Discoveries from France World Cinema

Filmmaker Karim Aïnouz decides to take a boat, cross the Mediterranean, and embark on his first journey to Algeria. Accompanied by the memory of his mother, Iracema, and his camera, Aïnouz gives a detailed account of the journey to his father’s homeland, interweaving present, past, and future.

After the accidental death of her husband, Dominique Vallorie agrees to take over the construction of an important dam on the Orinoco River. She does not know that by accepting to go to Venezuela, her life as a woman and engineer will change. Through a great love story she will assert herself despite all the pitfalls on the way.

Aïssa is a Congolese immigrant in France. She says that she is under eighteen but the authorities consider her an adult. To determine if she can be deported, a doctor must give her a physical examination.

Franz Ferdinand, heir to the throne of Austria-Hungary, is kept absent from the royal court due to his dangerous political ideas. Sent on a tour of inspections and inaugurations, he falls in love with Countess Sophie Chotek.

Al, a young man from a modest background is about to marry his boss’ daughter, along with succeeding him as the head of a car dealership. One night, while coming back from his bachelor party, he is guilty of a hit-and-run accident, urged by his two childhood friends present in the car. The next day, gnawed with guilt, Al decides to inquire about his victim. What he does not know is that Juliette, a young woman, has witnessed the entire accident from her balcony.

The spirit of a vengeful female vampire is released from her grave and possesses a wealthy young woman of nobility, who preys on other women in her village.

Isabela, an undocumented street artist in princess garb, comes across a lost toddler on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, but time is pressing, and her immigration lawyer is waiting with a vital deadline.

Having just arrived in paradise, Jerome sets out to find his wife Maryline. In the course of his search, he sinks into a surreal and colorful world in which no one seems to be able to help him.

A montage of newscasts tracing the events of the "damned war" and the German invasion of 1940.

A film by Frederick Wiseman following the ins and outs of 7 ballets by the Paris Opera Ballet.

It’s summer, on the beach of this little town in Brittany, a man is building a sand castle. A few people watch him. We will be told the story of three of them: a boy, Jumbo, aged 9; François and his sister Zaza. All of them had to deal with the death of somebody they cherished.

For love, the singer Georges Hyverlin gives up his profession to work with his father-in-law in his car factory. When the passion for song takes him back, he manages to resume his career thanks to the support of his wife Martine.

A faceless traveller takes a journey through the barren reaches of a Siberia caught between tradition and modernity, imparting his philosophical musings on its people and places, wildlife and culture.

Revolutionary French New Wave director Jean-Luc Godard conducts a twenty-five minute interview with influential and acclaimed American director Woody Allen on the cultural radiation, the ubiquity and significance of Television, and how Television compares with cinema as a medium and form of expression.

A young woman convenes with her extended family in a provincial village where her cousin, in a coma, is hospitalized after attempting suicide.

While Pierrot, surrounded by his friends, is glued to the TV watching a soccer match, Stella, his shy girlfriend, must give up celebrating her birthday. She had planned everything but had forgotten that it was a sacred evening - the second round of the playoffs.

Lucie has just moved to Anduze with her son Léo to get away from her violent ex-husband. In the hope of rebuilding her life, she enrolls in a fencing-based therapy program offered by a local association. There, she meets other women who have been sexually abused and develops a sincere friendship with Tamara and Nicole. Little by little, the participants regain their self-confidence. When Lucie's ex-husband resurfaces, she is no longer alone in facing her fears and her past.

Based on a book by Nikos Athenassiadis titled A Naked Young Girl, this slight, uneven fantasy-romance takes place on an isolated Greek island with a unique, petrified tree -- a part of the reason why Mathieu, a geologist (Christophe Malavoy) has arrived to do some research there. Other than the boatman who ferries back and forth to the mainland, the island's only inhabitants are a fisherman and his very pretty daughter Eleni (Eleni Drogoumi). Eleni seems a bit different right from the beginning; on the one hand, she likes wandering around dressed only in a long shirt, and on the other, she has a penchant for swimming all night with the dolphins. When the usually arrogant geologist starts transferring some of his interest from rocks to Eleni's comings-and-goings, he wonders if there is not something fishy about her parentage.

Two unemployed men, heavily in debt due to losses at the racetrack, are hired by a criminal mastermind to harass the guests of a hotel he hopes to purchase at a below-market price in order to access a tunnel below the building that leads directly to a nearby bank.

Max and Colette often bother the lawyer Vermorel to initiate divorce proceedings, then everything calms down. An anonymous letter escalates the disputes, it borders on disaster but living together has obvious charms.

In a building on the Boulevard Haussmann in Paris lives ten-year-old Roger, who is surrounded by women - his great-grandmother, his grandmother, and his mother Nicole. Living in an exclusively feminine environment, the boy wishes more than anything else to have a masculine presence around. His dream comes true when he meets Jacques, who's madly in love with Nicole and who is about to completely turn the boy's life upside down.

