Discoveries from France World Cinema

Sami works in a children's home which is set to be closed. The young man is an enthusiastic stadium usher and has convinced the president of the Olympique de Marseille football club to help them keep it open.

Louise revisits her childhood when her family decides to sell their farm. 20 years ago, she was Louloute, a mischievous and exuberant little girl, helping her father with their farm, fighting with her siblings and worrying her mother… When the family's debts accumulate and overwhelm them, tender childhood moments become intertwined with the harsh adult reality of a disappearing rural world.

Muriel, a writer nearing 50 whose older lover won't live with her in Paris, meets a man on a train - Samuel, an Arab. He's attracted to her and pursues her, dropping in, asserting himself. She's willing to connect. He's passionate, then boorish, then jealous and possessive. He seems fixed on "Who's the strongest?," while she wants respect and trust. She's self-possessed as well as sexually charged, willing to laugh, and alternately firm and forgiving. He has little money, no immigration papers, few prospects, and a gambling jag. What does each want, and why does she stick with it? Is this colonial strife, war between the sexes, or a love story?

The Provence, somewhere in the 1950's. Paul Verdier, traveling salesman, leaves his home and his quarrelsome wife for his weekly round. On the train he meets a young woman, Marie, who looks a little lost. No wonder. Marie is pregnant but lacks the customary husband. She's returning to her village but is not exactly looking forward to the confrontation with her parents and the villagers, all pretty conservative people. After getting to know Paul a little better (for which there is ample time during the trip by train and bus) Marie decides to ask Paul to act as her husband, just to allay the suspicions of her family. After some hesitating Paul accepts, charmed by the girl and unaware of the complications such is bound to cause to his own life.

When an unscrupulous banker ruins his family, a young man swears to bring him to justice, so he adopts a new identity, the mysterious Judex, and ominously disguised and sunk into the muddy path of vengeance, punishes the crooks and protects the innocents. (Originally a twelve-part epic serial.)

In this pitch black comedy the rivalry between two neighbors escalates into an all out war. Through a maintenance error on a tractor they both end up, paralyzed, in a wheelchair. It seems they are doomed to stay together. They no longer focus their rage on each other but on the manufacturer of the tractor, in Helsinki. So get ready for a hilarious wheelchair road movie.

Entry on Taiwanese new-wave filmmaker Hou Hsiao-Hsien for French television's "Cinéma, de notre temps" series, directed by Olivier Assayas.

A quartet of international gay short films, the latest in its popular The Male Gaze collection. These films explore faith and passion. Forgive them, father, for these boys have sinned. Witness how the power of God works in mysterious ways, from sexual tension high up in the Spanish mountains to the castles of medieval France and the gossip-filled side streets of Abidjan in West Africa. Religion can be a man’s prison, but sometimes it can set him free.

The findings are disturbing. More than half of 12-13 year-old boys and girls visit porn sites every month. With just a few clicks, they can access them via cell phones or computers. Between them, these porn platforms account for more than 5 billion visits per month.

She worked with the world’s greatest actors and directors: Buñuel, Mastroianni, Lellouche, Depardieu... The film guides us throughout her career with the filmmakers with whom she invented herself not to be a “cold blonde actress”, thanks to great interviews of many artists who crossed her path.

Anticipating eviction from her retirement home after the death of her son and sole provider, rebellious septuagenarian Émilie decides to take revenge on all those who have wronged her. During her journey of initiation, she cuts to the quick to right the wrongs and is joined by Linda, a cleaning lady with whom she has forged a close bond. She, too, has nothing left to lose and decides to wage war against those who have scorned her. Soon, these two companions are hunted down by a pair of policemen.

A humble copy editor becomes a personal assistant to her favorite actress and eventually loses herself both in the actress' demands and her own ego.

A bourgeois office drone whose raison d'être is the music of French rocker Johnny Hallyday awakens one day in an alternate universe where the famed musician never recorded a single song. When he’s not at the office dutifully plugging-away, Fabrice lives a deadly dull life.

Pierrot, a short-sighted, indolent and distracted young boy gets involved in a carnival at the Palais de la Rigolade whose main attraction is to place the women in an ascending current of air which makes their skirts fly. A fight in this Palace makes him lose his job. Then he meets Yvonne, the daughter of Pradonet, the owner of the funfair. He falls in love with Yvonne who hardly seems to share his feelings.

