A Week of French Language Cinema 

Posted By Robin Menken

For the fifteenth year straight, in collaboration with the Consulates General of Canada, Belgium, Switzerland, France, the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, the Quebec Government Office in Los Angeles, and Le Lycée Français de Los Angeles, Théâtre Raymond Kabbaz (TRK) presents A Week of French Language Cinema, with nightly screenings of critically acclaimed French language films, from March 19th through March 25th. All films are subtitled in English.

A Week of French Language Cinema is organized annually to coincide with the International Organization of La Francophonie (OIF)’s celebration of the French language and Francophone culture on March 20th. The event is the perfect showcase to present the artistry of French-language voices the world over. 

"Humanist Vampire Seeking Consenting Suicidal Person"- Canadian filmmaker Ariane Louis-Seize’s debut feature is a witty dark comedy, a sort of Romeo and Vampira.

Amusing world building and a witty cast portray the coming of age woes of young Sasha (Sara Montpetit), who’s just too compassionate to kill and feed. She’s kept alive by refrigerated blood packs, as her parents quarrel.

A black comedy scene of little vampire Sasha's birthday party sets the film in motion. Decades pass. Unwilling vampire, teenager-like Sasha is an unending stress to her bickering family 

Sara Montpetit (wonderfully matched by actress Lilas-Rose Cantin who plays Sasha as a little vampire) has a face that speaks volumes. She’s a Goth glamor girl. Her dead-pan stares hold hidden depths.

Young looking Sophie’s a late bloomer. Her fangs have never dropped. Unable to feed she spends her nights busking, playing Cello outside the local bowling alley. 

One night she spots Paul (Félix-Antoine Bénard) on the roof of the bowling alley where he works, planning to jump. He puts it off.

Sensitive teenager Paul spends his days at school bullied by a bunch of thugs. He can’t tell his mom. Félix-Antoine Bénard plays Paul as a crestfallen innocent willing to follow Sasha's lead.

The next time Sasha spots him, they lock eyes. Paul flees, right into a wall, knocking himself out. Scenting his blood, Sasha’s fangs finally emerge. Afraid of her teenage (blood) lust it’s Sasha’s turn to flee. (She’s already 62 years-old and fang-shy).

This works as a metaphor, Sasha is afraid of her adult sexuality. So is Paul. They connect as two awkward virgins. Sasha explains her issue to Paul framing their various problems as each other’s solutions. It’s a morbidly endearing perfect match.

When Sophie backs off from biting his neck, besotted Paul hurriedly offers to take off his shirt.

Steve Laplante is hilarious as a protective father who resists forcing Sophie to feed, while Mom (Sophie Cadieux) fumes. She’s sick of hunting for the whole family and worries it will go on for the next 300 years.

Eventually they lock the fridge and send Sasha off to room with her bawdy older cousin Denise (Noémie O’Farrell). Efficient vampire Denise, who uses her sexual charms and promises of kinky sex to lure her dinner dates (make that dinner) promises to make Sophie into the vampire they all know she can be.

A Week of French Language Cinema 

Posted By Robin Menken

For the fifteenth year straight, in collaboration with the Consulates General of Canada, Belgium, Switzerland, France, the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, the Quebec Government Office in Los Angeles, and Le Lycée Français de Los Angeles, Théâtre Raymond Kabbaz (TRK) presents A Week of French Language Cinema, with nightly screenings of critically acclaimed French language films, from March 19th through March 25th. All films are subtitled in English.

A Week of French Language Cinema is organized annually to coincide with the International Organization of La Francophonie (OIF)’s celebration of the French language and Francophone culture on March 20th. The event is the perfect showcase to present the artistry of French-language voices the world over. 

"Humanist Vampire Seeking Consenting Suicidal Person"- Canadian filmmaker Ariane Louis-Seize’s debut feature is a witty dark comedy, a sort of Romeo and Vampira.

Amusing world building and a witty cast portray the coming of age woes of young Sasha (Sara Montpetit), who’s just too compassionate to kill and feed. She’s kept alive by refrigerated blood packs, as her parents quarrel.

