le 1 mars - Mon Oncle Antoine (Québec)
Mon Oncle Antoine/ My Uncle Antoine
(1971) dir. Claude JUTRA | Canada
One of the most celebrated works in Canadian film history,
Mon Oncle Antoine is a 1971-French language drama directed
by Claude JUTRA, a former apprentice to French filmmaker François TRUFFAUT. Told from the point of view of 15 year-old Benoît (Jacques GAGNON), the story examines the difficult living conditions of Black Hawk, a small town surrounded by asbestos mines. The portrait of Black Hawk and its inhabitants reflect a larger image of social conditions in agrarian, conservative, and cleric-dominated Québec society that gave rise to transformative change that would shake the province a decade later during the Asbestos Strike that led to the Quiet Revolution.
104 min | In French with English subtitles
(1971) dir. Claude JUTRA | Canada
One of the most celebrated works in Canadian film history,
Mon Oncle Antoine is a 1971-French language drama directed
by Claude JUTRA, a former apprentice to French filmmaker François TRUFFAUT. Told from the point of view of 15 year-old Benoît (Jacques GAGNON), the story examines the difficult living conditions of Black Hawk, a small town surrounded by asbestos mines. The portrait of Black Hawk and its inhabitants reflect a larger image of social conditions in agrarian, conservative, and cleric-dominated Québec society that gave rise to transformative change that would shake the province a decade later during the Asbestos Strike that led to the Quiet Revolution.
104 min | In French with English subtitles
le 8 mars - La Rue cases-nègres (Martinique)
La
Rue cases-nègres \ Sugar Cane Alley
(1983) dir. Euzhan PACLY | Martinique
Based on the novel by Joseph ZOBEL, La Rue cases-nègres examines the social conditions of 1930s Martinique, a post-slavery but still plantation-based society, where the legacy of colonialism still lurks around every corner. The film follows a young boy named José, raised by his sugarcane field-working grandmother, who hopes to attend school in Fort-de-France and have more opportunities in life. The acclaimed film La Rue cases-nègres earned Martiniquaise director Euzhan PALCY the 1984 César Award for the Best First Film.
103 min | In French with English subtitles
(1983) dir. Euzhan PACLY | Martinique
Based on the novel by Joseph ZOBEL, La Rue cases-nègres examines the social conditions of 1930s Martinique, a post-slavery but still plantation-based society, where the legacy of colonialism still lurks around every corner. The film follows a young boy named José, raised by his sugarcane field-working grandmother, who hopes to attend school in Fort-de-France and have more opportunities in life. The acclaimed film La Rue cases-nègres earned Martiniquaise director Euzhan PALCY the 1984 César Award for the Best First Film.
103 min | In French with English subtitles
le 15 mars - Ma Vie en rose (Belgique)
Ma
Vie en rose \ My Life in Pink
(1997) dir. Alain BERLINER | Belgium
Nominated for the 1998 César Award for Best First Film and winner of the 1998 Golden Globe Award for Best Foreign Film,
the 1997-Belgian movie Ma Vie en rose tells the touching story
of seven year old Ludovic, a transgender boy who cannot wait
to grow up and become a woman. As his family realizes that he cannot be – in their eyes – “fixed”, they must confront their own discomfort and the disapproval of their neighbors in order to love Ludovic for the beautiful person she is blossoming to be.
88 min | In French with English subtitles
(1997) dir. Alain BERLINER | Belgium
Nominated for the 1998 César Award for Best First Film and winner of the 1998 Golden Globe Award for Best Foreign Film,
the 1997-Belgian movie Ma Vie en rose tells the touching story
of seven year old Ludovic, a transgender boy who cannot wait
to grow up and become a woman. As his family realizes that he cannot be – in their eyes – “fixed”, they must confront their own discomfort and the disapproval of their neighbors in order to love Ludovic for the beautiful person she is blossoming to be.
88 min | In French with English subtitles
le 22 mars - Rachida (Algérie)
Rachida
(2002) dir. Yamina BACHIR | Algeria
In this compelling drama, Ibtissem DJOUADI plays Rachida,
a schoolteacher in an Algiers neighborhood. Set during
the height of civil conflict in the 1990s, the film shows terrorism from a personal perspective when, one day, Rachida is followed and forced to carry a bomb to school.
In spite of her fear, she refuses but is shot and sent to a rural village to recover without the possibility of being recognized.
100 min | In French and Arabic with English subtitles
(2002) dir. Yamina BACHIR | Algeria
In this compelling drama, Ibtissem DJOUADI plays Rachida,
a schoolteacher in an Algiers neighborhood. Set during
the height of civil conflict in the 1990s, the film shows terrorism from a personal perspective when, one day, Rachida is followed and forced to carry a bomb to school.
In spite of her fear, she refuses but is shot and sent to a rural village to recover without the possibility of being recognized.
100 min | In French and Arabic with English subtitles
le 29 mars - Bamako (Mali)
Bamako
(2006) dir. Abderrahmane SISSAKO | Mali
No longer tolerant of the IMF and the World Bank nor the poverty their Structural Adjustment Programs impose, residents of the Malian capital city decide to put the development institutions on trial. Bamako blends the focus and truth of a documentary with the emotion and passion of a narrative film to accomplish something unprecedented in contemporary cinema. The film is further personalized through the telling of individual stories, such as that of Melé, a bar singer, and Chaka, her unemployed husband, whose marriage suffers from the financial difficulty of making ends meet. Financed and co-produced by San Francisco local Danny Glover, Bamako is an incredibly powerful 21st century film and winner of the first Council of Europe Film Award.
115 min | In French and Bambara with English subtitles
(2006) dir. Abderrahmane SISSAKO | Mali
No longer tolerant of the IMF and the World Bank nor the poverty their Structural Adjustment Programs impose, residents of the Malian capital city decide to put the development institutions on trial. Bamako blends the focus and truth of a documentary with the emotion and passion of a narrative film to accomplish something unprecedented in contemporary cinema. The film is further personalized through the telling of individual stories, such as that of Melé, a bar singer, and Chaka, her unemployed husband, whose marriage suffers from the financial difficulty of making ends meet. Financed and co-produced by San Francisco local Danny Glover, Bamako is an incredibly powerful 21st century film and winner of the first Council of Europe Film Award.
115 min | In French and Bambara with English subtitles
