NEW YORK, May 30, 2017— On June 23, 2017, the free outdoor French film festival Films on the Green will screen the “dazzling “(-Wes Anderson) Mauvais Sang (1986) by Leos Carax. The film was selected for the festival by internationally renowned director Wes Anderson. The screening will take place at 8.30pm in Transmitter Park, Brooklyn.

Mauvais Sang (Bad Blood) depicts Marc and Hans, two old gangsters who plan to steal the vaccine for a mysterious virus that affects those who make love without being in love. After the death of their associate, the two accomplices recruit his son, Alex, a talented conjuror, to help with their mission. But Alex then falls madly in love with a girl he sees on a bus—Anna—who turns out to be Marc’s mistress.

Directed by Leos Carax (Holy Motors, The Lovers on the Bridge, Boy Meets Girl), the movie stars Juliette Binoche, Julie Delpy, Denis Lavant, and Michel Piccoli.

Wes Anderson on his selected film, Mauvais Sang:

“I would put Mauvais Sang into the kind of category of art-works you define by the response the thing provokes rather than by the form or the method, and in this case the response is: hypnotized infatuation.

Anyway, that was my reaction when I saw it in 1994. The movie cast a powerfully strong spell over me, and Leos Carax created a completely, spectacularly unexpected universe that was somehow exactly the place where I wanted to go.

I hope you will be as moved and dazzled as I was by this movie’s continuously inventive and ingenious cinematic methods which work like magic tricks; by the aura of its handful of musical themes and cues; by the sad poetry of its desperately romantic, unique, iconic characters; and by the images and atmospheres of Carax and his very gifted collaborator Jean-Yves Escoffier which have stuck vividly in my mind for twenty-something years.”

Wes Anderson is among the most prominent American film directors, producers, screenwriters, and actors of our time. Nominated for the Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay for The Royal Tenenbaums in 2001, Moonrise Kingdom in 2012 and The Grand Budapest Hotel in 2014, as well as the Academy Award for Best Animated Feature for Fantastic Mr. Fox in 2009, he received his first Academy Award nomination for Best Director and won the Golden Globe Award for Best Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy for The Grand Budapest Hotel in 2014.

The screening of Mauvais Sang (1h50) is free and open to the public and will take place in Transmitter Park, Brooklyn on Friday June 23, 2017 at 8:30pm. The film will be shown in French with English subtitles.

In its landmark 10th year, Films on the Green invited 10 guest curators—some of the most creative and compelling filmmakers, actors, and artists of our time–to select one film each for the summer’s program. The guest curators include: Wes Anderson, Jim Jarmusch, James Ivory, Saul Williams, Isabella Rossellini, Wanda Sykes, Laurie Anderson, Matthew Weiner, Matías Piñeiro, and Amy Hargreaves.

FILMS ON THE GREEN - 2017 FESTIVAL SCHEDULE

All films are in French with English subtitles, except for the film that will be screened on July 12th, which is in French and English with Spanish subtitles. Screenings begin at sunset.

• June 2 – Central Park (79th St & Fifth Ave): Potiche (Trophy Wife), by Ozon, selected by Wanda Sykes
• June 9– Washington Sq. Park: Tey (Today) by Gomis, selected by Saul Williams
• June 16 – Washington Sq. Park: La Traversée de Paris by Autant-Lara, selected by Amy Hargreaves
• June 23 – Transmitter Park (Brooklyn): Mauvais Sang by Carax, selected by Wes Anderson
• June 30 – Transmitter Park (Brooklyn): Contempt by Godard, selected by Jim Jarmusch
• July 7 – Tompkins Sq. Park: La Cérémonie by Chabrol, selected by Matthew Weiner
• July 12 – J. Hood Wright Park (West 173th St): The Science of Sleep by Gondry (2006), presented in partnership with the Mexican Cultural Institute of New York (screening in French and English with Spanish subtitles).
• July 14 – Tompkins Sq. Park: Port of Shadows by Carné, selected by Laurie Anderson
• July 21 – Riverside Park, Pier I (at 70th St): Lumière d’été by Grémillon, selected by Matías Piñeiro
• July 28 – Riverside Park, Pier I (at 70th St): A Trip to the Moon by Méliès followed by Elena and Her Men by Renoir, selected by Isabella Rossellini
• Sept 7 – Columbia University (at 116th St): The Wild Child by Truffaut, selected by James Ivory, presented in partnership with the Columbia Maison Française

The Cultural Services of the French Embassy, FACE Foundation and NYC Parks would like to thank Films on the Green’s 2017 lead sponsor, Le Petit Marseillais™, and the festival’s 2017 official sponsors, Air France, Atout France-France Tourism Development Agency, BNP Paribas, JC Decaux, and TV5 Monde.

More information: http:/villa-albertine.org/frenchculture/film-tv-and-new-media/festivals/films-green-2017

ABOUT

The Cultural Services of the French Embassy promotes the best of French arts, literature, cinema, digital innovation, language, and higher education across the US. Based in New York City, Washington D.C., and eight other cities across the country, the Cultural Services brings artists, authors, intellectuals and innovators to cities nationwide. It also builds partnerships between French and American artists, institutions and universities on both sides of the Atlantic. In New York, through its bookshop Albertine, it fosters French-American exchange around literature and the arts. www.frenchculture.org

FACE Foundation is an American nonprofit organization dedicated to supporting French-American relations through innovative cultural and educational projects. In partnership with the Cultural Services of the French Embassy, FACE promotes artistic, literary and educational exchange and collaboration between creative professionals from both countries. With additional corporate, foundation, and individual support, FACE administers grant programs in the performing and visual arts, cinema, translation, and secondary and higher education, while providing financial sponsorship to French-American festivals and other cultural initiatives. FACE focuses on new and recent work of living artists and the promotion of bilingualism and the French language. FACE Foundation (French-American Cultural Exchange) is a 501(c)(3) organization chartered by the state of New York. www.face-foundation.org

NYC Parks is the steward of approximately 29,000 acres of land — 14 percent of New York City — including more than 5,000 individual properties ranging from Coney Island Beach and Central Park to community gardens  and Greenstreets. We operate more than 800 athletic fields and nearly 1,000 playgrounds, 550 tennis courts, 66 public pools, 48 recreational facilities, 17 nature centers, 13 golf courses, and 14 miles of beaches. We care for 1,200 monuments and 23 historic house museums. We look after 650,000 street trees, and two million more in parks. We are New York City’s principal providers of recreational and athletic facilities and programs. We are home to free concerts, world-class sports events, and cultural festivals. www.nycgovparks.org

Media Contact:

Camille Desprez – + 1 (212) 439-1417   camille.desprez@diplomatie.gouv.fr
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