Austin Film Society Announces the 2024 Lineup For New French Cinema Week
For more information about New French Cinema Week, click here or visit austinfilm.org.
New French Cinema Week is programmed and presented in partnership with France’s leading festival for first films — the Premiers Plans Festival of Angers, France, which is Austin’s sister city. Each year, New French Cinema Week brings Austin audiences award-winning selections and festival favorites from across the French-speaking world, many of which have yet to be distributed in the US. This year’s lineup of films hail from France, Belgium, Senegal and Benin respectively and represent perspectives from throughout the French-speaking world.
New French Cinema Week is supported by the Premiers Plans Festival of Angers, France (Austin’s French sister city), Unifrance (including its Young French Cinema program) and Cultural Services of the French Embassy.
Series passes are available for New French Cinema Week at a 20% off discount from the list price of individual tickets. Passes include admission into all six screenings and the opening-night reception. Click here to purchase series passes, and visit austinfilm.org for individual tickets.
PROGRAM SCHEDULE:
AMA GLORIA
Marie Amachoukeli, France, 2023
Sunday, November 17, at 2:00 PM
A quiet cinematic revelation about a six-year-old Parisian girl and her Cape Verdean nanny who must return to her home country to care for her own children. Young Louise Mauroy-Panzani’s astounding performance in this film earned her a Lumiére nomination. A selection of the Sundance Film Festival and Cannes Critics’ Week.
This film is part of Young French Cinema, a program of Unifrance and Villa Albertine.
THROUGH THE NIGHT (QUITTER LA NUIT)
Delphine Girard, Belgium/France, 2024
Sunday, November 17, at 5:30 PM
An overnight 911 operator answers a mysterious call, setting the stage for writer/director Delphine Girard’s modern take on the Rashomon story. Through The Night sanguinely explores the reality of the aftermath of a violent crime, for the survivors and perpetrators. Winner of an audience award at the 2023 Venice Film Festival.
LITTLE GIRL BLUE
Mona Achache, France/Belgium, 2023
Monday, November 18, at 7:30 PM
In her inventive hybrid documentary, filmmaker Mona Achache takes on an inherited project: for three generations, the women in her family, all writers, have told their mothers’ stories. Mona’s mother, Carol, has passed away, leaving a trove of letters that offer clues into her unusual upbringing at the center of Paris’ mid-century literary scene. Partnering with Marion Cotillard, Achache artfully weaves a tapestry of family and cultural histories in a film that is ultimately about the survival of female artists, against the odds.
This film is part of Young French Cinema, a program of Unifrance and Villa Albertine.
BLOCK PASS (LA PAMPA)
Antoine Chevrollier, France, 2024
Tuesday, November 19, at 8:00 PM
Willy and Jojo are childhood friends who never leave each other’s side. Training at the motocross track is their way to beat boredom. One evening, Willy discovers Jojo’s secret.
DAHOMEY
Mati Diop, France/Senegal/Benin, 2024
Wednesday, November 20, at 6:00 PM
Mati Diop (Atlantics) follows the return of 26 sacred artifacts plundered by the French in the African kingdom of Dahomey from a museum in Paris to their home in modern-day Benin. Diop imagines the historical, spiritual, cultural, and emotional significance of the return from multiple perspectives, including from the objects themselves.
THE RAPTURE
Iris Kaltenbäck, France, 2023
Wednesday, November 20, at 8:00 PM
Acting phenom (and sometimes director) Hafsia Herzi reliably collaborates with some of the most promising new voices in Francophone cinema, making her a regular in our New French Cinema lineups both in front of and behind the camera. She is at the center of Iris Kaltenbäck’s intense, captivating drama about a midwife whose loneliness causes her to lose control. In addition to Herzi’s next-level performance, Kaltenbäck’s tightly wound tale and skilled direction made this film a breakout favorite of last year’s Cannes Critics’ Week.
This film is part of Young French Cinema, a program of Unifrance and Villa Albertine.
About Austin Film Society
Founded in 1985 by filmmaker Richard Linklater, AFS creates life-changing opportunities for filmmakers, catalyzes Austin and Texas as a creative hub, and brings the community together around great film. AFS is committed to racial equity and inclusion, with an objective to deliver programs that actively dismantle the structural racism, sexism and other bias in the screen industries. AFS supports filmmakers from all backgrounds towards career leaps, encouraging exceptional artistic projects with grants and support services. AFS operates Austin Studios, a 20-acre production facility, to attract and grow the creative media ecosystem. Austin Public, a space for our city’s diverse mediamakers to train and collaborate, provides many points of access to filmmaking and film careers. The AFS Cinema is an ambitiously programmed repertory and first run arthouse with broad community engagement. By hosting premieres, 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. AFS is a registered 501(c)(3) non-profit organization. More at austinfilm.org.
MEDIA CONTACT
Will Stefanski
Will@austinfilm.org
