23rd French Film Festival

Feb 27 – March 4 2020 In memory of Agnès Varda 1928 - 2019

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Schedule All screenings held at The Prytania Theatre | 5339 Prytania Street, New Orleans, LA 70115.

Get your tickets at neworleansfilmsociety.org/schedule THURSDAY Feb 27

FRIDAY Feb 28

SATURDAY Feb 29

10am

11am

SUNDAY March 1

TUESDAY March 3

WEDNESDAY March 4

10:00AM The Umbrellas of Cherbourg (95 min)

10:00AM The Umbrellas of Cherbourg (95 min)

FREE for NOFS Members

FREE for NOFS Members

12:00PM Celebration (74 min)

12pm

MONDAY March 2

12:00PM Mr. Klein (123 min)

12:00PM Mr. Klein (123 min)

12:00PM Sibyl (101 min)

12:00PM Varda By Agnès (120 min)

1pm 2:00PM Chinchinette: The Accidental Spy (102 min, including short)

2pm 2:15PM Children of Paradise (190 min)

3pm

Zone Rouge

3:00PM Finding Cajun (60 min) 4:00 PM 20min Q+A

4pm 4:30PM Young Ahmed (84 min)

5pm

7pm

8pm

Varda By Agnès (120 min)

6:00PM Intention (55 min) 6:55 PM 20min Q+A

6pm 7:15PM

Sybil (101 min)

8:15PM On a Magical Night (86 min)

8:30PM Deerskin (77 min)

9pm

Narrative

Documentary

#FrenchFilmFestival

5:00PM And the Birds Rained Down (127 min)

5:15PM House of Cardin (95 min)

6:45PM La Veille (43 min) 7:28 PM 20min Q+A

Live music (30 mins)

7:45PM Opening Night:

5:00PM Centerpiece Film:

Shorts NOFS

5:00PM A Brother’s Love (117 min)

7:15PM

Live music (30 mins)

7:45PM Sink or Swim (122 min)

Live Music

8:00PM Spotlight Film: Mississippi Ramblin (52 min) 8:52 PM 30min musical tribute & Q+A

7:30PM By the Grace of God (137 min)

Filmmaker in attendance

neworleansfilmsociety

7:45PM Closing Night: Matthias and Maxime (119 min)

All films are presented with English subtitles.

neworleansfilmsociety | neworleansfilmfestival

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Supporting Sponsors

Media Partner

With special thanks to the

Consulate General of Canada 6

À la mémoire d’Agnès Varda

This year’s French Film Festival salutes a near-century of French-language cinema, from the influential 1945 old-guard masterpiece Les enfants du paradis to a film 74 years its junior—and representing the newest wave of Francophone cinema—Xavier Dolan’s Matthias and Maxime.

When presenting such a broad spectrum of film, it’s hard not to sense the presence of one filmmaker in particular, the late, great Agnès Varda, whose films spanned 65 years and influenced generations of filmmakers and audiences alike. Though she passed away last year, we are honored to include in the festival her final project—Varda by Agnès, completed just before her death—and we proudly dedicate this festival to her: the godmother of French cinema and one of our most beloved heroes, who graced us with 24 magnificent films and showed us the beauty of heartshaped potatoes. – Clint Bowie, Artistic Director, New Orleans Film Society

Passes

Tickets

Patron Pass $110 for members | $125 for non-members INVITATION to the Patron Party prior to Opening Film.

FREE admission to all 24 festival screenings.

EARLY access to online reservations.

PRIORITY entry to all screenings.

ADVANCE copy of the Fest brochure in your mailbox.

KEEP your seat between screenings.

Opening, Centerpiece, Closing & Spotlight Screenings $14 for members | $17 for non-members

You must be 21 years of age to purchase the Patron Pass.

ID will be checked during pick up process.

Become a New Orleans Film Society member at the level of:

Regular Pass $80 for members | $95 for non-members FREE admission to all 24 festival screenings.

EARLY access to online reservations.

PRIORITY entry to all screenings.

ADVANCE copy of the Fest brochure in your mailbox.

KEEP your seat between screenings.

Student Pass $40 FREE admission to all regular 20 festival screenings. (excludes Opening, Closing, Centerpiece & Spotlight Screenings).

EARLY access to online reservations.

Email a copy of your valid Student ID to info@neworleansfilmsociety.org to obtain advance purchase link or present it at the Festival box office. There is no physical pass.

Film passes do not guarantee admission to screenings. You must reserve your screening ticket to access the film.

Regular Screenings $11 for members | $14 for non-members Group tickets and passes for parties of 10+ will receive NOFS member pricing.

