, there's some serious stuff but mostly we'd like people to laugh," she said.
Mrs Gauquie said there is a big difference between French cinema and American.
"The big difference is what matters in one country and what doesn't in another," she said.
"Often American films have very pretty people and everything is beautiful.
"In French films, not everything is pretty, including the actors. If they are good actors, they are good actors and the decor fits the plot."
For the past three years the French festival has been organised by the Albury branch after the national organisation cut funding to region cities.
"Because we are local we had inside contacts with the schools and in more places but we lost some of the big national publicity," Mrs Gauquie said.
"We don't lose money but we don't make heaps but it's about getting the culture recognised.
"It's not a money making exercise for us."
The festival will open with a screening of Premiers Crus (First Growth), a comedy drama set in the famed vineyards of Burgundy about the art of making wine.
The festival runs from Friday to Sunday at Regent Cinemas Albury.
Seven films will be screened – all with English subtitles.
For program details click here.
The 2016 Alliance Francaise Albury Wodonga French Film Festival | Trailers
La Loi Du Marché (The Measure of a Man)
Screening: Sun 8 May 4:15 PM at Regent
Cast: VINCENT LINDON, KARINE PETIT DE MIRBECK, MATTHIEU SCHALLER, YVES ORY
Director: STÉPHANE BRIZÉ
Synopsis: The iconic actor Vincent Lindon (Augustine – Festival 2013) returns with The Measure of a Man, a moving social drama that scooped the Best Actor Award at the Cannes International Film Festival in 2015.
Lindon plays Thierry, a middle-aged man, long out of work and short on prospects. His is a precarious existence, surviving with his beloved wife and developmentally challenged son on meagre state benefits while subject to the corroding humiliation of pointless job interviews and skills training. When Thierry finally does land a job as a Head of Security he is thrust into a world of stark moral choices in which he discovers that his job not only pays, it costs.
Director Stéphane Brizé coaxes assured performances from an ensemble cast of non-professional actors who complement the veteran Lindon. With touching moments of unforced comedy and hand-held camera techniques, this slice of social realism offers an assured observation of the life of a man trapped in the fraught world of the economically marginalised.
Classification: PG
Genre: Drama
Running Time: 93 minutes
Papa ou Maman
Screening: Sat 7 May 6:45 PM at Regent
Cast: LAURENT LAFITTE, MARINA FOÏS, ANNE LE NY, MICHEL VUILLERMOZ
Director: MARTIN BOURBOULON
Synopsis: Laurent Lafitte and Marina Foïs (seen in last year’s Festival films The Easy Way Out and The Ultimate Accessory) team up for Papa ou Maman, a high concept, fast moving comedy that puts a new spin on custody battles.
Florence (Foïs) and Vincent (Lafitte) have the perfect house, perfect children and perfect careers. All they need to be happy is the perfect divorce. When both parents receive job offers that would see them work abroad, war is declared and the battle is on to gain everything except custody of their three kids.
Papa ou Maman was penned by the French screenwriting dream team, Matthieu Delaporte and Alexandre de la Patellière (What’s in a Name?). This time, the talented duo has written a script with a more subversive flavour for the directorial debut of Martin Bourboulon.
Basking in the film’s political incorrectness, Lafitte and Foïs (and the three enfants terribles), turn in sharp, comedic performances in this snappily paced, irreverent comedy that will have audiences laughing all the way through.
Classification: Not yet rated
Genre: Comedy
Running Time: 85 minutes
En Équilibre (In Harmony)
Screening: Sat 7 May 2:00 PM at Regent
Cast: ALBERT DUPONTEL, CÉCILE DE FRANCE, MARIE BÄUMER, PATRICK MILLE
Director: DENIS DERCOUR
Synopsis: Inspiring, romantic, thrilling – In Harmony is an amazing true story of hope and strength against the odds that is sure to lift the spirits. This film was based on equestrian trainer Bernard Sachsé’s memoir, On My Four Legs, and won an award for Best Film at the Brussels Film Festival in 2015.
Beloved actor Albert Dupontel plays Marc, a stunt rider crippled from an accident while filming. Glamourous insurance assessor Florence (the radiant Cécile De France) takes on his case. But a simple settlement seems distant as Marc’s stubborn dignity draws Florence to him, and an unlikely love affair blossoms. As both realise how their lives have strayed, they reassess what truly matters.
Featuring stunning photography of horse training and stunt riding, director Denis Dercourt weaves a gripping tale of two unlikely lovers, broken by circumstance, yet uniting to regain some control over their destiny. The versatile and brilliant Dercourt moves on from the dark style that saw his earlier films such as The Page Turner– which was selected at the Cannes International Film Festival in 2006 for Un Certain Regard – and embraces a gutsy and emotionally powerful melodrama.
