Discoveries from France World Cinema

A hired labourer, Joseph, works on a farm inhabited by Monique, a war widow, and Jeanne, her captivating daughter who longs to escape to the big city.

An elderly lady is visited each month by her good-for-nothing nephew who relieves her of her regular pension. When he appears again one winter day accompanied by two hideous but eager pals who start roasting a freshly captured piglet on her back lawn before maltreating her cat and retreating to sleep in the sauna, she can no longer stand it. So at dawn she packs up to flee into town, where she moves in with an old friend who gives her consolation and advice.

Drawing some intriguing parallels between the work of the prostitute and that of the psychiatrist-both have clients, both charge for sessions, both take on roles that serve the needs, psychological or otherwise, of those they serve, Jeanne Labrune's drama stars Isabelle Huppert and Bouli Lanners as, respectively, Alice, a disaffected call girl and Xavier, a shrink with a crumbling domestic situation.

Ronny Kandiotis, a billionaire and art lover, is the guest of a major museum, on the occasion of a donation to France of two paintings, one by Gauguin and the other by Munch. The same evening, his daughter Lara, is kidnapped by a mysterious organization, which demands as ransom the publication of texts casting opprobrium on this supposedly virtuous man, while the media is already actively seizing the case.

Adrien Chautard, a major industrialist from Abidjan, has been chosen to replace an expert on the official Ivory Coast delegation sent to Paris to discuss the country's association with the Common Market. Chautard is delighted at the prospect of this trip, where he will be reunited with the woman of his dreams: Elisabeth. Alas, at Abidjan airport, a nasty surprise awaits him: Berthe, his lawful wife, has decided to leave with him to consult a leading cardiologist in the capital.

Élise Lafontaine has a secret routine. Every morning and evening for many years, she has been waving at the express train that passes her house. One fateful day, she finds a letter from the train conductor in her garden and her lonely life is turned upside down. She engages in a promising correspondence through poetic and thoughtful letters where the two anonymous writers share their worlds with each other. But Elise’s fairytale is cut short when the train line permanently detours for a shorter route to Paris. Not willing to do without her daily delight, Elise prompts a daring escape from her comfort zone and sets out to find the train conductor.

A French silent film serial which follows the exploits of the archvillain Fantômas, who commits crimes while eluding Inspector Juve's tireless persecution.

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. (Abridged version of the original collection of eight short films).

Samir lives in the projects of a second zone city in France. He is bored, rebellious, and on the verge of becoming a small-time criminal. Until his dad brutally dies and he has to become a plumber to be the breadwinner for his family. But accompanying his younger sister to the public library, he stumbles upon a surfing magazine and has a revelation: he too shall ride the waves professionally one day. The hiccup? He doesn’t even know how to swim. Enters an ex-bodybuilding champion and local loser who takes him under his wing and decides to help. Samir then leaves for the French surfing beaches, determined to make his dreams come true.

Documentary about the making of Alfred Hitchcock's 1946 film "Notorious."

The Hoffmann's are a famous couple of photographers. They are called to Berlin to shoot a significant commissioned series, but this work will not proceed as planned.

Shortly after murdering his professor, a young man encounters a sailor who offers him a position on his ship in exchange for 3 Danish crowns and his attention as he recounts his life story.

Maria, a great tragedian, has desires for radical change in her career. Singing, dancing, changing registers and getting younger: it has become an obsession. To get there, she calls on her ex-lover Simon whom she left in the past, who has become a popular choreographer for stars on Broadway. The reunion is somewhat tormented ...

Shy, timorous bank clerk, Fernand Jérôme, prevents -unwillingly of course - a gang led by "Le Grand J" from robbing the "Crédit Populaire", where he works. Having become a hero out of the blue, this new status allows him to woo Renée, the daughter of chief inspector Merlerin. What Merlerin does not know is that the man he has been trying to arrest for years, "Le Grand J" is in fact Joseph Jérôme, Fernand's father, who has disappeared for years...

Barcelona, 1967. Hans Fromm, a German-born architect, lives an well-ordered everyday life. He has become the target of an antifascist death squad though. Indeed their leader, Julius, whose brother was killed by Schmidt, a merciless S.S., believes, without being absolutely certain, that Fromm and Schmidt are the same man. The team, whose other members are Georges, the son of a deportee liquidated by Schmidt craving for action, Raphaël, a mercenary type, Nils, the photographer and Romain, watch Fromm's every move until Julius, convinced at last that the quiet German is their man, gives the green light for the operation. They manage to lure the former Nazi to an old house but Schmidt/Fromm won't let himself be captured so easily...

