Press Conference
PRESS CONFERENCE REPLAY
(ONLY IN FRENCH)
THE HOUSE IS ON FIRE, MIGHT AS WELL GET WARM by Mouloud Aït Liotna
A young man’s farewell to Kabylia as he departs for France.
A STORM INSIDE by Clément Pérot
A Eustache-esq documentary portrait of teenagers in the housing projects of Northern France.
IL COMPLEANNO DI ENRICO by Francesco Sossai
A childhood memory, with shades of giallo.
I SAW THE FACE OF THE DEVIL by Julia Kowalski
An exorcism in the Polish countryside.
LEMON TREE by Rachel Walden
An irresponsible father and his young son embark on a wild road trip.
MARGARETHE 89 by Lucas Malbrun
An animated film set in the punky underground of East Berlin during the GDR’s final days.
MAST-DEL by Maryam Tafakory
A hybrid documentary about women resisting oppression in Iran.
OYU by Atsushi Hirai
A day in a Japanese onsen. Grief lingers in the background.
THE RED SEA MAKES ME WANNA CRY by Faris Alrjoob
A Durassian journey into Jordan for a final farewell.
TALKING TO THE RIVER by Yue Pan
A country boy sleepwalks and has anxiety-provoking dreams.
This year we have given ourselves the possibility of reviving a film in its historical context. As such, this year the Directors’ Fortnight will celebrate the 30th anniversary of ABRAHAM'S VALLEY by Manoel de Oliveira (to which this year’s poster pays homage), in the presence of Leonor Silveira. This will be the opportunity to rediscover the most flamboyant adaptation of Madame Bovary on a print that is being restored by the Cinemateca Portuguesa.
THE GOLDMAN CASE by Cédric Kahn
The 55th edition will open with a courtroom drama that resonates deeply with our time. In THE GOLDMAN CASE, Cédric Kahn looks back on the story of Pierre Goldman, an important figure in the context of the far-left activism of the 1970s, who was defended by Maître George Kiejman in a double homicide case. The film is riveting and meticulous in its editing. It is the psychopathological portrait of a revolutionary activist and a portrait of a society riddled with racism.
AGRA by Kanu Behl
A film-monstre about repressed sexuality within Indian patriarchal society. Or: how a pathologically frustrated call centre employee sets out to free himself from the suffocation of society and the family at all costs. AGRA is a farcical and terrifying film, bursting with humour and rage.
THE OTHER LAURENS by Claude Schmitz
A hybrid and manneristic work daring enough to take its lead from the French crime novel tradition à la Jean-Patrick Manchette. THE OTHER LAURENS, which follows a private detective’s investigation into his twin brother’s murder, brings Europe and America head to head and plays with the codes and clichés of both cinemas.
INSIDE THE YELLOW COCOON SHELL by Thien An Pham
A first feature from Vietnam, INSIDE THE YELLOW COCOON SHELL is highly ambitious in its form, which opens with a journey through rural Vietnam, investigating the country’s little-known Christian community.
BLACKBIRD BLACKBIRD BLACKBERRY by Elene Naveriani
The beautiful portrait of a 48-year-old single woman living in the heart of a traditional village, who casts off her shackles and discovers love and sexuality without giving up her independence. Like its title, the film is bursting with sensuality. And its lead actress is wonderful.
GRACE by Ilya Povolotsky
The first narrative feature for this young and completely independent Russian
director, GRACE is a coming-of-age road movie shot in late 2021. Aboard a mobile cinema, a father and daughter travel through the Russian provinces. A visually powerful journey that brings to the fore the generation gap.
CONANN by Bertrand Mandico
To celebrate a cinema of imagination, impulse and instinct, the Fortnight will present the latest queer and wild film of Bertrand Mandico, CONANN, who puts his craftsmanship and cinephilia at the service of a Faustian bargain that unfolds throughout the ages. In this film we find Mandico’s idiosyncratic baroque style, as well as exploration of new ground.
CREATURA by Elena Martin Gimeno
Directed by Elena Martin Gimeno who also stars in the film, CREATURA is a quietly bold film that elaborates a genealogy of desire in one woman’s history. With great simplicity, the film articulates the symptoms and inhibitions that stem from issues of sex and sexuality.
DÉSERTS by Faouzi Bensaidi
A burlesque tragi-comedy. Two petty crooks travel through the desert in order to recover mortgage payments from a poverty-stricken population. The film is also an unexpected western-esque set in a Morocco that is rarely represented.
IN FLAMES by Zarrar Kahn
Another debut feature, this time from Pakistan, IN FLAMES plunges us into the throes of an oppressive patriarchal society that causes hallucinations and paranoia in a young woman. The possibility of romance turns into a horror film.
LEGUA by Filipa Reis and Joao Miller Guerra
LEGUA is an astonishing formal proposal: a portrait of three generations of women living in an old aristocratic residence that becomes the object of love and sensuality. The film is also a farewell song to a whole class of domestic workers.
THE BOOK OF SOLUTIONS by Michel Gondry
Michel Gondry returns with an intimate and honest comedy about the creative process. THE BOOK OF SOLUTIONS tells the story of the extravagant misadventures of a manic-depressive filmmaker who transforms his aunt's country home into a film studio.
MAMBAR PIERRETTE by Rosine Mbakam
From a director who blurs the line between fiction and documentary, MAMBAR PIERRETTE is a pathos-free portrait of a courageous mother who tackles life head-on. The film paints a subtle picture of the economic situation and the place of women in Cameroon and is carried by a formidable performer.
RIDDLE OF FIRE by Weston Razooli
With this very enjoyable first feature film that takes the form of a fairy tale, Weston Razooli takes us on an adventure in which a bunch of intrepid children are the heroes. In the tradition of The Goonies, RIDDLE OF FIRE is a neo- western film with a wonderful twist. We are pleased to present a film that appeals to both children and general audiences.
THE FEELING THAT THE TIME FOR DOING SOMETHING HAS PASSED by Joanna Arnow
For her first feature film, New Yorker Joanna Arnow writes, directs, edits and stars in a BDSM comedy in which – with a lot of self-deprecation – she exposes herself through a series of submissive scenes that touch on her sexual, professional and family lives.
THE SWEET EAST by Sean Price Williams
Sean Price Williams, cinematographer for the Safdie brothers among others, give us his version of Alice in Wonderland in a contemporary America riddled with extremisms of all kinds. THE SWEET EAST is a picaresque coming-of-age tale with a free jazz spirit.
A PRINCE by Pierre Creton
A first appearance at the Fortnight for the great paysan filmmaker Pierre Creton. A PRINCE is a polyphonic and erotic fable about a budding gardener in Haute-Normandie. The story of an emancipatory sexual awakening is punctuated with lessons in botany.
A SONG SUNG BLUE by Zihan Geng
This debut from a very young director takes the form of a coming-of-age movie that follows the wanderings of an introverted teenage girl over the course of a summer. Brimming with formal elegance at all levels, the film tells the story of middle class youth in Northeast China, and is translated through a fascinating young actress.
IN OUR DAY by Hong Sangsoo
The Fortnight will close with a haiku: the latest film from Hong Sangsoo. IN OUR DAY is an ode to everyday life in which the Korean master turns his attention back to the pleasures of being together around a table. There is tobacco, alcohol, food, music, and a sense of idleness. The film is bright, simple and deeply moving. The film will lead this year’s Fortnight out on a gentle note.