A black comedy scene of little vampire Sasha's birthday party sets the film in motion. Decades pass. Unwilling vampire, teenager-like Sasha is an unending stress to her bickering family 

Sara Montpetit (wonderfully matched by actress Lilas-Rose Cantin who plays Sasha as a little vampire) has a face that speaks volumes. She’s a Goth glamor girl. Her dead-pan stares hold hidden depths.

Young looking Sophie’s a late bloomer. Her fangs have never dropped. Unable to feed she spends her nights busking, playing Cello outside the local bowling alley. 

One night she spots Paul (Félix-Antoine Bénard) on the roof of the bowling alley where he works, planning to jump. He puts it off.

Sensitive teenager Paul spends his days at school bullied by a bunch of thugs. He can’t tell his mom. Félix-Antoine Bénard plays Paul as a crestfallen innocent willing to follow Sasha's lead.

The next time Sasha spots him, they lock eyes. Paul flees, right into a wall, knocking himself out. Scenting his blood, Sasha’s fangs finally emerge. Afraid of her teenage (blood) lust it’s Sasha’s turn to flee. (She’s already 62 years-old and fang-shy).

This works as a metaphor, Sasha is afraid of her adult sexuality. So is Paul. They connect as two awkward virgins. Sasha explains her issue to Paul framing their various problems as each other’s solutions. It’s a morbidly endearing perfect match.

When Sophie backs off from biting his neck, besotted Paul hurriedly offers to take off his shirt.

Steve Laplante is hilarious as a protective father who resists forcing Sophie to feed, while Mom (Sophie Cadieux) fumes. She’s sick of hunting for the whole family and worries it will go on for the next 300 years.

Eventually they lock the fridge and send Sasha off to room with her bawdy older cousin Denise (Noémie O’Farrell). Efficient vampire Denise, who uses her sexual charms and promises of kinky sex to lure her dinner dates (make that dinner) promises to make Sophie into the vampire they all know she can be.

The short film SHOTPLAYER (2024), directed by Sam Shainberg, screened in the Documentary Short Competition at this year’s SXSW. SHOTPLAYER is an impressionistic journey into the mind of Wilfred Rose, one of New York City's most notorious pickpockets. As he returns to the subway for the first time in many years, he reflects on a life of crime in a society that has left many of its citizens behind. SHOTPLAYER asks the question: When is it ok to push back against that society? This is Sam’s second year presenting a film at SXSW after last year’s narrative title, ENDLESS SEA (2023).

In an interview with Sam about the inspiration behind the film, here is what he had to say:

Can you tell us your background and what led you to filmmaking?

SAM: I grew up in downtown New York and I have filmmakers on both sides of my family, so the influence was always there. That, combined with New York being both cinematic as hell and the best cinema viewing city in the world, I think it was fated that I make films myself. I studied history initially in college and then realized that historians tend to focus on only one time period, and one story for the bulk of their careers whereas I wanted to learn many, many stories. When I came to this realization, I looked at my courses and realized I was already on track to major in filmmaking... and the rest is history. 

What have been your greatest influences? 

SAM: My family and friends have been my greatest influences. Particularly all my amazing filmmaking friends- Luca Balser, Rachel Walden, the Safdie Brothers, J. Daniel Zuniga, and so many more. If you're asking about cinematic influences then I would have to say the Italian neo-realists- Scorsese, Bresson, lots of verité documentary stuff spanning from Hands on a HardBody to Don't Look Back, the Maysles Brothers, D.A. Pennebaker, and then to more stylized stuff like Wong Kar-Wai and Park Chan-wook. I just love movies, so this kind of answer inevitably becomes a ramble. My film SHOTPLAYER was also heavily influenced by still photographers like Bruce Davidson. 

How did you come across Wilfred's story? 

SAM: A colleague of mine, Willie Miesmer, brought me an article about the dying art of pickpocketing and the piece focused on Wilfred. Reading the article really moved me and stuck with both of us so we went in search of Wilfred. 

How did you go about shooting the film? And how long did it take you?

SAM: While the project was in the works for years, going back to 2018, the shoot itself took about four days. The way we went about it was, in a word, brazenly. We just did it. We were certainly worried about getting shut down at every turn, but we just went forward and did it and luckily New York opened its arms to us and just let it all happen. 