A very interesting thriller about the coming of age of a troubled young man searching his place in this world. Teenage boy Jonathan (Fabien de Marchi) is having a hard time living with his father and stepmother. On a whim, he steals some money and embarks on a journey of forbidden pleasures. He spends the night in abandoned building and wakes up bound and is held prisoner by Antoine (Johan Libéreau), a young drug dealer wanted by the police. The two boys forge an ambiguous relationship between violence, compassion and fascination. Victim, Jonathan ends up taking a liking to his tormentor.

A grizzled Parisian detective is sent to an outpost town in Southern France to dismantle a gang of killers which has freed a notorious criminal. The detective inherits a team of unmotivated and dishevelled detectives, and he makes connections nobody else ever saw because nobody else bothered to look. A mysterious, charismatic figure, he leads by example, and gradually his team begins to feel like cops again.

Marc Lagnier confesses to the murder of his adored son, but refuses to explain.

Hélène, an antique dealer and her husband Georges, a respected doctor, live in a beautiful property and gives everyone the image of conjugal happiness. The children, Daniel and Nadine, are busy with their studies and their loves. The bourgeois life of Hélène is troubled by the murder of her lover, Philippe, a friend of her son. She finds the body when she goes to one of their appointments. In shock, she still thinks to take away the address book of the victim where her name appears - object compromising for her marriage. The police are interested in her. A stranger blackmails her. She is caught in a gear that she can not get out of. She then suspects that all is a revenge from her husband.

Topics about female sexuality are growing in popularity. Magazines and talk shows all discuss it. Yet a fair percentage of women are said to suffer from female sexual dysfunction. While male sexual problems have traditionally received the most publicity, only recently has research begun into the problems that plague female sexuality. This film looks at the medical, cultural, psychological and relational reasons for women's dysfunction, and explores female arousal and its anatomical basis.

A group of children are transported through a portal to another dimension where they are thrilled to discover a magical amusement park just for them.

This is the story of Stan, a young man who might be considered an ordinary, run of the mill guy. But his love and passion for the theatre propels him to realize the most extraordinary desires. He is very attached to his grandfather, who owns a butcher's shop and who offers that Stan take over the family business. But Stan refuses. He decides to drop out of school and move out of his family's apartment, despite the opposition of his parents. His uncle is the only one to support him in the impossible dream of becoming an actor.

Mina is a movie buff with a husband, Georges, who's out of work, and a 15-year-old son, Tommy. While Mina works part-time as a domestic for Claire Daboval, the family is terribly short on money, so when Georges is offered construction work on a massive bridge project, he immediately accepts, even though the job site is far away. One day, while taking in a matinee screening of West Side Story, Mina meets a man named Matthias, an engineer associated with the bridge project. It's love at first sight for the both of them, and while Mina has no desire to hurt Georges, who is a good and decent man, she has found another good and decent man whom she loves even more. Tommy, on the other hand, has to deal with this crisis in his parents' marriage while he's sorting out his own infatuation with Ms. Daboval's daughter, Lisbeth.

A union pensioner and his wife are robbed, but find that merely getting the assailants brought to justice is not enough for their consciences.

Proud, eccentric, and antisocial, Monsieur Hire has always kept to himself. But after a woman turns up dead in the Paris suburb where he lives, he feels drawn to a pretty young newcomer to town and discovers that his neighbors are only too ready to suspect the worst of him.

A murder case rocks a small town when Julien Monnier is found dead, stabbed near the cave dwellings known as "Les grottes du Régulus." An old book is found beside him. Grace, a police captain, is put in charge of the investigation and discovers similarities with a ten-year-old case: a 17-year-old girl, Sarah, had been found dead, also stabbed, in the same caves. Grâce calls on Alex, her childhood friend who has become an expert in old books. He had investigated Sarah's death when he was a police officer. Alex reluctantly revisits the past and agrees to help, partly to reconnect with Grâce, his lost love. Their reunion rekindles old feelings and painful memories linked to their separation. As the investigation progresses, the memories of the protagonists and suspects become intertwined. Grace and Alex relive their past, but are confronted with conflicting memories and unspoken words.

Muriel is a shy woman who bluffs and blusters around in order to hide her shyness and to protect her loneliness, even though she longs wistfully for a companion of some sort. She has been lonely so long that now she is an old maid and has never been wooed. In this gentle French film, Muriel gets a glimpse of romance when Gabriel walks into the seaside hotel she is vacationing in. His car has broken down, and he has to stay there for a few days while it is repaired. Hers is the only dinner table with room at it, and Gabriel cannot prevent himself from charming women. She is stiff with him at first, but soon they develop a friendship.