In the Médoc, a young woman is found drowned. An accident, her influential family of winegrowers maintains. Or rather murder, as the American inspector Morrison suspects. If so, why? What secrets this family keeps?

After 10 years separation from his wife, a film director (Jean-Louis Trintignant), imagines he can make up with her by giving her a part in his next film, an adaptation of Tshekov's "Three Sisters". He goes location scouting and stays in Bex, a Spa near Lake Leman, together with the three actresses : Julie, his ex-wife (Delphine Seyrig), the mysterious Cecilia, that his producer wants him to take (Lea Massari), and Esther (Valérie Mairesse), a teenager. They all stay in an old decaying hotel. In this isolated mansion the four of them will fight but also discover each other.

Pickpock is behind bars. But more elusive than Arsène Lupin, no chain resists him and he plays with policemen like a cat with mice. After having masterfully taken them for a ride, having brought them down to an effigy, he rolls them up and throws them out the window. But the policemen come back to life and the chase goes on. Pickpock, caught a second time, locked up behind heavy bars, finds a new way of escaping and imprisoning in turn the policemen.

A very personal look at the history of cinema directed, written and edited by Jean-Luc Godard in his Swiss residence in Rolle for ten years (1988-98); a monumental collage, constructed from film fragments, texts and quotations, photos and paintings, music and sound, and diverse readings; a critical, beautiful and melancholic vision of cinematographic art.

Denis, a poor student in philosophy, works as a night porter in the Paris market of Les Halles in order to pay for his studies. Constantly weary, he falls asleep and dreams of a beautiful girl in white, Irène, with whom he falls in love.

This documentary explores the protests that exploded onto the streets of Chile’s capital of Santiago in 2019 as the population demanded more democracy and social equality around education, healthcare and job opportunities.

With the help of journalist Diane Castelain, Parisian police inspectors Leo Gorce and Gu Arenas are trying to solve the murder of a member of the French Parliament, but some dangerous powerful people try to make sure that doesn't happen.

A poor but honest man wins great wealth, and the hand of a beautiful princess, after facing a series of exciting trials in the tunnels and catacombs of ancient Araby. Guided by the mysterious Khalafar, the troupe (alongside him go some cowardly scholars) encounter skeletons, fire-breathing lizards, and mirages on their journey through the lower world.

Serge Menessier has been paid to shoot a reportage on his ex-wife's depression. Now remarried, he has accepted the job to pay his debts and maybe because he is still in love with her, a famous actress whose career he contributed to launch.

After thirteen years in Germany, Fernand is coming back to his wife and his restaurant. But since his disparition, his wife as made her life with a norman chef, sympathetic but a specialist of butter's cooking when Fernand cook only with oil!

A charming comedy about going on a rather long walk. Félix is a laid-back guy living in the bleak northern coastal town of Dieppe. He lives happily with his lover Daniel and is a soap opera enthusiast and HIV-positive. After losing his job, Félix decides to find the father he never knew in Marseilles. Agreeing to meet Daniel in the southern port city in a week's time, Félix throws on his backpack and starts hiking. On his way, he discovers that family need not always be connected by blood.

Claude and Isabella met on a beach one summer and got easily involved. But while he has dreams of settling down with a family, she just wants to have fun. When Isabelle becomes pregnant, Claude is advised by both families to marry but things get more complicated when he meets an English woman.

An old farmhouse in southwestern France, not far from the Spanish border, serves as a refuge for Jewish refugees during World War Two.

On the day of Fadinard's wedding, his horse eats a lady's hat on a bush at the roadside, while the lady is hidden behind the bush with her lover Lieutenant Tavernier. Because she is married, she cannot return home hatless without being compromised, and Tavernier orders Fadinard to replace the hat with one exactly like it - or else he will wreck his new home. In an elaborate sequence of complications, Fadinard tries to find a hat while keeping to his marriage schedule

Saul De Tarse is a Roman soldier who is making rough all over. He arrives at the Golgotha when the apostles remove the cross. He ruthlessly persecutes the Christians, even though they are his own friends.

Sofia, 20, lives with her parents in Casablanca. Suffering from pregnancy denial, she finds herself breaking the law by giving birth to a baby out of wedlock. The hospital gives her 24 hours to provide the father's papers before informing the authorities…

The body of a shady businessman is found on the jetty in the port of Toga, in Bastia. The investigation, Commander Gabrielle Monti's first since returning to the country, begins on a tightrope between the past and the present.

Jeff is a gangster who's disappeared with a million dollars, and Laurent is looking for him to catch him before the other members of the gang find him.

Perez kidnaps the President's daughter to trade her for imprisoned revolutionaries.

A young man becomes enraged when his mother remarries his wealthy uncle after his father dies.

Au milieu de nulle part, une cité ouvrière vidée de sa population depuis quelques années déjà. Pourtant, certains habitants ont décidé d'y rester, plus par choix que par nécessité, parce que c'est là qu'ils sont nés et qu'ils ont grandi. Parmi eux il y a Francis, l'ouvrier consciencieux qui continue d'entretenir la machine sur laquelle il a travaillé toute sa vie ; Samir, son fils.

