Film Countries Archives: France

Chef Ethan Lim and his mother work in the kitchen together.

Ethan Lim: Cambodian Futures [short film]

Directed by Dustin Nakao-Haider

Countries United States Run Time 17 minutes

Synopsis

A finely observed portrait of celebrated Chicago chef Ethan Lim as he develops his restaurant, Hermosa, this short doc touches on issues of family, culinary culture, and displacement due to war. Born into a refugee camp and brought to the US at a young age as his family fled the Khmer Rouge’s violent coup in Cambodia, Lim crafts dishes that feature authentic Cambodian flavors, imagining how the country’s cuisine might have developed had it not been interrupted by civil war.

This film screens as part of the Shorts 1: City & State – Revelations program.

Genres Documentary

Language Cantonese, English, Khmer with subtitles

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A young girl looks off to the side with a sad expression on her face as candles are lit in front of her.

International Competition Women in Cinema

Tótem

Directed by Lila Avilés

Countries Mexico, Denmark, France Run Time 95 minutes

Synopsis

Seven-year-old Sol spends the day at her grandfather’s house, helping her sprawling family prepare a birthday party for her dying father, Tonatiuh. Behind the closed doors of his bedroom, Tona attempts to gather the strength for a celebration he never wanted, yet may be his last. As the daylight fades, complex webs of family tensions begin to tangle and break as each of Tona’s loved ones is overwhelmed by the duality of this celebration of life and death.

The childlike illusion of a harmonious family fades from Sol’s vision, and as the celebration comes to a close, she must learn to embrace the essence of letting go. A film whose spirituality transcends its story, Tótem is a warm and delicate meditation on life and loss.

Genres Coming of Age Drama Family Affairs Women Centered

Language Spanish with subtitles

Screenings & Events

Digging Deeper into Movies with Nick Davis

Sat, Oct 14 @ 12:00pm

Join Northwestern Professor and film critic Nick Davis for an interactive conversation before the Oct 14 screening of Tótem.

Free and open to the public.

Get free tickets

Media

Film Credits

Producers Tatiana Graullera, Lila Avilés, Louise Riousse
Screenwriter Lila Avilés
Editor Omar Guzmán
Cinematographer Diego Tenorio
Principal Cast Naíma Sentíes, Montserrat Marañon, Marisol Gasé, Saori Gurza, Mateo García Elizondo, Teresita Sánchez, Juan Francisco Maldonado, Iazua Larios, Alberto Amador
Music Thomas Becka
Production Company Limerencia Films, Laterna, Paloma Productions, Alpha Violet Production

Sponsors

International Competition Program Sponsor

John and Jacolyn Bucksbaum Family Foundation

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A couple sits side-by-side on a blue couch.

Comedy New Directors Competition

The Hypnosis Hypnosen

Directed by Ernst de Geer

Countries Sweden, Norway, France Run Time 98 minutes

Synopsis

This incisive, quick-witted, and cringe-inducing satire opens with André and Vera on the cusp of a business breakthrough. Invited to pitch their app concept at an international workshop for young entrepreneurs, the Swedish duo begins to feverishly prepare. Then, days before the event, Vera books a session with a hypnotherapist in hopes that it will help her quit smoking. Now, she’s suddenly cigarette-free and has a new outlook on life — one that is completely free of social inhibitions. As their big moment approaches, André begins to worry.

This delightfully awkward sendup of modern entrepreneurial culture is an ironic, open-hearted look at what it means to be your authentic self in the face of societal expectations.

Genres Comedy Social Commentary Women Centered

Language English, Norwegian, Swedish with subtitles

Screenings & Events

Media

Film Credits

Producers Mimmi Spång
Screenwriter Mads Stegger, Ernst De Geer
Editor Robert Krantz
Cinematographer Jonathan Bjerstedt
Principal Cast Asta Kamma August, Herbert Nordrum, Andrea Edwards, David Fukamachi Regnfors, Moa Niklasson, Simon Rajala, Aviva Wrede, Alexandra Zetterberg Ehn, Kristina Braden Whitaker, Karin de Frumerie, Julien Combes
Music Peder Kjellsby
Production Company Garagefilm International AB, Film I Väst AB, Mer Film AS, Totem Atelier

Sponsors

New Directors Program Sponsors

Robert and Penelope Steiner Family Foundation

Comedy Program Sponsor

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A dark haired woman stands with her arms, covered in rubber gloves, bent in front of her.

Comedy Women in Cinema

The Nature of Love Simple comme Sylvain

Directed by Monia Chokri

Countries Canada, France Run Time 111 minutes

Synopsis

Plenty of films have been made about adultery. But not many of them are rom-coms told from the perspective of the philandering woman. Sophia (Magalie Lépine Blondeau) is a philosophy professor whose relationship with nice guy Xavier (Francis-William Rhéaume) stimulates her mind — and that’s about it. Enter Sylvain (Pierre-Yves Cardinal), a simple handyman who excites Sophia in all the ways her partner cannot. How can she choose between these two very different men, each of whom satisfies her in distinct ways?

Writer-director Monia Chokri asks a provocative question — can sexual and intellectual gratification co-exist in the same relationship? — in this seductive, playful story about having it all.

Genres Comedy Sex and Sexuality Women Centered

Language French with subtitles

Screenings & Events

Media

Film Credits

Producers Sylvain Corbeil, Nancy Grant, Nathanaël Karmitz, Elisha Karmitz
Screenwriter Monia Chokri
Editor Pauline Gaillard
Cinematographer André Turpin
Principal Cast Magalie Lépine-Blondeau, Pierre-Yves Cardinal, Monia Chokri
Music Emile Sornin
Executive Producers Philippe Lombart
Production Company Metafilms, MK Productions

Sponsors

Comedy Program Sponsor

Film Supporter

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In a kitchen, four people smile and talk as a man in an apron places meat onto a table holding fresh herbs.

Spotlight

The Taste of Things La passion de Dodin Bouffant

Directed by Tran Anh Hung

Countries France Run Time 145 minutes

Synopsis

Juliette Binoche stars alongside her real-life ex Benoît Magimel in this sumptuous romantic drama, about a famed gourmet (Magimel) in 1880s France whose twenty-year relationship with his private chef (Binoche) has mellowed into a soulmate bond. He desperately wants to marry her. She’s skeptical, preferring their current arrangement to a conventional partnership. The thing that keeps them together is their obsession with food: preparing it, eating it, talking about it. So what better way for him to convince her to settle down than to cook her a meal?

Director Anh Hung Tran (The Scent of Green Papaya) combines culinary and sensual delight in the tradition of the best cinematic “food porn,” opening with a 40-minute cooking sequence that’s as rich and mouthwatering as a pat of butter in a sizzling hot pan.

Genres Culinary Drama Historical Romance

Language French with subtitles

Screenings & Events

Media

Film Credits

Producers Olivier Delbosc
Screenwriter Tran Anh Hung
Principal Cast Juliette Binoche, Benoît Magimel
Executive Producers Christine De Jekel
Production Company Curiosa Films, Gaumont, France 2 Cinema, UMedia

Film Countries Archives: France

Ethan Lim: Cambodian Futures [short film]

Synopsis

Tótem

Synopsis

Screenings & Events

Digging Deeper into Movies with Nick Davis

Media

Film Credits

Sponsors

International Competition Program Sponsor

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The Hypnosis Hypnosen

Synopsis

Screenings & Events

Media

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New Directors Program Sponsors

Comedy Program Sponsor

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The Nature of Love Simple comme Sylvain

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The Taste of Things La passion de Dodin Bouffant

Synopsis

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