In British colonial India, Lt. Dick Ramsay is charged with secretly rescuing the kidnapped daughter of the British viceroy of India and her fiancée, a fellow British officer from a cult of murderers who worship a white elephant. While on his mission he meets Princess Dhara and her man servant and protector, Parvati Sandok. Princess Dhara's brother has also been taken captive by the Cult of the White Elephant. Princess Dhara and Parvati Sandok aid Lt. Ramsay in his mission to free the captives and put an end to the cult's reign of terror.

A journal, a voyage through time. He photographs France, she rediscovers the unseen footage he has so carefully kept: his first steps behind the camera, his TV reports from around the world, snatches of their memories and of our history.

Romaine, a tall thirty-year-old woman, has not found herself yet. She has been living for several years with her boyfriend Justin. When, overnight, the latter drags her after him to Canada in order to start a new life, she blows smoke. Not only does she hate surprises but she is scared to death of taking the plane. Once in Montréal Airport, she dumps Justin after confessing to him things he would rather not have heard. Her Far North adventures can start...

An old man is entrusted in curing a young girl struck by amnesia. He takes her on a healing trip, eccentric and joyous, to Ouagadougou by way of the Cape, Berlin, Mali, Belgium… In their travels full of surprises, they meet characters both remarkable and luminous, or ignorant, with set ideas, some fabulous creatures, and a text hidden deep in a continent that reveals a well-kept secret: Africa has something to tell us.

Nicole Védrès' chronicle of Paris from 1900 to 1914 is brought to life through the use of original material, all authentic, secured from more then 700 films belonging to public and private collections. A few of the celebrities of the time shown are Enrico Caruso, Sarah Bernhardt, and Maurice Chevalier.

Laurent loves Camille but he can’t bring himself to marry her. Then he meets Elodie and discovers what love really is – not the mild cozy affection he has for Camille but a cataclysmic, thunderous all-consuming earthquake of the soul. The only problem is that Elodie is the girlfriend of Laurent’s best friend, François...

Max, a witty and brave 12-year-old, feels like he has two families instead of one. In and after school, he spends all his time with his two best friends Tom and Vivian, who are always there to make life easier for each other. Together, they are The Fantastic Three. His real family on the other hand, is messy, with a depressed single mother and a brother in jail.

In a village in the Ardennes, during the German occupation, finding rations is becoming almost impossible. Clovis, an ordinary labourer, decides to cross the occupied zone to bring back enough potatoes to feed his family. His plan is a success but Clovis rapidly becomes obsessed with storing the precious tubers.

When an important cache of seized heroin is stolen from a regional customs depot and two officers left dead, it becomes clear that there is a mole within the customs services. Commandant Sandra Longo, of internal affairs, is dispatched from Paris to unmask the traitor.

After a sexist joke goes viral, Cédric loses his job and embarks on a therapeutic journey to free himself from sexism and misogyny. He and his girlfriend hire a mysterious and liberated babysitter to help shake things up.

Pierrot, mechanic in Paris, falls madly for a female chemist his senior—who at first refuses him, only accepting love after being diagnosed with a deadly illness.

Julie and Désirée Clary are courted by the brothers Joseph and Napoleon Bonaparte. Joseph marries Julie and Napoleon is affianced to Désirée. When Napoleon breaks the engagement and marries Joséphine de Beauharnais, Désirée becomes involved with General Bernadotte.

The aunt of Alfred Puc, a meek tax-collector in Paris, dies while riding in a moving van. The driver, not wishing to be bothered by a police interrogation, hides her corpse in a cupboard before notifying Alfred. But the van is stolen. Alfred, being the heir of a rich lady, begins a frantic search to locate the missing van and the cupboard because one can't claim an inheritance if there is no 'corpus delecti.' In his search, he gets caught up in an underworld web and finds the body of a murdered gangster in his room. He finally locates the cupboard but promptly loses it again. But, wait, it isn't "finis' time, yet.

A family’s secret, it’s a time bomb ! Despite their fundamentally opposite characters, Albert and Gédéon, former participants of the May 1968 protest movement, share the same house since the disappearance of the woman of Albert. When Claire, the Albert’s daughter, come back to home, secrets of their past « Flower Power » reappear …

Marie (and her three fathers) are taking A-levels. Marie passes. She spends the summer in the country with her mother, Sylvia, who has returned from America with her Californian husband who has two sons. Marie falls in and out of love for the first time in front of her alarmed fathers, who see Marie's innocence slipping away at frightening speed, and their relationships with the two women become even more complicated.

