Schedule:

Thursday, February 22, 2024

7:30 PM: The Crime is Mine (Mon Crime) at Prytania Theatre
Paris in the 1930s: a playground for industrial heirs and debonair architects, but the City of Lights does not shine evenly for all. Struggling actress Madeleine (Nadia Terezkiewicz) and her best friend Pauline (Rebecca Marder), an unemployed lawyer, live in a cramped flat and owe five months’ rent. Opportunity knocks after a lascivious theatrical producer who made an inappropriate advance towards Madeleine turns up dead. Madeleine stands trial for murder and ascends to decadent stardom, with Pauline serving as defense counsel and media circus ringmaster. A new life of fame, wealth, and tabloid celebrity awaits—until the truth comes out.

Runtime: 102 minutes

Friday, February 23, 2024

6:00 PM: Shorts + Conversation with Johanna Makabi at Prytania Theatre
Grâce
8-year-old Grace hates her neighborhood, she hates cheerleading and today she has decided to join her father in space.

Paulette and the Clown (Paulette et le clown)
Adaptation of the text by Paulette Nardal "Le Guignol Ouolof."

Our Memory (Notre mémoire)
Mbissine Thérèse Diop, lead actress in Sembène Ousmane's first film La Noire de…. , reflects on her experiences as a Black actress in the 1960s.

A Laundry Day
Today, Fatou goes to the laundromat in Harlem and meets a young man.

7:45 PM:La Syndicaliste
An investigative thriller set in the world of nuclear power and corrupt politics, La Syndicaliste follows the true story of Maureen Kearney (Isabelle Huppert), the influential head union representative of a French multinational nuclear powerhouse. Fighting against government ministers and industry leaders, Maureen worked tirelessly to bring a scandal to light and defend thousands of jobs before she was violently sexually assaulted in her own home, seemingly targeted for her attempts to reveal the truth. As her attack is investigated, new elements create doubt in the minds of detectives and lawyers, and they begin to see Maureen not as a victim, but as a suspect.

Runtime: 122 minutes

Saturday, February 24, 2024

12:00 PM: Driving Madeleine at Prytania Theatre
A seemingly simple taxi ride across Paris evolves into a profound meditation on the realities of the driver and his fare, a 92-year-old woman whose warmth belies her shocking past. Charles (Dany Boon) is a taxi driver in Paris, and he is having a very bad day. Enter Madeleine (Line Renaud), an immaculately groomed nonagenarian, who informs Charles that the trip today will not be a direct one. She is moving into a nursing home and would like to make some stops along the way predicting that this might be her last car ride through the city. Their ride takes them through the momentous locations of her life and their brief friendship deepens as Madeleine listens to Charles confess his own worries. Boon, an actor best known for his comedic work, creates a dramatic portrait of a frustrated man facing a personal crisis of epic proportions. His darker, sharper edges allow Renaud (renowned for decades in France as a singer) to shine as the pure shimmering light that is Madeleine, reminding us that inside every seemingly benign elderly woman we might pass on the street is a warrior, a nurturer, and a spirited adventurer.

Runtime: 90 minutes

2:00 PM: French Shorts at Prytania Theatre
Friend of a Friend (Ami d'ami)
Jules is bi. Bi as in bisexual. Bi, even though he’s only slept with women. Bi and ready to try his first experience with Samuel, a friend of friend.

Expecting (L'attente)
In the maternity ward, Céline awaits the arrival of her first child. It is Jeanne, her partner, who will bring her into the world. At night, in the entrance hall of the hospital, she meets men who are waiting, like herself.

Alfie
Settled in Montreal for the past two years, Alfredo is integrating himself to his new city through his passion: burlesque.

Before We Were Told
A loveable Arab family living in Quebec welcomes their guest for the summer: an awkward exchange student from Vancouver. Their teenage daughter of the same age doesn’t have much in common with her new friend... except for their attraction towards one another. The two girls embark on a journey of self-discovery as they navigate their secret within a culturally-conservative household.

4:15 PM: Àma Gloria at Prytania Theatre
Six-year-old Cléo loves her nanny Gloria more than anything. When Gloria must return to Cape Verde to care for her own children, the two must make the most of their last summer together. A standout at the Cannes Film Festival, and having recently screened at the Sundance Film Festival, Àma Gloria exquisitely captures themes of family, separation, and the ties that bind people together from the point of view of its capricious—and expertly acted—young protagonist.

Runtime: 84 minutes

6:15 PM: $8.50 a Barrel (Huit Piastres et Demie!) at Prytania Theatre
During the Great Depression, shrimp prices spiraled down. Fishermen began to organize, families chose sides, and violence erupted. The Cajun cast recreates the tumultuous Shrimp War of 1938 in this thrilling film. Though made on a tiny scale, its verisimilitude recalls Victor Fleming’s dramatic 1937 film, Captains Courageous. New 4K Restoration by IndieCollect created with the support of the Golden Globe Foundation.

