Austin Film Society announces Texas Premieres for French Films in 2018 New French Cinema Week
(AUSTIN, TX) MARCH 26, 2018 – Austin Film Society (AFS) announces the 2018 line-up for New French Cinema Week, a five-day festival of award-winning Francophone films from leading new names in global cinema. The festival occurs Wednesday, April 25 to Sunday, April 29, 2018, at the AFS Cinema.
WHO: Austin Film Society
WHAT: Austin Film Society announces 2018 New French Cinema Week Line-up
WHEN: April 25, 2018 through April 29, 2018
WHERE: AFS Cinema | 6406 N Interstate 35 Suite 3100, Austin, TX 78752
WEB: austinfilm.org
CONTACTS: Austin Film Society | Christine Lee | christine@austinfilm.org
Austin Film Society | Meghan Malone | meghan@austinfilm.org
Presented in partnership with UniFrance and the Premiers Plans Festival d’Angers, the week will feature dialogues with Francophone filmmakers and guests in attendance, an opening night party for AFS members, music events, and diverse programming including animation, shorts, and family-themed screenings.
New French Cinema Week encourages the discovery of some of Europe’s most exciting new filmmakers with films that may not be distributed in the United States. This year’s selection features some of the most highly acclaimed new titles by new directors. PETIT PAYSAN (also known in English as BLOODY MILK) will be opening the series. The film comes to Austin for its Texas premiere after winning three César Awards (equivalent of the Oscars in France), for Best Actor, Best Supporting Actor and Best First Film. Director Hubert Charuel will be in attendance. Also making its Texas Premiere, CUSTODY, an award winner at the Venice, Palm Springs and Premiers Plans festivals, will be accompanied by the director, Xavier Legrand. Other premieres include Algerian-French title, UNTIL THE BIRDS RETURN, a selection of Cannes Un Certain Regard, accompanied by the film’s director Karim Moussaoui, and MONTPARNASSE BIENVENUE, the Cannes Caméra D’Or winner, which will feature a special conversation with the film’s composer, Julie Roué.
The films are selected by AFS Head of Film and Creative Media Holly Herrick in collaboration with program partner Premiers Plans Festival d’Angers, which has featured all of the selected filmmakers in past programs. Herrick states, “AFS works to promote international film culture in Austin, and programs like New French Cinema Week are major efforts in connecting our vibrant community with the wider film world. This year’s line-up is our biggest and most extensive thus far in the festival’s four-year history. We invite Austinites to join us for the festival, a rare opportunity to meet Francophone filmmakers and see wonderful new work from the international circuit, films which may not otherwise be seen in Austin theaters.”
The festival is sponsored by Cultural Services of the French Embassy, Bouvet Ladubay and Freestyle Language Center.
The AFS Cinema offers a full café menu and bar. Bouvet Ladubay Rosé Excellence Brut will be the featured drink, offered for $6 in celebration of New French Cinema Week.
A series pass includes admission to each film and the music video night and party. Series passes are $80 for non-members with discounted pricing for AFS members. Individual film tickets are $11.25 for non-members and $8.25 for AFS members. Special pricing applies to the April 26 music video night and party.
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PROGRAM SCHEDULE
Wednesday, April 25, 8 p.m.
PETIT PAYSAN
Director Hubert Charuel in attendance. PETIT PAYSAN was honored for Best First Film, Best Actor, and Best Supporting Actor by the César Awards, the French equivalent of the Oscars. Pierre, a shy young dairy farmer, begins to take precautions when word of Mad Cow Disease in France begins to make the national headlines. AFS Members are invited to an exclusive champagne opening party prior to the film.
Thursday, April 26, 7 p.m.
MONTPARNASSE BIENVENUE
Composer Julia Roué in attendance. This Cannes Film Festival Caméra D’Or Winner stars Laetitia Dosch as the hot-tempered Julia, a woman at the end of her rope after a bad break up. This glorious female-centered comedy is directed by first-time feature filmmaker Léonor Serraille and made by nearly an all-female creative team.
Thursday, April 26, 9:30 p.m. *Special pricing applies
The Correspondence Project: Music Video Screening & Live Music Event
Filmmakers and musicians from Austin and Angers, France participated in the Correspondence project, an exchange program that pairs two artists to create a collaborative work between their respective artistic practices: music and video. In this program, we will showcase a series of videos created by Austin video artists for Angers musicians, and vice versa. The screening will be followed by a party open to all ticket and pass holders, with live performances by Holodeck Records modular synth artists Curved Light and Dylan Cameron. Both artists were contributors to the project.
Friday, April 27, 7:30
CUSTODY
Director Xavier Legrand in attendance. Inspired equally by KRAMER VS. KRAMER and Stephen King, Legrand weaves an ominous tale of a family caught up in a custody battle and succeeds in creating what will be one of the most talked-about foreign-language films of the year. The film won the Silver Lion Award for Best Director at the Venice Film Festival.
Saturday, April 28, 1 p.m.
New French Cinema Week Shorts
AFS presents short films by emerging Francophone directors, including films by participating New French Cinema Week filmmakers.
Saturday, April 28, 4 p.m.
THIS IS OUR LAND
Director Lucas Belvaux places the rise of France’s far right under his lens in his fictionalized version of the inner workings of the National Front. A single working mother, Pauline (played by Emilie Dequenne), attracts the attention of a local far right party leader, who set their sights on her for candidacy in her working-class region. Apolitical Pauline is attracted to the party’s local proletariat stance but doesn’t perceive that the strings are being pulled from afar.
Saturday, April 28, 7 p.m.
UNTIL THE BIRDS RETURN
Director Karim Moussaoui in attendance. A selection of Cannes’ Un Certain Regard 2017, the film is a place-based cinematic poem about modern-day Algeria, told through three stories unfolding against the country’s diverse landscapes.
Sunday, April 29, 1 p.m.
Sunday School: THE RED TURTLE
The entire family is invited to this AFS “Sunday School” screening of France’s 2016 Oscar-nominated animated feature about a magical red turtle who comes into contact with a shipwrecked sailor. The film features stunning images and sound design and is dialogue-free (no subtitles necessary).
Sunday, April 29, 5 p.m.
FÉLICITÉ
Celebrated Senegalese filmmaker Alain Gomis’s stunning film tells the story of a Congolese nightclub singer who will stop at nothing to find a way to pay the bills of her hospitalized son.
About the Austin Film Society
Founded in 1985 by filmmaker Richard Linklater, the Austin Film Society’s mission is to empower our community to make, watch, and love creative media. AFS curates and screens hundreds of repertory, international, and art house films annually at the AFS Cinema; delivers financial support to Texas filmmakers through the AFS Grant; operates Austin Studios, a 20-acre production facility, and Austin Public, a space for our city’s diverse media makers to train and collaborate. Through its award-winning after school classes, intern training, and the Ed Lowry Student Film program, AFS encourages media and film literacy and provides a place for youth of all backgrounds to learn the craft of filmmaking and gain access to tools for media production. By hosting premieres, special events, local and international industry events, and the Texas Film Awards, AFS shines the national spotlight on Texas filmmakers while connecting Austin and Texas to the wider film community. To learn more about the AFS Cinema or about Austin Film Society’s mission visit: www.austinfilm.org and follow @AustinFilm on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.
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