- Director’s Circle to get FOUR COMPLIMENTARY French Film Festival Patron passes.

- Scene Stealer, Producer’s Circle, Executive Producer’s Circle to get TWO COMPLIMENTARY French Film Festival Patron passes.

- Moviegoer and Take Two to get $15 off of passes and $3 off of tickets.

Festival passes and tickets can be purchased online at www.neworleansfilmsociety.org or at the Prytania Theatre during the box office hours. Online tickets are available until 2 hours before each screening.

FESTIVAL BOX OFFICE HOURS (at the Prytania Theatre): February 26th-27th: 3PM - 8PM February 28th - March 4th: 1h prior to the first screening - 9PM All sales are final. Passes and tickets are neither refundable, nor transferable. Only in a situation in which screenings or events are canceled by NOFS, will refunds be issued. If you can not attend events that you have purchased tickets or passes for, consider your purchase as a charitable donation to the New Orleans Film Society.

You must be in your seat 10 minutes prior to showtime, as NOFS will release unclaimed seats to the Rush Line at that time. We will not issue refunds to ticket holders who arrive later than 10 minutes prior to the start of the film.

Accessibility We are committed to making the Festival accessible to everyone, however not all of our films support hearing impaired or caption devices.

For more details and venue-specific information, please contact NOFS in advance by e-mail to info@neworleansfilmsociety.org or call (504) 309-6633. Use a special online form at www.neworleansfilmsociety.org for any requests regarding seating, hearing, vision or other accessibility needs.

2

Opening Night

Thursday, Feb 27, 7:45pm SIBYL FRANCE | 2019 | 101 MIN | NARRATIVE DIR: JUSTINE TRIET | FRENCH WITH ENGLISH SUBTITLES

A sly, sultry character study, Sibyl follows a psychotherapist (Virginie Efira) who decides to quit her practice and return to writing. Though at first she struggles with a lack of inspiration, things change when she gets a call from Margot (Adèle Exarchopoulos, Blue Is the Warmest Color), a young actress wrapped up in a dramatic affair with her married costar. Becoming further enmeshed in Margot’s life, Sibyl starts to blur past with present, fiction with reality, and the personal with the professional as she begins to use Margot’s life as source material for her novel.

LIVE MUSIC AT 7:15PM. FILM AT 7:45PM ENCORE SCREENING: TUESDAY, MARCH 3, 12:00PM

Centerpiece Film Sunday, March 1, 5:00pm VARDA BY AGNÈS FRANCE | 2019 | 120 MIN | DOCUMENTARY DIR: AGNÈS VARDA | ENGLISH & FRENCH WITH ENGLISH SUBTITLES

The final film from the late, beloved Agnès Varda is a characteristically playful, profound, and personal summation of the director’s own brilliant career. At once impish and wise, she acts as our spirit guide on a free-associative tour through her six-decade artistic journey, shedding new light on her films, photography, and recent installation works while offering her one-of-a-kind reflections on everything from filmmaking to cats to feminism to aging. A warmly human, touchingly bittersweet parting gift from one of cinema’s most luminous talents.

ENCORE SCREENING: WEDNESDAY, MARCH 4, 12:00PM

Closing Night

Wednesday, March 4, 7:45pm MATTHIAS & MAXIME CANADA | 2019 | 110 MIN | NARRATIVE DIR: XAVIER DOLAN | FRENCH WITH ENGLISH SUBTITLES

US PREMIERE

No director today has achieved what French-Canadian auteur Xavier Dolan has in the last decade, with six Cannes premieres and too many jury awards and prizes to mention. The 30-yearold writer/director/actor/producer/editor returns with Matthias and Maxime, a poignant and contemplative study of two childhood buddies who are forced to confront their feelings for each other after they kiss for a friend’s short film. Starring Dolan and Gabriel D’Almeida Freitas in the lead roles, with longtime Dolan muse Anne Dorval playing his ailing mother.

LIVE MUSIC AT 7:15PM. FILM AT 7:45PM

3

Spotlight Film

Monday, March 2, 8:00pm MISSISSIPPI RAMBLIN’ FRANCE | 2018 | 52 MIN | DOCUMENTARY DIR: NICOLAS FINET | FRENCH WITH ENGLISH SUBTITLES

On August 16, 1938, in Greenwood, Mississippi, Robert Johnson, one of the greatest bluesman of all time, died in near anonymity at 27. He had appeared on the local musical scene a few years earlier but was rediscovered and made popular by a generation of rock stars of the 60s and 70s. In 2014, two French cartoonists told Johnson’s story in their graphic novel Love in Vain. This documentary recounts their trip to Johnson’s home state, including interviews with a number of genuine bluesmen of the Deep South: R.L. Boyce, Watermelon Slim, Ben Payton, and Lucious Spiller among them.