What do you hope people will take away from the film?

SAM: My hope is that people can put themselves in Wilfred's shoes for a moment or two. That the audience can feel what it's like to have to commit crimes to survive and support your family and then to feel what that does to a person. Perhaps the audience can carry Wilfred's burden with him for a moment. I also want very much for the audience to see Wilfred clearly as the complex man that h

Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival's genre satellite brings to the audience 3 feature film premieres and Méliès D'Argent Short Film Competition. The side programme consists of special screenings, retro section and fresh Estonian short films. The festival dates are 26.-28. April. 

The premieres of HÕFF Main Programme are:

Chainsaws Were Singing 
director: Sander Maran
Estonia, 2024
World Premiere

This year's opening of HÕFF will go down in history as the most outrageous film of the entire history of Estonian cinema. The director, Sander Maran, calls his debut feature "a shameless action-horror-musical-comedy". The film was in the production for almost 10 years, and it ensures a wild ride with inventive kills, a chainsaw solo, exploding cars, romance, cute animal attacks, and even a supernatural Bukkake fridge. 

Crimson Snout
director: Luu Thanh Luan
Vietnam, 2024
International Premiere
 
Luu Thanh Luan's film draws on Vietnam's tradition of eating dog meat as a delicacy, and the growing debate about ending it. It is the most popular Vietnamese horror film of all time, earning $4.5 million at the domestic box office. The head of a butcher's family, whose butchery sells dog meat, dies in suspicious circumstances. His family, torn apart by internal strife, begins to see ghosts that leave no doubt that there is a curse - karma bites and it hurts!

Hi, EU!
director: Ruslan Akun
Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan, 2024
International Premiere

Kyrgyz director Ruslan Akun's hilarious comedy was partially shot in Estonia - the capital, Tallinn, has been portrayed as Czech Republic, Germany, Italy, even Paris! 
A Kyrgyz grandfather, Tolembai and the babushka Shaken, hitchhike from Asia to Europe to attend the graduation ceremony of their beloved grandson, Jermek. They could fly, but Tolembai has a heart condition - the only option is a road-trip. On their incredible journey, the two oldsters are constantly caught up in cultural conflicts that only humour can resolve.

Other highlights from the fresh genre cinema around the world:
 

• Two features, The Missing (Philippines, Thailand, dir. Carl Joseph E Papa) and In Flames (Pakistan, Canada, dir. Zarrar Kahn) were picked as the best international film Oscar candidates.
• Festival hits: When The Evil Lurks (Argentina, dir.  Demián Rugna); The Soul Eater (France, dir. Julien Maury, Alexandre Bustillo); Read more

SINGLE TICKETS ON SALE NOW

In just over 2 weeks, the Overlook Film Fest emerges from its long, dark slumber to bring you spine-tingling thrills guaranteed to give you nightmares!  Check out the official schedule, 6 new films added to the lineup, 2 more immersive shows, 6 Special Events, more guests and the festival premiere of a mysterious new musical...read on, if you dare!