In the early 1950s, in a seaside town, Isabelle, a girl in her late teens,is about to spend an apparently eventless summer between her mother, her friends and a small job for a photographer whose business is lagging. But Isabelle is not the mentally balanced young lady she seems to be. In fact she is doubly traumatized, firstly by the rape she suffered eight years before from a Nazi officer and secondly by the suicide of her father shortly after. What she wants deep inside herself is to find a man, young or less young, who will bring her tenderness and happiness. Will Luc, a young German, or Monsieur Vaudois, her married boss, give her what she lacks ?

When a rich man dies, his maid Maria unexpectedly becomes his heir. In order to get revenge on the man's nephew Jerome, for slights he committed while she was a maid, she keeps him on as her personal valet - a role he willingly accepts.

Matou is an innocuous, gentle-looking man. He is married to a formidable, even a frightening woman, who is as dissatisfied with him as he is with her. He knows everything there is to know about restoring and authenticating manuscripts, particularly ancient ones, through his job at the museum. One day, it occurs to him that his skills could be put to use in a more personal way, and he embarks on a private career of re-arranging the documents of people who have had the misfortune to be married to the wrong people.

Harry is a married writer who has an affair with a woman whose husband knows that she is unfaithful. As a result of his work, Harry has trouble distinguishing between fantasy and reality leaving us to wonder whether the affair is real or just a figment of Harry's imagination.

An upper-class corporal is captured by the Germans during their 1940 invasion of France. Assisted and accompanied by characters as diverse as a morose dairy farmer, a waiter, a myopic intellectual, a working-class Parisian, and a German dental assistant, the corporal tries to escape from prison camps, sometimes making it a few yards, sometimes reaching the border.

Henri Pompians, a former income tax inspector,has a dream: to become a lawyer.His first client Mr. Etienne has all the problems of the world: he doesn't feel well in his job, his wife doesn't care very much for his and he had an accident.Later Etienne and Henri become associate and they found the association "Justice for all" to help people.

Divers, mountain guides, paragliders or even base jumpers share their love of extreme sensations.

Aliens from the planet Eros revive the dead on Earth and turn them into horny zombies

Stéphane Petitbourgeois is having trouble with his son-in-law Hubert, who has an extra child every year and is expecting his ninth, making thirteen people in the same apartment. However, a competition promises twenty million to the youngest grandfather of twelve grandchildren. Stéphane begins to encourage Hubert. But Pat became sterile from that day on. Finally, after two years, a child is announced. In fact, triplets were born, and after a few twists and turns, Stéphane became the youngest grandfather of twelve grandchildren.

Hubert Durieux is a banker in a small French town who is struggling to keep up with the demands of all the women in his life. Just when things couldn’t get any worse, his precious white Citroën is stolen under his eyes by a beautiful gypsy girl, Mona.

Every Tuesday, Claudine goes to a mountain hotel to meet men passing through. When one of them decides to extend his stay for her, Claudine’s daily life is disrupted and she finds herself dreaming of another life.

Justine, struggles with commitment, listens to old David Bowie covers, and uses her employer’s private MRI machines to make “X-Ray Art” After a trail of boyfriends, Justine thinks she has found The One, a hunky shoe salesman, but her temporary happiness is thrown when her neurotic 60-year-old Jewish father (Michel Blanc) suffers a delayed midlife crisis and announces that his young second wife is expecting a baby. Justine and her half-sister Dom, who is trying to adopt, are rather annoyed at the news. Coupled with resentment about her father’s absence when she was growing up, causes her to spiral into self-doubt. Overflowing with French charm, Justine gets by with the help of her family, friends, and newly discovered muse.

Henri La Tour, a strolling player, is also a daring adventurer. So, when, after accomplishing a brilliant feat, he is awarded a title by King Louis XV, the Duke of Saint-Sever takes offense at it and challenges Henri to a duel. However, while they fight, a group of Austrian soldiers appear suddenly and the two rivals instantly unite to repel their enemies. Unfortunately, Saint-Sever is mortally wounded and, feeling he is about to die, he entreats his new friend to offer protection to Toinon, his natural daughter, whose life is being threatened...

Patrick Lechat learns that his father, the famous writer Jo Lechat, whom he never knew, has just died leaving a colossal fortune. "Good thing!" Patrick Lechat and his family are currently in a very bad situation.

