Thursday, February 01, 2007
French film festival returns to the Lyric
If you missed Saturday's movie, you still have four more chances to get a taste of the culture.
Upcoming French Films at The Lyric
- Saturday: “Nathalie…” (2003). A film about desire, fantasy, manipulation and suspense. A woman finds out her husband is cheating on her, and hires a prostitute to sleep with him and report back to her his sexual fantasies. Directed by Anne Fontaine. Starring Fanny Ardant, Emmanuelle Beart, and Gerard Depardieu.
- Feb. 10: “Innocence” (2004) Students at a remote boarding school discover a strange subterranean world underneath the nearby forest. Directed by Lucile Hadzihalilovic. Starring Zoe Auclair.
- Feb. 17: “Comme Une Image” (2004). The story of a 20-year-old aspiring singer in a world of skinny blondes paints a portrait of the Parisian social world, and all the backstabbing beneath its surface. Directed by Agnes Jaoui. Starring Marilou Berry, Agnes Jaoui, and Jean-Pierre Bacri
- Feb. 24: “La Petite Jerusalem” (2005): Tension grows between Muslim and Jewish communities and personal relationships are discovered in a film about a family of eight living in a low-income neighborhood on the outskirts of Paris. Directed by Karin Albou. Starring Fanny Valette, Elsa Zylberstein and Bruno Todeschini.
5 Post-1960 Must-See French Classics
... according to Virginia Tech French professor Janell Watson- 1. “A bout de souffle” (Breathless), 1960
- 2. “Ridicule” (Ridicule), 1996
- 3. “La Haine” (Hate), 1995
- 4. “Touki Bouki” (Touki Bouki), 1973 (the best from French Africa, Watson says)
- 5. “Les Visiteurs” (The Visitors), 1993 (the best comedy, Watson says)
Voulez-vous aller au cinema avec moi? This is the best way to ask a date to a Saturday afternoon film at the Lyric -- at least through Feb. 24.
The second annual French Film Festival hosted by Virginia Tech's French and Francophone Studies program kicked off Saturday and will include five movies over the course of five weeks.
The series is partially funded by various offices and departments of Virginia Tech and partially funded by the French American Cultural Exchange, a nonprofit organization chartered by New York and supported by the French Embassy. One of FACE's programs, The Tournees Festival, helps bring French cinema to qualifying universities by awarding a $1,800 grant to show five films. The program also provides a list of select films.
"Delwende" was shown at the Lyric on Saturday, and "Nathalie...," "Innocence," "Comme Une Image" (Look at Me) and "La Petite Jerusalem" (Little Jerusalem) are scheduled for the next four Saturdays at 3 p.m.
"There are popular French films in comedy and action, but these particular films tend to be more artistic and intellectual," said Janell Watson, an associate professor of French at Virginia Tech. "They tend to be slower paced, and the plot tends to turn around complicated relationships and complex psychological portraits."
All films are subtitled in English and distributed by small independent and foreign film companies, including New Yorker Films, Kino International, Koch Lorber and Leisure Time Features. These companies administer the rights to the films, and renting one typically costs a little bit more than a trip to Blockbuster -- between $400 and $700.
This is the first year that the French program will ask for donations.
"Everything we receive goes back into renting the film and screening rights," Watson said. "Everything is quite expensive."
The movies arrive in 35 mm film reels, as opposed to DVD or VHS.
Ashley Maynor, general manager at the Lyric, said she is excited about the French culture available to the community.
"It just so happens that my [bachelor's degree] is in French and I lived in France for a time, so I'm thrilled to have the chance to see these films and host them here at The Lyric," Maynor wrote.
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