Runtime: 58 minutes

8:15 PM: Thunder (Foudre)
Nestled in a lush Swiss valley, 17-year-old Elisabeth—the second of four girls—is preparing to take her vows at a nunnery. But after five years in pious seclusion, Elisabeth’s fate is abruptly altered when she is summoned home to work the fields following the death of her elder sister, Innocente, whose mysterious death pushes Elisabeth to seek answers from three childhood friends—now young men with their own cravings for truth and connection. Inspired by Pier Paolo Pasolini’s 1964 neorealist drama The Gospel According to St. Matthew.

Runtime: 92 minutes

Sunday, February 25, 2024

10:00 AM: La cage aux folles at Prytania Theatre
Renato (Ugo Tognazzi) and Albin (Michel Serrault) are happy that their son, Laurent (Rémi Laurent), is getting married. Unfortunately, the bride's father (Michel Galabru) is a die-hard conservative—and Renato and Albin are rather conspicuously gay. To ensure that the marriage goes off without a hitch, Albin uses his skills as a drag performer to play mom for a meeting with the in-laws. But, before long, both men learn that playing it straight isn't as easy as it seems! This classic received 3 Oscar nominations when it was released in 1979.

Runtime: 91 minutes

12:30 PM: Petite Solange at Prytania Theatre
Solange is a typical 13 year old, curious and full of life, with perhaps the peculiarity of being overly sentimental and adoring her parents. But when her parents begin to argue, fight, and slowly drift apart, the threat of divorce looms near and Solange’s world begins to splinter. To keep her family together, she will worry, act out, suffer—it’s the story of a young and overly tender teen who wants the impossible: for love to never end.

Runtime: 86 minutes

2:45 PM: Louisiana Shorts at Prytania Theatre
This program of shorts highlights a spectrum of French-speaking cultures from Louisiana, from a film about Cajun communities in the late 1800s as told through a film from the 1970s, to two contemporary fiction and documentary films addressing French culture in Louisiana today.

Yellow Fever (La Fievre Jaune)
It is 1897 and Louisiana is plagued by a devastating epidemic of yellow fever. Families are being separated and quarantined. Will their loved ones survive? Director Glen Pitre used an all-Cajun cast—mostly non-professionals—to make this memorable dramatic film. New 4K Restoration by IndieCollect created with the support of the Golden Globe Foundation.

Heritage
A teenager, disinterested in her Louisiana Creole heritage, finds herself having to entertain a visitor who only speaks what sounds like French. She’ll discover how magical it can be to connect with one's heritage.

Footwork
An abstract portrait of Black and Creole cowboys in Louisiana and their connection to horses, both Horse and Rider dancing their way to cultural preservation.


5:30 PM: Omen (Augure)
After spending years in Belgium, Koffi (Marc Zinga), a young Congolese man, returns to his birthplace of Kinshasa to confront his family and homeland culture. Secrecy and sorcery erupt when a nosebleed is mistaken for a curse, and Koffi is shunned from his family. Using magical realism to paint a portrait of "undesirables" and "sorcerers," OMEN delves into the intricacies of identity, culture, and belief systems through a deeply rich and visually captivating lens.

Runtime: 90 minutes

7:30 PM: Solo
It's love at first sight when Simon, a rising star of the Montreal drag scene, meets Olivier, the new recruit of the bar-show where Simon performs. While Simon believes he is living an electrifying love story, a toxic and destructive dynamic arises between them. At the same time, Claire, Simon's mother, a famous opera singer, returns to work in the country after a 15-year absence. Fascinated by this woman he hardly knows but whom he idolizes, Simon persists in trying to connect with her. Weakened by the failure of these two impossible loves, Simon will have no choice but to realize that he deserves better.

Runtime: 102 minutes

Monday, February 26, 2024

11:45 AM: The Crime is Mine (Mon Crime)
Paris in the 1930s: a playground for industrial heirs and debonair architects, but the City of Lights does not shine evenly for all. Struggling actress Madeleine (Nadia Terezkiewicz) and her best friend Pauline (Rebecca Marder), an unemployed lawyer, live in a cramped flat and owe five months’ rent. Opportunity knocks after a lascivious theatrical producer who made an inappropriate advance towards Madeleine turns up dead. Madeleine stands trial for murder and ascends to decadent stardom, with Pauline serving as defense counsel and media circus ringmaster. A new life of fame, wealth, and tabloid celebrity awaits—until the truth comes out.

Runtime: 102 minutes

2:00 PM: Our Body (Notre corps)
French documentary titan Claire Simon observes the everyday operations of the gynecological ward in a public hospital in Paris. In the process, she questions what it means to live in a woman’s body, filming the diversity, singularity, and beauty of patients in all stages of life. Through these many encounters, the specific fears, desires, and struggles of these individuals become the health challenges we all face, even the filmmaker herself.