Aglaé, a young factory worker, has only one focus in life: her job at a car crash test site. When she learns that the factory is going to be relocated abroad, she accepts, to everyone's surprise, to go to India in order to hold on to her job. Accompanied by two colleagues, she sets out on a perilous road trip to the other side of the world.

The city of Mariupolis is by the Azov sea. It is also on the river Kalmius. Most of the city’s residents, half a million according to the last census, are working for the steel factory and do fishing, for leisure or food, in between shifts. The orthodox church towers above the city and its newly build bronze domes are sitting next to it, waiting to be donned. A tent near by is sheltering a crying icon, which receives a steady flow of visitors.

Eddie is no longer living with his wife and their son Noam. One night, he gets mugged and badly injured, and consequently becomes a hero to his son and the victim of a vicious crime to his wife. But when Ahmed, the perfect scapegoat for the attack, is charged, the gravitas of his accusation sucks Eddie into an infernal spiral of self-doubt and lies, marking the start of a dangerous freefall.

The isolated lives of people on a farm at the top of the mountains are changed by a ten-year-old child named Mirka.

Sasha Voronin, a famous singer about to marry supermodel Nathalie, falls victim to John Darow, who attempts to murder him by knocking him out and throwing him into the sea. Sacha is taken in by fishermen, but he has lost his memory and takes the name Samson. Samson's memory begins to awaken when he hears a familiar tune during a circus performance, and begins to sing. Deciding to leave with the circus troupe, he ends up being hired by the director of a radio station, who launches him on the air under the name of "unknown singer". Nathalie, meanwhile married to John, recognizes his voice and wants to find him; Sacha rejects her because he has fallen in love with Maria. John again tries to eliminate Sacha, then attempts to kidnap Maria. After a mad chase, Sacha defeats John, who is arrested by the police.

Everyone's in shock when esteemed doctor Pierre is found to have killed his wife. 15 years later, released on parole and determined to find the culprit, he is rejected by his sons and only finds support with his daughter, Nina.

After seven years in prison, a female student in Tehran is hanged for murder. She had acted in self-defence against a rapist. For a pardon, she would have had to retract her testimony. This moving film reopens the case.

At the cable car station connecting Avoriaz to Morzine, 75-year-old Barbara Herbier emerges from between the cabins, looking distraught. Cornered by her invisible attacker, Barbara falls over the railing and disappears into the void. This is only the beginning of a series of sudden and deadly incidents that will strike the Herbier family. Claire Garibaldi, a police officer in Lyon, doesn't believe much in legends when she returns to investigate the scene of her childhood.

After having broken up with his girlfriend and left his job, Simon has come back to his small hometown in the countryside, where he meets up again with his old friend Julien. The two thirty-year-old, unemployed and idle men decide to reinvest in an old dream from their teenage years: hitting the road for an adventurous journey. They buy a huge motor-home, but the trip is delayed by various troubles, and they decide to start their journey right where they are. Through this first motionless stage of their trip, Simon and Julien are confronted with themselves and what they wanted to run away from.

A new tell about the most famous legend in France.

A famous retired opera singer reunites with her children.

Alice sets off in pursuit of a mysterious white rabbit in a hurry. After a dizzying fall into a deep well, she discovers a strange world populated by beasts who behave like humans. She changes size, is invited to a wacky tea-time party and becomes a witness to a momentous trial conducted by the Queen of Hearts.

Far’Hook is a 20-year-old rapper. Following a violent dispute with a rival, he’s forced to leave Paris for a while. His producer, Bilal, suggests that Far’Hook acts as driver for Bilal’s father, Serge, on a tour of French ports, following in the footsteps of the classic painter Joseph Vernet. Despite the age gap and culture clash, an unlikely friendship forms between this talented rapper and a bricklayer from the north of France during a road trip that concludes in Marseille for a final concert, one of reconciliation.

Rocky IV is dually symbolic - it embodies both the victory of the American boxer over the Soviet one and the victory of neo-liberalism over a dwindling socialism. Today, Rocky is held up as a model by some and is a subject of derision for others. An emblem of the 1980s, its culture and its heroes, the film will be the subject of an entertaining analysis of popular culture.

A Russian emigrant sings in a Shanghai nightclub under the assumed name of Kay Murphy. All she dreams of is a peaceful life with her daughter Vera. But this is only a pipe dream as she has been forced by her former lover Ivan to work for a secret criminal organization, "The Black Dragon". Vera, who studies in a Hong Kong boarding-school, knows nothing about her mother's past. When Ivan, who is also Vera's father, resurfaces and blackmails Kay, the young woman is determined to fight back...

