The Albertine Cinémathèque Festival of French Films is funded by the French government to allow colleges and universities to put on a French film festival. It’s a continuation of what had been known as the Tournées Festival of New French Film on Campus, which the departments of English and World Languages and Literatures held every spring semester at NKU from 2011 to 2015.
Under its new name, the festival is back at NKU this semester. For six weeks beginning March 16th, we will be screening a different French movie (five recent features and one classic) every Thursday at 6:30 p.m. in Griffin Hall’s Digitorium. The screenings are free and open to everyone. Following each movie, a faculty member from one of those departments will lead a discussion of the film.
Dates: 3/16, 3/23, 3/30, 4/6, 4/13, 4/20
Location: Griffin Hall Digitorium
Time: 6:30 p.m.
Bergman IslandDirected by Mia Hansen-Love
Discussion leader: Dr. Andrea Gazzaniga
Link to film trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nrlVHVid-20
A couple of American filmmakers, Chris (P.T. Anderson’s Phantom Thread superstar Vicky Krieps) and Tony (Tim Roth) retreat to the mythical Fårö island for the Summer. In this wild, breathtaking landscape where Bergman lived and shot his most celebrated pieces, they hope to find inspiration for their upcoming films. As days spent separately pass by, the fascination for the island operates on Chris and souvenirs of her first love resurface. Lines between reality and fiction will then progressively blur and tear our couple even more apart.
JosepDirected by Aurel
Discussion leader: Dr. Caryn Connelly
Link to film trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bS9apnbe9Eg
February 1939. Spanish republicans are fleeing Franco’s dictatorship to France. The French government built concentration camps, confining the refugees, where they barely have access to hygiene, water and food. In one of these camps, separated by barbed wire, two men will become friends. One is a guard, the other is Josep Bartoli (Barcelona 1910 – NYC 1995), an illustrator who fights against Franco’s regime.
Une Histoire d'Amour et de Désir/A Tale of Love and DesireDirected by Leyla Bouzid
Discussion leader: Dr. Jody Ballah
Link to film trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gvh6uc1I3WE
Ahmed, 18, French of Algerian origin, grew up in the suburbs of Paris. At the university, he meets Farah, a young Tunisian girl, full of energy, who has just arrived in Paris. While discovering a collection of sensual and erotic Arab literature he never imagined existed, Ahmed falls head over heels in love with Farah, and although literally overwhelmed with desire, he will try to resist it.
The Velvet QueenDirected by Marie Amiguet and Vincent Munier
Discussion leader: Dr. Gisèle Loriot-Raymer
Link to film trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q7k4P-A2gPE
In the heart of the Tibetan highlands, multi-award-winning nature photographer Vincent Munier guides writer Sylvain Tesson on his quest to document the infamously elusive snow leopard. Munier introduces Tesson to the subtle art of waiting from a blind spot, tracking animals, and finding the patience to catch sight of the beasts. Through their journey in the Tibetan peaks, inhabited by invisible presences, the two men ponder humankind’s place amongst the magnificent creatures and glorious landscapes they encounter along the way.
Little Girl
Directed by Sébastien Lifshitz
Discussion leader: Dr. Iliana Rosales Figueroa
Link to film trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vs18GvKLQXY
Little Girl is the moving portrait of 7-year-old Sasha, who has always known that she is a girl. Sasha’s family has recently accepted her gender identity, embracing their daughter for who she truly is while working to confront outdated norms and find affirmation in a small community of rural France. Realized with delicacy and intimacy, Sébastien Lifshitz’s documentary poetically explores the emotional challenges, everyday feats, and small moments in Sasha’s life.
Le Cercle Rouge/The Red CircleDirected by Jean Pierre Melville
Discussion leader: Dr. John Alberti
Link to film trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=taSkmZUa4dY
Corey is a cool, aristocratic thief, released from prison on the same day that Vogel, a murderer, escapes from the custody of the patient Mattei, a cat-loving police superintendent. Corey robs Rico, his mob boss, then enlists Vogel and an ex-police sharpshooter, Jansen, in a jewel heist. While Corey is harried by the vengeful Rico, Mattei pressures Santi, a nightclub owner and pimp, to help him trap the thieves. Over all hangs the judgment of the police directeur, that every man is guilty.