Runtime: 168 minutes

5:15 PM: Godard Cinema
A 2022 Venice Film Festival selection, this portrait of the famed French filmmaker is divided into six chapters, each inspired by phases of his life’s work, spanning the 40 years from his breakthrough with Breathless in 1960 to his late magnum opus Histoire(s) du cinéma. In trying to uncover the real Jean-Luc, filmmaker Cyril Leuthy sat down with Godard’s many collaborators, friends and critics who have a lot to say about an eternal rebel who was still exhausting himself in the hunt for a perfect cinema, even with 140 films under his belt.

Runtime: 100 minutes

7:30 PM: Animal Kingdom (Le règne animal)
In this surprising, expectation-defying, and often humorous drama, a father (Romain Duris) and his teen son (Paul Kircher) contend with a cross-country move and an unexplained epidemic that causes people to mutate into animals. Also starring Adèle Exarchopoulos (Blue is the Warmest Color), this creature-filled dystopian thriller world premiered as the opening night selection of Cannes Un Certain Regard.

Runtime: 128 minutes

Tuesday, February 27, 2024

12:15 PM: Our Body (Notre corps)
French documentary titan Claire Simon observes the everyday operations of the gynecological ward in a public hospital in Paris. In the process, she questions what it means to live in a woman’s body, filming the diversity, singularity, and beauty of patients in all stages of life. Through these many encounters, the specific fears, desires, and struggles of these individuals become the health challenges we all face, even the filmmaker herself.

Runtime: 168 minutes

3:45 PM: Àma Gloria at Prytania Theatre
Six-year-old Cléo loves her nanny Gloria more than anything. When Gloria must return to Cape Verde to care for her own children, the two must make the most of their last summer together. A standout at the Cannes Film Festival, and having recently screened at the Sundance Film Festival, Àma Gloria exquisitely captures themes of family, separation, and the ties that bind people together from the point of view of its capricious—and expertly acted—young protagonist.

Runtime: 84 minutes

6:00 PM: $8.50 a Barrel (Huit Piastres et Demie!) at Prytania Theatre
During the Great Depression, shrimp prices spiraled down. Fishermen began to organize, families chose sides, and violence erupted. The Cajun cast recreates the tumultuous Shrimp War of 1938 in this thrilling film. Though made on a tiny scale, its verisimilitude recalls Victor Fleming’s dramatic 1937 film, Captains Courageous. New 4K Restoration by IndieCollect created with the support of the Golden Globe Foundation.

Runtime: 58 minutes

Wednesday, February 28, 2024

10:00 AM: La cage aux folles
Renato (Ugo Tognazzi) and Albin (Michel Serrault) are happy that their son, Laurent (Rémi Laurent), is getting married. Unfortunately, the bride's father (Michel Galabru) is a die-hard conservative—and Renato and Albin are rather conspicuously gay. To ensure that the marriage goes off without a hitch, Albin uses his skills as a drag performer to play mom for a meeting with the in-laws. But, before long, both men learn that playing it straight isn't as easy as it seems! This classic received 3 Oscar nominations when it was released in 1979.

Runtime: 91 minutes

12:30 PM: Louisiana Shorts at Prytania Theatre
This program of shorts highlights a spectrum of French-speaking cultures from Louisiana, from a film about Cajun communities in the late 1800s as told through a film from the 1970s, to two contemporary fiction and documentary films addressing French culture in Louisiana today.

Yellow Fever (La Fievre Jaune)
It is 1897 and Louisiana is plagued by a devastating epidemic of yellow fever. Families are being separated and quarantined. Will their loved ones survive? Director Glen Pitre used an all-Cajun cast—mostly non-professionals—to make this memorable dramatic film. New 4K Restoration by IndieCollect created with the support of the Golden Globe Foundation.

Heritage
A teenager, disinterested in her Louisiana Creole heritage, finds herself having to entertain a visitor who only speaks what sounds like French. She’ll discover how magical it can be to connect with one's heritage.

Footwork
An abstract portrait of Black and Creole cowboys in Louisiana and their connection to horses, both Horse and Rider dancing their way to cultural preservation.

2:30 PM: Menus-plaisirs - Les Troisgros
Regarded as one of the greatest food films ever made, this four-hour opus from 93-year-old legendary documentarian Frederick Wiseman takes an insider's look at a French restaurant that's held the top Michelin star rating of three stars for more than 50 years. Sumptuous and lavishly observed, the film shows the great artistry, ingenuity, imagination, and hard work of the restaurant staff in creating, preparing, and presenting meals of the highest quality.

Runtime: 240 minutes

Date: February 22-28, 2024

Location: Prytania Theatre, 5339 Prytania Street, New Orleans, LA 70115

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