The film's title is a pun, the double meaning referencing both the "wrong genre" and a person with distasteful motives. Insecure novelist Martial Bok promotes his new sexy novel La Fille de Dos ("Girl Observed From the Rear") with a round of book-signings and talk-shows. When beautiful hat designer Camille buys the book, Martial follows her and spies on her as she reads his book and removes her clothing. It's the beginning of his obsession and also an inspiration. After Martial's live-in girlfriend Lucie establishes contact with Camille for real, Martial is able to type out another sexy manuscript.

A childhood in boarding school, volunteered at 17 for the war and dismissed for indiscipline, thug in Marseille turned gigolo in Paris, he became actor thanks to some inspired women. Then flying high, fast and far, thanks to his director masters René Clément, Luchino Visconti & Jean-Pierre Melville.

Espionage, war and romance in the Far East in 1904: Russian naval officer Boris Ranewsky marries Youki, the sister of a fanatical Japanese officer, but war is imminent.

Marie and Eric, a couple in their thirties who have been together since college, buy their first apartment when Marie is suddenly overcome by doubt. Her encounter with a handsome, dark-haired man forces her to make a decision...

Short film of 300 individually painted images. A lost film.

Fatima, an Algerian-born woman who now lives in France with her two teenage daughters, with whom she is barely able to communicate.

Twenty-three years old Romain would like to be a writer, but, for the moment, he's night watchman in a hotel. His sixty-two years old father is retired and seems to not give a damn about anything. He shares an apartment with a twenty-four-year-old guy whose sole purpose in life is to seduce a woman, no matter who, and no matter the cost. His eighty-five years old grandmother is living in an old people's home, and she wonders what on earth she is doing with stuck with all these old people. One day, Romain's father turns up in a fluster. His grandmother has disappeared. In fact, she kind of escaped. Romain sets out to find her, somewhere in his memories.

Catherine and Marcello are secluded in their house, living under the candlelight. Unable to accept the injustice behind the loss of their nine-month-old baby, they face a slow but definite self-destruction.

Raymond and Robert Bidochon lead a dismal life in a suburban HLM. The change, so hoped for by Raymonde, could come from a reality show, Grand Bonheur, in which they participate.

Gabrielle, a dedicated surgeon and head of a hospital department, is stretched thin by the weight of responsibility. There is little time left for her private life: a loving husband and a mother who depends on her care. Yet this is the life she wanted, the life she chose. When a novelist comes to observe her at work for a book, her balance begins to shift.

Married to Jeremie, Marie wants desperately to have a child. She has a 20 year old daughter from a former marriage with the police commissioner. When the gynecologist confirms they are unable to conceive a child together, they opt for adoption. However, it is a very lengthy and difficult process. When her daughter meets Joanna, a pregnant teenager willing to give up her child for adoption, Marie is thrilled. And so Joanna moves in...

Portrait of Nord-Plage, a small neighborhood in the north of Martinique, which is slowly dying, and its last inhabitants, who have put aside their hopes and dreams.

An aging movie actor who is preparing to shoot a death scene finds himself visited by the spirit of a dead, long-ago lover.

Rien ne va plus is a series of comedy sketches of disparate quality, on the social, cultural, and political foibles that make the French, French. Various settings and character types are given a once-over, including pseudo-intellectuals, punk bikers, right-wingers, and patrons of a low-end cafe.

Charles le Temeraire asks in marriage Jeanne de Beauvais, daughter of King Louis XI, wishing to get her valuable lands in dowry. The King is wise to this, and since his daughter does not feel inclined to accept, he refuses. Charles sets up a plan to abduct the prince, in a way that the suspicions will fall upon Robert de Neuville, a noble enamoured of the princess. Robert manages to free her from the castle where she was being kept. Charles keeps setting traps, and managing people to perjure against Jeanne, and the King himself. Finally, Jeanne escapes alive from a pack of wolves, who set watching the lady alone in the snow covered woods, instead of attacking her. Charles does yet accuse her of being a witch - wishing to have her dead rather than being the wife of Robert... Robert will be her champion in a Judgement of God. Will the 'miracle of the wolfs' repeat itself, or fearless Charles defeat Robert in the sword duel?