FILMMAKER IN ATTENDANCE FOR A POST-FILM DISCUSSION. THE SCREENING WILL BE FOLLOWED BY A MUSICAL TRIBUTE TO ROBERT JOHNSON BY ST. LOUIS SLIM.

CHILDREN OF PARADISE LES ENFANTS DU PARADIS FRANCE | 1945 | 190 MIN | NARRATIVE DIR: MARCEL CARNÉ | FRENCH WITH ENGLISH SUBTITLES

Poetic realism reached sublime heights with Children of Paradise, widely considered one of the greatest French films of all time. This nimble depiction of 19th-century Paris’s theatrical demimonde, filmed during World War II, follows a mysterious woman (Arletty) loved by four different men (all based on historical figures): an actor, a criminal, a count, and, most poignantly, a mime (JeanLouis Barrault, in a performance for the ages). Thanks to a major new restoration, this iconic classic looks and sounds richer and more detailed than ever.

FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 28, 2:15PM

INTENTION USA | 2019 | 55 MIN | DOCUMENTARY DIR: OLIVIA PERILLO, SYD HORN | FRENCH AND ENGLISH WITH ENGLISH SUBTITLES

Hidden in Cajun Country live angels among us. Committed to intentional artistry, divine healers share their craft, both inspiring ascension and preserving cultural tradition in Southwest Louisiana. A slice-of-life documentary told by women encompasses the profound gradient of cultural heritage existing in this rich region of our world. Exploring language, music, food, faith healing, and art, the directors intend for viewers to consider their personal pursuits of passion in practice. Winner of the 2019 #CreateLouisiana French Culture Grant.

FILMMAKER IN ATTENDANCE FOR A POST-FILM DISCUSSION. FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 28, 6:00PM 4

ON A MAGICAL NIGHT CHAMBRE 212 FRANCE | 2019 | 86 MIN | NARRATIVE DIR: CHRISTOPHE HONORÉ | FRENCH WITH ENGLISH SUBTITLES

From French Film Festival mainstay Christophe Honoré (Sorry Angel, Love Songs) comes this bittersweet comic fantasy starring Chiara Mastroianni as a highly sexed college lecturer caught in the throes of a mid-marriage crisis. After her husband finds out about her fling with one of her students, she leaves their home and moves into a hotel across the street, with a birdseye view of her marriage, past and present. Over the course of one surreal night, she encounters all the men she’s slept with during her marriage—and they all have opinions about what she should do.

FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 28, 8:15PM

GA LA

NEW ORLEANS FILM SOCIETY PRESENTS

CELEBRATING OUR CELLULOID HERO ALEXA GEORGES

CELEBRATION FRANCE | 2018 | 74 MIN | DOCUMENTARY DIR: OLIVIER MEYROU | FRENCH WITH ENGLISH SUBTITLES

Filmed over the course of three years, this portrait of fashion colossus Yves Saint Laurent’s final show was suppressed right after its first and only public screening at the 2007 Berlin Film Festival. The film was blocked by YSL’s business (and on-and-off romantic) partner Pierre Bergé, who objected to the couturier’s portrayal as frail and not quite all there, and to his own depiction of being the behind the scenes mastermind. Fortunately, Berge relented in 2015 and thus Celebration is finally available: an opulent and immersive behind-the-scenes look at one of fashion’s greatest.

SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 29, 12:00PM

SAVE THE DATE OCTOBER 14-21 2020

APRIL 4, 2020

#NOFF

CHINCHINETTE: THE ACCIDENTAL SPY

YOUNG AHMED LE JEUNE AHMED

GERMANY, FRANCE | 2019 | 86 MIN | DOCUMENTARY DIR: NICOLA HENS | ENGLISH AND FRENCH WITH ENGLISH SUBTITLES

FRANCE, BELGIUM | 2019 | 84 MIN | NARRATIVE DIR: LUC DARDENNE, JEAN-PIERRE DARDENNE | FRENCH AND ARABIC WITH ENGLISH SUBTITLES

The untold story of Marthe Cohn, a feisty young woman who joined the French resistance during WWII. After keeping silent for almost 60 years, Marthe now shares the extraordinary story of how she managed to beat the odds and fight the Nazis as a spy. At the age of 98, she still tours the world, showing off her medals and promoting her message to people of all generations.