A team of former robbers arrived at Paradise: Phuket, southern Thailand. Now traders, they are happy days. Until the day when the devil arrives: Mehdi, sentenced to 15 years in prison during the robbery, comes to recover his share of the cake.

Monique, a Belgian girl, comes to Paris to learn painting and become an artist. She took courses at the Academy and found a studio in Montmartre.

Cathy has been preparing herself since early morning. She is about to celebrate her daughter Eva’s 20th birthday. But on this very day, Cathy’s life is turned upside-down with the shocking news that her daughter has been brutally murdered.

A failed actor gets his 15 minutes of infamy when his ex-wife writes a vengeful tell-all book about their marriage. He decides to use his acting skills to get revenge on her.

Clémence is pathologically jealous. Gabriel has asked her to marry him. To test whether he is faithful, unbeknownst to him she arranges that he crosses paths with beautiful Olivia...

Pollet provides an insight into life on the leper colony of Spinalonga, an island off Crete, through the eyes of Raimondakis, who tells the story of his life to the camera after having been excluded from his community to spend years of his life on the island with his fellow sufferers. Themes addressed include love, community, companionship and death and the importance of these values to all people whatever their state of health.

Jean-Paul Mantegna, the son of Italian immigrants now living in Nice, is a hunted man, riddled with debt and involved in borderline illegal companies. To extricate himself, he has to rely on Philippe and François, his two brothers, and on Raphaël, his father; a family torn by disputes and tragic events. However, by rebuilding family unity, Jean-Paul also discovers the secret of his own destiny...

A hatter in a provincial town (Michel Serrault) leads the life of a respectable citizen but is in fact a serial murderer. The only person to suspect this is his neighbour the tailor (Charles Asnavour).

A look at the life and work of the iconic US actor Charlton Heston (1923-2008); the embodiment of many mythic heroes who was both a staunch defender of the Civil Rights movement during the sixties and a spokesman for the National Rifle Association in his later years. The extraordinary and controversial public and personal career of one of the greatest film personalities of all time.

Clement, a young philosophy teacher, is sent to Arras for a year. He meets Jennifer, a pretty hair stylist, and the two freely share their hearts and bodies as they try to overcome the cultural and social divide between them.

An extremely funny film about a group of French rugby supporters who go to see a match at Twickenham and one of them inadvertently receives a blow in the mouth from someone else's elbow. In the process he loses some front teeth and needs to see a dentist urgently ... this is only the beginning of a long series of adventures befalling our poor friend who doesn't speak a word of English and who nevertheless needs to return urgently to France to get married in the following days sporting a decent mouth !

Everyone's favorite fun-loving Granny Aurore goes overboard while partying and has a little accident! She loses her memory and gets put in a nursing home. When her grandkids hear her mention a mysterious man named "Gerry", they put all seven of their heads together to figure out who he is: Aurore's first and only true love who just might turn out to be their long-lost grandfather, too! Hoping to trigger old memories that could snap her out of her amnesia, they join forces to sneak Aurore out of the nursing home and set out into the wilderness on a mission to find the legendary "Grandpa Gerry". But the adventure turns out to be a lot more than they bargained for!

A wealthy old maid offers to be the godmother of a regiment in order to find a fiancé for her niece who must come into possession of a large inheritance the day she marries a private.

Gombessa Expedition 1 To dive for the Coelacanth is to go back in time. In 1938, when it was known only as a fossil, a Coelacanth was discovered in South Africa in a fisherman's net. This species bears witness to an evolutionary bifurcation 380 million years ago, and bears the marks of a great event: the day the fish left the ocean for the open air. Does it hold the secret to the transition to walking on land? In 2010, a marine biologist and outstanding diver, Laurent Ballesta, took the first photographs of the Coelacanth in its ecosystem. In April 2013, divers and researchers set down their equipment at the Sodwana base camp in South Africa, in the club founded by Peter Timm (who died in 2014). Six weeks of extreme diving at depths of over 120 meters, in an attempt to film the Coelacanth with a double-headed camera, collect its DNA and tag a subject with a satellite-linked beacon...

An innocent man stumbles across a political intrigue, when he discovers that his neighbours apartment is bugged. They are then found dead and their killers description resembles the man.

Director Abdoulaye Ascofare's drama follows Zamiatou (Aminata Ousmane), a mother who struggles to support her family in the wake of her husband's unjust incarceration. Life is already difficult in the desolate desert of Mali in Africa, but when her husband returns from prison a mentally and physically reduced man, Zamiatou will do anything to keep her two sons and daughter alive.

Dedee is a prostitute, working in Monsieur Rene's night club on Antwerp's harbour. The porter is Marco, her pimp. Dedee is not happy, until she meets Francesco, an italian sailorman. They fall in love and Dedee begins to dream about an escape of her daily dullness.