Unifrance and Film at Lincoln Center have unveiled the lineup for the 28th edition of Rendez-Vous With French Cinema, an annual celebration of contemporary French filmmaking. The event will take place March 2–12.
It kicks off with a screening of Alice Winocour’s “Revoir Paris,” which stars Virginie Efira as a translator named Mia, who survived a mass shooting in a Paris restaurant and is unable to resume life as usual. In an effort to regain a sense of normalcy, Mia returns repeatedly to the site of the shooting, forming bonds with her fellow survivors. Efira is best known for her star turn in Paul Verhoeven’s “Benedetta.”
“It is a such a pleasure to open this year’s edition with the French critical and box-office hit ‘Revoir Paris’ in the presence of director Alice Winocour and actress Virginie Efira, who just received our French Cinema Award in Paris,” said Daniela Elstner,...
It kicks off with a screening of Alice Winocour’s “Revoir Paris,” which stars Virginie Efira as a translator named Mia, who survived a mass shooting in a Paris restaurant and is unable to resume life as usual. In an effort to regain a sense of normalcy, Mia returns repeatedly to the site of the shooting, forming bonds with her fellow survivors. Efira is best known for her star turn in Paul Verhoeven’s “Benedetta.”
“It is a such a pleasure to open this year’s edition with the French critical and box-office hit ‘Revoir Paris’ in the presence of director Alice Winocour and actress Virginie Efira, who just received our French Cinema Award in Paris,” said Daniela Elstner,...
- 1/26/2023
- by Brent Lang
- Variety Film + TV
“Candy is better in France,” says a small boy to his brother in a flashback scene in For My Country (Pour La France), Rachid Hami’s personal drama premiering in Horizons at the Venice Film Festival. The boy’s Algerian family is considering moving to France, and his simplistic response sums up his innocent, optimistic view of his new home. But — as we have already discovered — France will bring tragedy to the family in this moving account based on Hami’s memories of his late younger brother.
As a young adult, Aïssa (Shaïn Boumedine) has enlisted in the prestigious military academy of Saint-Cyr, dreaming of serving the country he has become devoted to: France. But Aïssa dies during a fresher hazing initiation that takes place in freezing water.
His elder brother Ismaël (Karim Leklou) tries to comfort their distraught mother Nadia (Lubna Azabal) and to help her navigate the changing attitudes of officials,...
As a young adult, Aïssa (Shaïn Boumedine) has enlisted in the prestigious military academy of Saint-Cyr, dreaming of serving the country he has become devoted to: France. But Aïssa dies during a fresher hazing initiation that takes place in freezing water.
His elder brother Ismaël (Karim Leklou) tries to comfort their distraught mother Nadia (Lubna Azabal) and to help her navigate the changing attitudes of officials,...
- 9/3/2022
- by Anna Smith
- Deadline Film + TV
The youngest ever winner of a César is now playing Depardieu’s bodyguard. One of France’s best young actors talks wrestling, feminism and finding her spiritual sister in Glasgow
Déborah Lukumuena trained for months at a wrestling club in Paris in order to play a wrestler and bodyguard for her latest hit film, Robust. She noticed that in a match there would often be one minute of combat that “was very intense, very physical” and outside that, “you have to find a way to use your breath to keep calm”. Her performance as Aïssa, the personal protection officer for an erratic, ageing film star, has been lauded by French critics for its mesmerising serenity and imposing physical presence. “Sometimes the greatest outer shell can hide the greatest inner softness,” she says.
Lukumuena, 27, is considered one of the best French actors of her generation. Aged 22, she became the first black woman,...
Déborah Lukumuena trained for months at a wrestling club in Paris in order to play a wrestler and bodyguard for her latest hit film, Robust. She noticed that in a match there would often be one minute of combat that “was very intense, very physical” and outside that, “you have to find a way to use your breath to keep calm”. Her performance as Aïssa, the personal protection officer for an erratic, ageing film star, has been lauded by French critics for its mesmerising serenity and imposing physical presence. “Sometimes the greatest outer shell can hide the greatest inner softness,” she says.
Lukumuena, 27, is considered one of the best French actors of her generation. Aged 22, she became the first black woman,...
- 7/21/2022
- by Angelique Chrisafis
- The Guardian - Film News
Gérard Depardieu plays a veteran movie star with a stalker, while Déborah Lukumuena steals the show as his minder
Here’s an odd-couple comedy drama about a grumpy, cantankerous old movie star called Georges (Gérard Depardieu), who is assigned a tough “minder” called Aïssa (Déborah Lukumuena) to look after him. Why does he need a security guard? Apparently, there’s a stalker issue (a pretty harmless-looking woman camps outside his apartment building) and he also seems to be the target of environmental activists.
Frankly, the premise for Aïssa’s presence in Georges’ life is a bit thin, and this looks as if it’s going to be a sentimental status-disparity movie like the French hit Untouchable, in which Omar Sy played a black caregiver for grumpy white paraplegic François Cluzet (recently remade with Kevin Hart and Bryan Cranston). Actually, Robust is a bit more interesting than that and Depardieu and...
Here’s an odd-couple comedy drama about a grumpy, cantankerous old movie star called Georges (Gérard Depardieu), who is assigned a tough “minder” called Aïssa (Déborah Lukumuena) to look after him. Why does he need a security guard? Apparently, there’s a stalker issue (a pretty harmless-looking woman camps outside his apartment building) and he also seems to be the target of environmental activists.
Frankly, the premise for Aïssa’s presence in Georges’ life is a bit thin, and this looks as if it’s going to be a sentimental status-disparity movie like the French hit Untouchable, in which Omar Sy played a black caregiver for grumpy white paraplegic François Cluzet (recently remade with Kevin Hart and Bryan Cranston). Actually, Robust is a bit more interesting than that and Depardieu and...
- 7/19/2022
- by Peter Bradshaw
- The Guardian - Film News
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