A team of deminers in northern France extract unexploded munitions from the First and Second World War.

The Dardenne Brothers won this year’s Best Director award at the Cannes Film Festival for this brave new work, another intimate portrayal of a protagonist in crisis. The filmmakers’ radical empathy alights on a Muslim teenager in a small Belgian town who is being gradually radicalized into extremism despite the desperate protestations of his single mother, and who winds up hatching a murderous plot targeting his beloved teacher. Taking a serious view of a difficult issue, Young Ahmed reminds viewers why the Dardennes continue to be at the center of 21st-century cinema.

SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 29, 2:00PM

SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 29, 4:30PM

LA VEILLE

DEERSKIN LE DAIM

PRECEDED BY THE SHORT FILM ‘ZONE ROUGE’ CANADA | DIR. DOMINIQUE VAN OLM | 15 MIN

USA | 2018 | 43 MIN | DOCUMENTARY DIR: MARSHALL WOODWORTH | ENGLISH AND FRENCH WITH ENGLISH SUBTITLES

A sweeping journey through the backroads, bayous, and sleepy towns of Cajun country, La Veille is a search for signs of Francophone culture still thriving in Louisiana.

Filmmaker Marshall Woodworth recounts his childhood when boucheries, cochon de lait, and Creole French were a more dominant cultural force, contrasting that against the dearth of fluent French speakers in Louisiana today.

Along the way, Woodworth interviews a rich range of elders, French Immersion instructors, sociologists, and— potentially the key to Creole French’s future—musicians.

SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 29, 6:45PM FILMMAKER IN ATTENDANCE FOR A POST-FILM DISCUSSION

FRANCE | 2019 | 77 MIN | NARRATIVE DIR: QUENTIN DUPIEUX | FRENCH WITH ENGLISH SUBTITLES

The latest from Quentin Dupieux (the brains behind the delightfully outrageous Rubber, about a sentient tire on a killing spree), Deerskin follows amateur filmmaker Georges, who becomes obsessed with his new deerskin jacket.

Convinced that his jacket must be the only one in the world, Georges is led down a Tarantino-esque path to rid the world of all competition. Played with total commitment

by Academy Award® winner Jean Dujardin (The Artist), the film premiered at the Cannes Film Festival and also stars Adèle Haenel (Portrait of a Lady on Fire).

SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 29, 8:30PM 7

THE UMBRELLAS OF CHERBOURG LES PARAPLUIES DE CHERBOURG FRANCE, WEST GERMANY | 1964 | 95 MIN | NARRATIVE DIR: JACQUES DEMY | FRENCH WITH ENGLISH SUBTITLES

Demy’s 1964 masterpiece of music and romance stars Catherine Deneuve as an umbrella shopkeeper who is separated from her mechanic boyfriend (Nino Castelnuevo) when he is called for military service. The film was fully restored in breathtaking color in 1992 under the supervision of Demy’s widow, filmmaker Agnès Varda. Umbrellas won the Grand Prize at the 1964 Cannes Film Festival and was nominated for five Academy Awards. The restored soundtrack features Michel Legrand’s unforgettable score remixed in stereo.

SUNDAY, MARCH 1, 10:00AM WEDNESDAY, MARCH 4, 10:00AM

Free For New Orleans Film Society Members

FINDING CAJUN USA, CANADA | 2019 | 60 MIN | DOCUMENTARY DIR: NATHAN RABALAIS | ENGLISH AND FRENCH WITH ENGLISH SUBTITLES

Finding Cajun presents a critical and historically informed perspective on the origin and evolution of Cajun identity.

We see how Cajuns compare to the present-day Acadians in maritime Canada, a community that is supposedly at the historical roots of Cajun ethnicity. Through interviews with leading experts filmed on site in Louisiana, New Brunswick, and Nova Scotia, the film examines the diversity and complexity of South Louisiana’s French- and Creolespeaking communities, showing how Americanization, racism, and language shift have reshaped the cultural landscape of Louisiana.

SUNDAY, MARCH 1, 3:00PM FILMMAKER IN ATTENDANCE FOR A POST-FILM DISCUSSION.

MR. KLEIN FRANCE, ITALY | 1976 | 123 MIN | NARRATIVE DIR: JOSEPH LOSEY | FRENCH WITH ENGLISH SUBTITLES

In Occupied France, Mr. Klein (played with perfection by Alain Delon) exploits the situation of the Jews by buying and selling their works of art. When a Jewish man of the same name surfaces in Paris, Klein comes under suspicion and experiences the persecution of his countrymen firsthand. Also starring Jeanne Moreau, this rare and celebrated film from 1976 was blacklisted American director Joseph Losey’s first film in French, and it won the coveted César Awards for Best Film and Best Director. This restored version has finally arrived in theaters to ecstatic praise from major critics.