CLICK FOR THE FULL LINEUP! Read more World Book Day: 5 Releases Inspire by Literature World Book Day: 5 Releases Inspire by Literature Rick W / Friday, March 8, 2024 0 23 Literature and film have long worked together for a timeless connection. From classic novels to modern stories, filmmakers are known to bring written tales to life. In this round-up, we look at this season’s cinematic tales inspired by their literary counterparts. From the satire that inspired Emerald Fennel to the novel that sits at the heart of All of Us Strangers, these stories transcend mediums and genres. Poor Things | Yorgos Lanthimos This much acclaimed film is based on on a 1992 novel of the same name by Scottish author Alasdair Gray. It tells the fantastical tale of a woman who takes her own life and is revived by a Victorian surgeon who replaces her brain with that of her unborn child. The title, inspired by gothic fiction such as Shelley’s Frankenstein, went on to win the Whitbread Award and Guardian Fiction Prize. learn more Saltburn | Emerald Fennell The divisive film of the year has undoubted roots in Evelyn Waugh’s esteemed Brideshead Revisited (1945), a book that tells the tale of a middle-class man who befriends a wealthy socialite at Oxford. It recounts the rural England of stately homes and upper-class people, all the while showing the darker side of class. learn more The Zone of Interest | Jonathan Glazer The BAFTA-winning film is based on Martin Amis’ 2014 novel of the same title. It tells a darkly violent love story, recounting the tale of Angelus Thomsen, a Nazi officer who falls in love with Hannah, the wife of Auschwitz commandant Paul Doll. Glazer adapts the text, bringing it to life in a wholly new way, showing the quiet, horrific banality of living in a fascist regime. learn more American Fiction | Cord Jefferson This comedy-drama sees its roots in Percival Everett’s Erasure (2011). It follows a frustrated writer-professor who writes an outlandish satire of stereotypical “black” books, only for them to be mistaken by the liberal elite for serious literature: published to critical praise. Both film and book confront contemporary culture’s obsession with reducing people to outrageous generalisations. learn more Read more Back to the ’80s: Women Documentary Filmmakers Remember the Festival’s First Decade Back to the ’80s: Women Documentary Filmmakers Remember the Festival’s First Decade Rick W / Friday, March 8, 2024 0 26 Paula de Koenigsberg and Lucy Winer in front of a porn shop while filming Rate It X. By Bedatri Choudhury A documentary producer friend once said budgets are moral documents; they are records of what we stand for, what we look out for, and the kind of stories we set out to tell. As I sat scouring through the Sundance Film Festival’s older catalogs, I realized film festival lineups, too, are moral documents. They tell us about the artists film festivals choose to champion, whose stories they value, and the efforts they will put in to ensure that these stories are seen, heard, and discussed among as many people as possible.  This year marks 40 years since the Sundance Film Festival started fostering documentary storytellers and to celebrate I treated myself to the Festival’s catalogs from the 1980s. What jumped out at me were names of women — lesbians, immigrants, activists — all of whom decided to pick up a story, collaborate with more women, and not give up till it was told the way exactly they wanted it told.  Pamela Yates’ When the Mountains Tremble won the Special Jury Award in 1983 (The film played at an earlier iteration of the Sundance Film Festival. The Festival, in its present form, debuted in 1985); Greta Schiller’s Before Stonewall played at the Festival in 1985; Susana Blaustein Muñoz and Lourdes Portillo’s Las madres de la Plaza de Mayo premiered in 1986 and was nominated for an Oscar the following year; Lucy Winer, Paula De Koenigsberg’s Rate It X premiered in 1986; Christine Choy and Renee Tajima-Pena’s Who Killed Vincent Chin? premiered in 1989 before bagging an Oscar nom; and then Lourdes Portillo and Susana Blaustein Muñoz were back with La Ofrenda: The Days of the Dead in 1989.  These films were independent not just in spirit, but also in their budgets and ambitions.  When I first visited the Festival in 2020, as a part of the Festival’s Press Inclusion Initiative Fellow, I found warm refuges in the Asian American Documentary Network house and among my peers from Brown Girls Doc Mafia. I didn’t realize that I owed it all to these women and the ones that came after. To celebrate these momentous four decades, I caught up with some of them. Click on the names below to read our interviews with these filmmakers.  "When the Mountains Tremble" Photo by Susan Meiselas Pamela Yates When the Mountains Tremble, co-directed with Newton Thomas Sigel, 1983. Anonymous lesbian couple in Los Angeles. From "Before Stonewall" Courtesy of Greta Schiller. Greta Schiller Before Stonewall, 1985 Making "La Ofrenda" in El Tule, Oaxaca Mexico. Photo courtesy of Lourdes Portillo (right) Read more Interview: Greta Schiller, Director of “Before Stonewall” Interview: Greta Schiller, Director of “Before Stonewall” Rick W / Friday, March 8, 2024 0 30 [Editor’s Note: This interview is part of a larger feature about the women documentary filmmakers who blazed trails for the craft by premiering their films at the Sundance Film Festival in the 1980s. Please read the main introduction to this feature here.] By Bedatri Choudhury Why did you make Before Stonewall? It was my first feature documentary. Back then, there were a few documentaries being made about women’s history but we had nothing about gay [and] lesbian history. So it seemed like a good idea to make something and I was very young and I had no idea what I was getting into. So we — Andrea Weiss, who is now my wife, and I — wrote a proposal to the Corporation for Public Broadcasting and we got the money. We couldn’t believe it. We had to accept an executive producer, which was not always a smooth ride. But it was such a different time.  