Film Countries Archives: France

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A tiny woman with gray hair sits atop a VCR, staring at the tv in front of her.

Wander to Wonder [short film]

  Nina Gantz

  The Netherlands, Belgium, France, United Kingdom     14 minutes

Synopsis

Without their leader, a group of pocket-sized people must cope with increasingly harsh conditions while trying to maintain their sanity on an ’80s TV show. An absurd and humorous tale executed with exquisite stop-motion animation, this film asks what it takes to move on.

This film screens as part of the Animated Shorts: Major Developments program.

 English 

Film Credits

  •   Stienette Bosklopper, Maarten Sawrt
  •   Nina Gantz, Simon Cartwright, Daan Bakker, Stienette Bosklopper
  •   Beast Animation, Les Productions de Milou, Blink Industries, Pictanovo images en Hauts-de-France, Circle Films, Kaap Holland Film

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A boy with black hair and a girl with red hair pucker their glowing pink lips toward each other.

Yuck! [short film] Beurk!

  Loïc Espuche

  France     13 minutes

Synopsis

Leo lives in a world where those who want to kiss someone have glowing pink lips. At summer camp, he pokes fun at kissers alongside his friends. But his lips have started to glow as well.

This film screens as part of the Animated Shorts: Major Developments program.

 French with subtitles

Film Credits

  •   Juliette Marquet, Manon Messiant
  •   Loïc Espuche
  •   Noé Chabbat, Katell Varvat
  •   Aliénor Doublet, Maxime Roy, Grégoire Chauvot
  •   Ikki Films, Iliade et Films

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Animated Shorts: Major Developments

  Various

  Belgium, Brazil, Canada, France, Germany, Israel, Singapore, Switzerland, The Netherlands, United Kingdom, United States     97 minutes

Synopsis

Showcasing a diverse mix of animation techniques, the films in this program focus on moments of transition where characters, both relatable and fantastic, make discoveries, face irreversible choices, and navigate outbursts. Featuring work by Loïc Espuche, Michèle Lemieux, Nina Gantz, Delia Hess, Bianca Lambert, Zohar Dvir, Olivia Griselda, Sarah Cheok, and Catapreta.

Leo tries to hide his big secret while still making the most of his summer in the world of Yuck! (Beurk!) (France), where wanting to kiss makes your lips glow. The painstaking pinscreen animation process is used to create a darkly poetic piece about the tragic life of Queen Mariana of Austria as captured by Baroque painter Diego Velázquez in The Painting  (Le tableau) (Canada). In the absurdist stop-motion piece Wander to Wonder (The Netherlands, Belgium, France, United Kingdom), unusual collaborators suffer through the loss of their TV show’s host. The frustration of being trapped in a hotline’s hold system starts to bleed into the physical world in On Hold (Switzerland). After taking more than the recommended dose of cannabis to assuage her fibroid pain, Amanda wades through the voices in her head in Super High: A Period Piece (United States). Carol’s fear of committing to her girlfriend aligns with the onset of unexpected world-changing circumstances in Butterfly Kiss (Germany, Israel). Dona Beatriz Ñsîmba Vita (Brazil) is a surreal and striking portrayal of the political life of African heroine Kimpa Vita, an overshadowed but significant historical figure who initiated the movement to save the Republic of Congo — as well as other parts of central Africa — from Portuguese colonial rule. And when a mail carrier makes a mistake, an unassuming woman enters a vibrant world of otherworldly pleasure in She and Her Good Vibrations (Singapore)

 English, French, German, No Dialogue, Portuguese 

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A woman dressed in a suit looks out of the window through closed blinds at night.

To Exist Under Permanent Suspicion [short film]

  Valentin Noujaïm

  France     14 minutes

Synopsis

A woman has fantasies of burning the skyscraper in which she works. This film is a dreamlike and extremely mysterious portrait of a person alienated by their environment.

This film screens as part of the Experimental Shorts: The Act of Seeing program.

 French with subtitles

Film Credits

  •   Manon Messiant
  •   Valentin Noujaïm
  •   Valentin Noujaïm
  •   Alex Brack
  •   Kayije Kagame
  •   Space Afrika
  •   Iliade et Films

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Experimental Shorts: The Act of Seeing

  Experimental Shorts: The Act of Seeing

  Canada, Chile, Cuba, France, Japan, Portugal, United States     89 minutes

Synopsis

The seven short films in this program radically push towards new and singular forms of expression. Through the use of archival footage, historical recreation, and dreamlike narratives, these films grapple with the past and the future of cinema — and the world. Featuring works by Marisa Hoicka, Isadora Neves Marques, María Salafranca, Valentin Noujaïm, Chi Jang Yin, Alison McAlpine, and Kevin Jerome Everson.

Teen Girl Fantasy (Canada) is a poetic archival excavation of the complex cultural signals surrounding teen girlhood. In My Senses Are All I Have to Offer (As minhas sensações são tudo o que tenho para oferecer) (Portugal), Lourdes and her girlfriend Lana can communicate telepathically using “sensory pills.” Black Shadow (Negra sombra) (Cuba) is a delicate and deeply moving portrait of Maria, a griveing woman. In To Exist Under Permanent Suspicion (France), a woman has fantasies of burning the skyscraper in which she works. Newly discovered archival images of postwar Hiroshima mix with contemporary footage of the city in I Was There, Part II (U.S., Japan). In Perfectly a Strangeness (Canada, Chile) three donkeys wander an abandoned landscape and come upon an observatory. And Hazel (dual) (United States) is a dual-screen recreation of Eddie Hazel’s famous 10-minute guitar solo on the song “Maggot Brain” by Funkadelic.

 English, French, No Dialogue, Portuguese, Spanish 

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Logo: Canada 313x100logo: French Embassy in the United States 156x125Logo: Villa Albertine 203x60