To celebrate cinematic excellence and contributions to film art by the country of focus, a special presentation is featured by the International Film Festival of India. In the 53rd edition of IFFI, the Country of Focus selected is France.
Film history owes its historical and aesthetic legacies to the always inventive trailblazing cinema of France. To this day, the generation of French directors including Jean-Luc Godard, François Truffaut, and Claude Chabrol, is regarded as the most artistically fertile cinematic revolution in the history of films.
Organized in collaboration with the Embassy of France and Institut Français India, the Country Focus segment will commence on November 21st, 2022, at INOX Panjim, IFFI – Goa.
These 8 contemporary films have been selected to represent the potential and the versatility of French cinema:
Other People’s Children
Director : Rebecca Zlotowski
Duration : 104 minutes
Cast : Virginie Efira, Roschdy Zem, Chiara Mastroianni, Yamée Couture
Synopsis: Virginie Efira stars as a teacher whose new relationship with a single father becomes complicated when she begins to connect with his young daughter.
‘Other People’s Children’ is the Opening Film of the Country Focus section. It is a tragicomedy about a middle-aged woman who starts a new relationship and creates a close bond with her partner’s young daughter. It premiered at the 79th Venice International Film Festival and competed for the Golden Lion award.
The Crossing (2021)
Director : Florence Mialhe
Duration : 84 minutes
Synopsis: An animated feature film following the dramatic journey of two siblings, Kyona and her brother Adriel, who are running away, because they are being pursued by an unspecified Eastern European country.
‘The Crossing’ features surreal and fairytale-like imagery that evokes brush drawings and paintings and offers an emotional look at immigration that will move all ages. It was selected to be part of the Annecy International Animation Film Festival 2021.
Belle and Sebastian: The Nouvelle Generation
Director : Pierre Coré
Duration : 96 minutes
Cast : Robinson Mensah Rouanet, Michèle Laroque, Alice David
Synopsis: 10-year-old Sebastien reluctantly spends his vacation in the mountains with his grandmother and aunt. Helping them with the sheep is hardly an exciting prospect for a city boy like him – but that is without considering his encounter with Belle, a huge dog mistreated by her owner. Ready to do anything to fight injustice and protect his new-found friend, Sebastien will spend the craziest summer of his life.
‘Belle and Sebastian: The Nouvelle Generation’ is a film about a 10-year-old boy who finds a mistreated dog, and vows to fight against the injustice laid upon him.
Between Two Worlds (2021)
Director : Emmanuel Carrère
Duration : 96 minutes
Cast : Hélène Lambert, Louise Pociecka, Juliette Binoche, Steve Papagiannis, Aude Ruyter
Marianne Winckler, a well-known author, goes to live in northern France to research her new book on the subject of job insecurity. Without revealing her true identity, she gets hired as a cleaner, working with a group of other women. It premiered at the Karlovy Vary Film festival, and in the Director’s Fortnight section at Cannes.
The Velvet Queen (2021)
Director : Marie Amiguet, Vincent Munier
Duration : 96 minutes
Cast : Vincent Munier, Sylvain Tesson
Two men explore the high-altitude wilderness of Tibet with many cameras, filming wildlife from a respectful distance and searching for the rare snow leopard.
Sixteen (2022)
Director : Philippe Lioret
Duration : 94 minutes
Cast : Nassim Lyes, Teïlo Azaïs, Sabrina Levoye
Synopsis: Nora and Leo, 16, live in the same town, in the same suburbs, and go to the same high school, but everything opposes them: their social backgrounds, their family’s religions, and their everyday lives. Yet, they fall in love at first sight. But from a theft accusation bringing into conflict their respective families, their love story will have to face a series of trials and dramas.
The Vanished President (2022)
Director : Jean-Marc Peyrefitte
Duration : 98 minutes
Cast : Jacques Gamblin, André Dussollier
Synopsis: 1920. Against all odds, Paul Deschanel, an idealist unknown to the public, is elected President of the French Republic. His first steps into power are impressive. He makes a series of audacious proposals: abolition of the death penalty, the right to vote for women, and universal suffrage! But the cynicism of the political world, the game of institutions, and the violence of media campaigns catch up with him and soon derail him. One evening, he falls off a train and vanishes… The whole world wonders: what happened to the French President?
The Green Perfume
Director : Nicolas Pariser
Duration : 101 minutes
Cast : Sandrine Kiberlain, Vincent Lacoste, Rüdiger Vogler, Léonie Simaga
Synopsis: In the middle of a performance at la Comédie-Française, an actor dies on stage, poisoned. Martin, the member of the troupe and friend of the victim, becomes the center of everyone’s attention. Suspected by the police, he’s also chased by a mysterious organization, the Green Perfume, that seems to have ordered the murder.
While leading his own investigation, Martin receives the unexpected help of Claire, an eccentric cartoonist in need of adventure. This unlikely duo will live an adventure across Europe to foil the plans of the mysterious Green Perfume.