Even just getting people to be interviewed and getting clearances, using images… It was an incredibly difficult thing to do. So I had no idea what a big film festival was like. What was it like? So, you know, I got invited to Sundance. I’m like, well, okay. I went by myself, my sister came from San Francisco. Sundance was the new name and Rob Epstein had The Times of Harvey Milk there. And I remember our pacing with him in the lobby during each of our films. That’s a very clear memory because it was just so anxiety producing.  It was such an open festival then. Nobody had a publicist and the parties were really open. You could be at a party and could actually talk to Robert Redford. It was a really exciting and a much easier time.  I remember I was one of my film professors D.A. Pennebaker was on the Festival jury and I was like, “Penny! You didn’t give me a prize.” I was jerking this chain about that. But then we went to Berlinale and we got an international sales agent, and I just went everywhere with that film. What was it like making a queer documentary in the 1980s? Oh queer was not in the vocabulary; it was gay and lesbian. I opened that film with a drag queen walking in Pioneer Square, and I got a lot of blowback for that. I was like ‘Drag queens led the Stonewall Rebellion!’ So there was a certain kind of conservatism.  But the good thing was, I thought I don’t want to have to engage. I didn’t want to have to deal with people that were imposed on me, and became really fiercely independent. Andrea got an Emmy for her research on the film — we had just started dating — then we formed our own production company, and have made lots of films since then. Audre Lorde and a girl friend, "Before Stonewall." Courtesy of Greta Schiller Before Stonewall showed on PBS? Yes, because we were funded by the CPB. The first lesbian film they supported, and that was a really big deal. You know how PBS works, it’s like, like 250 stations. Some states refused to show our film so we orga Read more 71 San Sebastian Film Festivals: As a wrap up 71 San Sebastian Film Festivals: As a wrap up Rick W / Monday, February 26, 2024 0 39     Photo gallery: https://youtu.be/x8cw9a4gN6o It has been an intense week, with a lot of cinema, great weather, and more than interesting press conferences. My impressions have been varied, just like the movies I have seen. There has been quite a bit of European cinema on my list, and not much from across the pond, but more Japanese cinema than usual. I have been able to enter the theater about 30 times during these days, and it has always been a challenge. That's what I love about the festival, even if you have read something about the movie, know the director, or love the story or the actors, the surprise is almost always guaranteed. Starting with Wim Wenders and Kaurismaki has been really good, continuing with Trueba and enjoying the music on a Saturday morning is a real luxury. For me, this year has been all about the music, which is always important in movies, but this year I have felt it much more intensely and enjoyed it all. I have been pleasantly surprised by both Fingernails and Ex-husbands, the former for being a lovingly pleasant dystopia and the latter for its realistic portrayal of love across different generations. The week has been filled with walks along the beach, blessed weather that makes everything more enjoyable, and more movies like Achilles, which I found to be a road movie, and the documentary about Carme Elias, which was very emotional and its theme resonated with me throughout the festival, even reaching Memory. I have the feeling that I heard a lot of French on the screen this year. If I count, there have been 6 French productions. I don't know if it was a coincidence, but it was also very diverse. I want to highlight how much I enjoyed the film La estrella azul. I don't know if it was because of the nostalgia for another era, the music (again), or the imitation of Felix Rodriguez de la Fuente, but it was one of the most enjoyable moments of these days. The final ovation, in my humble opinion, was well-deserved. I still have that guitar touch in my head. The Tabacalera short films have also been very interesting, and I really enjoyed Camping du Lac, following the director's recommendation, who also enjoyed it during the filming. Lastly, the press conferences have given me another perspective on the films, and it has been a pleasure to see directors, producers, and actors defending their ideas portrayed in images. All in all, it's sad that it's coming to an end, but we're already closer to the 2024 zinemaldi, where we hope to enjoy even more and better. See you in cinemas! So long San Sebastian! Read more RSS Load last 5 article(s)Loading...