SUNDAY, MARCH 1, 12:00PM MONDAY, MARCH 2, 12:00PM

SINK OR SWIM LE GRAND BAIN BELGIUM, FRANCE | 2019 | 121 MIN | NARRATIVE DIR: GILLES LELLOUCHE | FRENCH WITH ENGLISH SUBTITLES

A group of 40-something guys, all on the verge of a mid-life crisis, decide to form their local pool’s first ever synchronized swimming team—for men. Braving the skepticism and ridicule of those around them, and trained by a fallen champion trying to pull herself together, the group sets out on an unlikely adventure, and on the way rediscovers a little self-esteem and a lot about themselves and each other. A crowd-pleasing comedy starring Mathieu Amalric and Guillaume Canet.

SUNDAY, MARCH 1, 7:45PM 8

AND THE BIRDS RAINED DOWN IL PLEUVAIT DES OISEAUX

HOUSE OF CARDIN

CANADA | 2019 | 127 MIN | NARRATIVE DIR: LOUISE ARCHAMBAULT | FRENCH WITH ENGLISH SUBTITLES

Millions know the iconic logo and ubiquitous signature but few know the man behind the larger-than-life label. This insightful documentary seeks to answer the question: Who is Pierre Cardin? What is the story behind this legendary icon? House of Cardin is a rare peek into the mind of a genius, an authorized feature that chronicles his life and design. A true original, Pierre Cardin has granted the directors exclusive access to his archives and his empire, and unprecedented interviews at the sunset of a glorious career.

This drama about time and friendship weaves together the stories of three aging hermits who have left their former lives and gone off the grid into the rural Quebec landscape.

Living in a remote forest near a lake, Tom, Charlie, and Ted pass the time by tending to their neighbor’s cannabis crop, swimming, singing, and reminiscing. Their peaceful existence is soon shattered by a sudden death, and by the arrival of two women. Within its intimate, personal dramas, And The Birds Rained Down delivers a poetic study of intertwined lives, where love can happen at any age.

USA | 2019 | 97 MIN | DOCUMENTARY DIR: P. DAVID EBERSOLE, TODD HUGHES | FRENCH, ITALIAN, CHINESE, JAPANESE, AND ENGLISH WITH ENGLISH SUBTITLES

MONDAY, MARCH 2, 5:00PM

TUESDAY, MARCH 3, 5:15PM

BY THE GRACE OF GOD GRÂCE À DIEU

A BROTHER’S LOVE LA FEMME DE MON FRÈRE

FRANCE, BELGIUM | 2019 | 137 MIN | NARRATIVE DIR: FRANÇOIS OZON | FRENCH WITH ENGLISH SUBTITLES

CANADA | 2019 | 117 MIN | NARRATIVE DIR: MONIA CHOKRI | FRENCH WITH ENGLISH SUBTITLES

This gripping drama from François Ozon (Swimming Pool, 8 Women) follows three men who band together to dismantle the code of silence that continues to protect a priest who abused them decades ago. Based on events from the 2019 conviction of Cardinal Philippe Barbarin of Lyon for concealing abuse within the church, By the Grace of God compassionately illustrates the varying effects of trauma on survivors and their families in this urgent portrait of resistance, the power of mobilization, and the mysteries of faith. Starring celebrated actor Melvil Poupaud in the lead role.

Sophia is 35 years old, under-employed, and “temporarily” living with her codependent brother Karim. But their playful, unbreakable bond is put to the test when, for the first time in his life, Karim falls head over heels in love—with Sophia’s gynecologist. Almost like a breakup for Sophia, she must now start to question her life choices and face the reality that it’s time to grow up. From director Monia Chokri (herself an actress, Heartbeats, Laurence Anyways), this Canadian comedy-drama opened the Un Certain Regard section of the Cannes Film Festival.

TUESDAY, MARCH 3, 7:30PM

WEDNESDAY, MARCH 4, 5:00PM 9

The New Orleans Film Society discovers, cultivates, and amplifies diverse voices of filmmakers who tell the stories of our time.

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New Orleans Film Society is supported by the National Endowment for the Arts, a federal agency. This program is supported in part by a Community Arts Grant made possible by the City of New Orleans as administered by the Arts Council of New Orleans and by a grant from the Louisiana Division of the Arts, Office of Cultural Development, Department of Culture, Recreation & Tourism, in cooperation with the Louisiana State Arts Council.

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