Classification: M
Genre: Drama, Romance
Running Time: 90 minutes
L’étudiante et Monsieur Henri (The Student and Mr Henry)
Screening: Sun 8 May 6:45 PM at Regent
Cast: CLAUDE BRASSEUR, GUILLAUME DE TONQUÉDEC, FRÉDÉRIQUE BEL, NOÉMIE SCHMIDT
Director: IVAN CALBÉRAC
Synopsis: Veteran star Claude Brasseur plays the cantankerous Henri of the title in this riotous comedy of bad manners and good intentions. Bitterly opposed to the relationship between his son Paul (television comic Guillaume de Tonquédec) and the flighty Valérie (Frédérique Bel), Henri strikes upon a devious plan. He offers free board to attractive student Constance (vivacious newcomer Noémie Schmidt), who, desperate to make her own way, agrees to use her charms to drive the couple apart.
What ensues is classic farce material with a whirlwind of uproarious misunderstandings and awkward situations. Yet despite the wry cynicism at the beginning, there is still a sweet and uplifting message at its core – follow your dreams and don’t waste a minute.
César award-winning director Ivan Calbérac has adapted his own stage hit to the screen with triumphant results, in a top example of the Paris boulevard comedy style. In a uniformly superb cast, honours go to Brasseur, who is a hoot as the old coot. Uproarious fun from start to finish, this is bound to bean audience favourite.
Classification: PG
Genre: Comedy
Running Time: 98 minutes
Premiers Crus (First Growth)
Screening: Fri 6 May 7:00 PM at Regent
Cast: JALIL LESPERT, GÉRARD LANVIN, ALICE TAGLIONI, LAURA SMET Director JÉRÔME LE MAIRE
Synopsis: Bursting with sumptuous cinematography of the vineyards of Burgundy, an assured cast and a feel-good script, First Growth is vintage French film-making about the art of making wine. The story concerns Charlie, the son of a wine grower who left his vineyard home to become a renowned Parisian oenologist and the author of a hugely successful wine guide. When Charlie returns to help his family’s failing enterprise he struggles with temperamental weather, a delicate grape and the doubts of his father (Gérard Lanvin, Get Well Soon – Festival 2015). Can the wine critic become a wine producer? This is a delightful and rewarding film from director Jérôme Le Maire, which lovingly captures today’s professional world of winemaking and the challenges each new generation must face. Lanvin is particularly affecting as the gruff patriarch who has become disillusioned with wine. A well-made film with lots of body and a perfect finish, First Growth is a film to be enjoyed with friends.
Classification: M
Genre: Comedy, Drama
Running Time: 97 minutes
Belle et Sébastien l’aventure continue (Belle and Sebastian: The Adventure Continues)
Screening: Fri 6 May 11:00 AM at Regent
Cast: FÉLIX BOSSUET, TCHÉKY KARYO, MARGAUX CHATELIER, URBAIN CANCELIER
Director: CHRISTIAN DUGUAY
Synopsis: The young boy and his big shaggy dog from 2014’s Belle & Sebastian are back in a new tale of adventure! Set at the close of the Second World War, Sebastian (Félix Bossuet) is now ten years old and ready for an action-packed search in the Alps for his friend Angelina (Margaux Chatelier) who has gone missing after a plane crash. With great characters, spectacular scenery and one very gorgeous dog, this French box office hit will entertain the whole family.
Classification: PG
Genre: Adventure
Running Time: 99 minutes
Une Famille á Louer (A Family for rent)
Screening: Sat 7 May 4:30 PM at Regent
Cast: BENOÎT POELVOORDE, VIRGINIE EFIRA, FRANÇOIS MOREL, EDITH SCOB
Director: JEAN-PIERRE AMÉRIS
Synopsis: Meek, mild, single and wealthy, Paul-André (Benoît Poelvoorde, 3 Hearts – Festival 2015) reaches 40 and realises his life is missing something essential – the experience of having a family. Vivacious vegetable sculptor and single mother Violette (Virginie Efira, It Boy– Festival 2014) has a family but no money, and could actually lose her house and kids if her fortunes don’t turn around. The two broker an unlikely and innocent deal – her debts paid by Paul-André in exchange for renting her family!
In this hyper-colourful comedy of love and the modern family, versatile director Jean-Pierre Améris (Romantics Anonymous – Festival 2012) pays exuberant homage to the great screwball comedies of the 30s and 40s. Efira delivers a winning performance that is somehow both vulgar and elegant, while Améris regular Poelvoorde is hilarious as the tightly wound Paul-André.
Family for Rent is a stylised and charming rom-com for today that takes a rare look at the dynamic that children bring to love late in life, and also delivers a very funny film in the process.
Classification: M
Genre: Comedy, Drama
Running Time: 96 minutes