A group of children from the same neighborhood meet a few years later. When the day comes, they meet again and take stock of their lives.

Two crooked lawmen (Stomy Bugsy, Titoff) search for a precious stone to collect an inheritance.

A moral tale and a political thriller: a few days before the term of her mandate, the President must make a major decision concerning the destiny of France.

Alice leads a routine life as an escort and dodges social contact. When she's forced to take care of her son after the death of her ex, her apparent indifference seems to fade away and she gets confronted with her emotional emptiness.

About the problems of frigidity encountered by a young married woman and how they are overcome with help of her husband.

This is a story of a seemingly quiet and unobtrusive man, author of a colossal and partly unfinished literary work. We will try to trace back to the origins of his inspiration so as to understand why his work met and still meets with so much success. How did JRR Tolkien manage, through the power of words alone, to so widely instill wisps of magic in the midst of a particularly disenchanted 20th century?

After dying in a car accident, wealthy shoe industrialist Carlo Bacchi finds himself in the afterlife, where he is condemned to hell for having committed evil while alive. Defending himself against the accusation in an impassioned plea, however, he succeeds in obtaining to return to earth for a few hours to make reparation for the evil he committed and, above all, for the bad deed that caused Amedeo Santini's suicide attempt. The affair will lead him to make a risky but happy choice.

Lucien Bourrache, a good looking non-commissioned officer at the Spahis, is used to charm many women. He met Madeleine Courtois at Cannes. She is beautiful and lives in luxury. He lends her a large amount of money, which she loses gambling. Then she drops him. But Lucien is now in love, and once demobilized, he goes to Paris to find her again. But he's not so sexy without his uniform, and Madeleine and him do not belong to the same milieu.

Two hundred and fifty thousand years ago, the first direct representative of our species appeared on earth: Homo Sapiens... From 400,000 to 20,000 BC, we follow the destiny of Homo Erectus, Neanderthal and Sapiens. We will thus discover the appearance of language, art, cults, agriculture, and breeding.

Eleanor, thirties, has just lost her father. He bequeathed his house in Brittany in the Cotes d'Armor. She is a photographer, has had some success but business no longer work as before. It is imperative to sell the house. She goes there with Samuel, her former companion which she left some time ago, because she does not feel to go alone and she has not returned since the death of her father. But she is playing with fire - because she knows that their relationship did not exactly appeased, even if it was for some adventures and Samuel lives with Laura. Claire Andrieux, the real estate agent, was busy organizing visits during the two days Samuel and Eleanor will stay in the house. It's a funny weekend that these three are about to spend.A surprising weekend full of surprises, emotions, tensions, memories and shouting matches in melancholy and absurd moments that leave the couple necessarily changed.

A short film by Walerian Borowczyk. This first volume looks at the first three letters in Grandma's encyclopaedia: A for 'Automobile', B for 'Ballon', and C for 'Chemin de fer'.

A war of inheritance in the Lanzac family, a rich industrial family from Bordeaux, against a backdrop of family secrets and the unsaid. Elisabeth Lanzac authoritatively leads an important industrial group specializing in wood. Her eldest son, Nicolas, is her named successor, but he dies in a road accident. When the will is read, the family is stunned to learn that he has left his share to Julien, his secret son...

This biographical docudrama traces the life of Dr. Albert Schweitzer, from his birth in Alsace, up to the age of 30 when he made the decision to go to French Equatorial Africa and build his jungle hospital. The latter half of the film encompasses a full day in the hospital-village, following the octogenarian Samaritan in his daily rounds.

Sandro, a detective, finds his wife strangled. His girl-friend Tiffany, who works as photographer, makes a "Blow up" from a photo, what Sandro finds beside the victim. Sandro and Tiffany are looking for the woman on the photo, Laura. They finds her in a Night Club in Rome...

After failing the medical entrance exam, Léopold enters midwifery school by default, hiding the truth from those around him. While he is unconvinced of his commitment to this exclusively female environment, his meeting with Nathalie, an experienced midwife with a passionate character, will change his view of this fascinating world and upset his certainties.

A handful of prisoners in WWII camps risked their lives to take clandestine photographs and document the hell the Nazis were hiding from the world. In the vestiges of the camps, director Christophe Cognet retraces the footsteps of these courageous men and women in a quest to unearth the circumstances and the stories behind their photographs, composing as such an archeology of images as acts of defiance.