Young French Cinema at Gateway Film Center (Columbus, OH)
Film Series
The Rapture © Iris Kaltenbäck / MACT Productions, Marianne Productions
Meet the next generation of auteurs in a special series Young French Cinema at Gateway Film Center (Columbus, OH), dedicated to new voices in French cinema!
The program mainly focuses on rising talents, from high-profile independent works to impactful dramas and powerful documentaries about the world around us. The 2024 selection demonstrates that this young generation—more than ever—shares a global vision and an amazing capacity to combine cultural influences and tackle an incredibly wide range of subject matters.
Sisterhood by Nora El Hourch
Sept 6, 2024
Despite their different social backgrounds, Amina, Djeneba, and Zineb have been friends for as long as they can remember. When Zineb experiences harassment from her brother’s best friend, Amina decides to post a compromising video of him on social media, hoping he will stop. Little does she know that the video will not only jeopardize her safety, but also strain their friendship.
100 min – Genre: Fiction, Drama – Cast: Léah Aubert, Salma Takaline, Medina Diarra -Main Festivals: TIFF
Ama Gloria by Marie Amachoukeli
Sept 6, 2024
Six-year-old Cléo loves her nanny Gloria more than anything. When Gloria must suddenly return to Cape Verde to care for her own children, Cléo makes her promise that they will see each other very soon. Gloria invites Cléo to her island and the two must make the most of their last summer together.
84 min – Genre: Fiction, Comedy drama – Cast: Louise Mauroy-Panzani, Ilça Moreno Zego – Main Festivals: Cannes FF
Marinette by Virginie Verrier
Sept 6, 2024
Marinette Pichon is one of the world’s greatest stars of football, having held the record for the most number of goals and caps for the French team (men/women combined) for almost two decades, before becoming a FIFA Legend by being the first French player to have a career in the US. A pioneer of French women’s soccer, the film follows her fight to spread awareness on women’s rights in sport. A path full of pitfalls, from a childhood ravaged by an alcoholic and violent father to the heavy burden of coming out in an era where LGBTQ+ rights were non-existent. Her success in sport will fuel her desire to make a difference in the recognition of French women’s soccer, homosexuality, and equal opportunity. It is the story of a woman’s life, a fighter, an uncompromising ode to freedom, to surpassing oneself.
95 min – Genre: Biopic, LGBTQ – Cast: Garance Marillier, Emilie Dequenne, Alban Lenoir – Main Festivals: Tribeca Film Festival
First Case by Victoria Musiedlak
Sept 7, 2024
Nora, a 26-year-old lawyer fresh out of law school, has the impression that she doesn’t have any real life experience when she finds herself thrown into her first criminal law case. From her initial meeting with her client in police custody and throughout the investigation, Nora discovers the cruelty of the world that surrounds her private and professional lives. Quickly carried away by the frenzy of her new life, she starts making mistake after mistake, leading her to wonder about her life choices.
98 min – Genre: Fiction, Drama – Cast: Noée Abita, Anders Danielsen Lie, Alexis Neises – Main Festivals: Locarno FF
Little Girl Blue by Mona Achache
Sept 7, 2024
After her mother’s death, Mona Achache discovers thousands of photos, letters, and recordings, but these buried secrets make her disappearance even more of an enigma. Through the power of filmmaking and the beauty of incarnation, she brings her mother back to life to retrace her journey and find out who she really was.
95 min – Genre: Documentary – Cast: Marion Cotillard – Main Festivals: Cannes FF, Telluride, London
Caiti Blues by Justine Harbonnier
Sept 8, 2024
Caiti Lord has a beautiful voice that she plans to use to do more than sell cherry cocktails. As madness surges in the United States, in a most disturbing absurd manner, Caiti is overtaken by a growing sense of suffocation. So Caiti sings. The blues.
84 min – Genre: Documentary – Main Festivals: Cannes FF – ACID, Visions du Reel
No Love Lost by Erwann Le Duc
Sept 9, 2024
Étienne is barely twenty when he falls in love with Valérie. They are hardly any more when their daughter Rosa is born. And then, one day, Valérie leaves and never returns. He chooses not to make a drama of it and builds a happy life for him and his child. Sixteen years later, when Rosa is about to lead her own life, Étienne recognizes his wife on television. The past brutally resurfaces, and father and daughter are propelled into one last chaotic family journey.
91 min – Genre: Fiction, Drama – Cast: Nahuel Pérez Biscayart, Céleste Brunnquell, Maud Wyler – Main Festivals: Cannes FF – Critics Week
Spirit of Ecstasy by Héléna Klotz
Sept 10, 2024
Jeanne is 24 years old. She lives on a military base with her father, a police officer, and her little brother and sister. She’s determined to make it in the world of finance. Not for the glory or wealth, but because it’s leading her on the path to freedom.
95 min – Genre: Fiction, Drama – Cast: Claire Pommet, Niels Schneider, Sofiane Zermani – Main Festivals: TIFF
The Rapture by Iris Kaltenbäck
Sept 11, 2024
Lydia, a midwife highly invested in her career, has completely lost control of her life. Was it due to heartbreak, her best friend Salomé’s pregnancy, or meeting Milos, with whom she could have a potential new relationship ? Lydia gets stuck in a spiral of lies in which everyone’s lives are turned upside down.
97 min – Genre: Fiction, Drama – Cast: Hafsia Herzi, Alexis Manenti, Nina Meurisse – Main Festivals: Cannes FF – Critics’ Week
All To Play For by Delphine Deloget
Sept 12, 2024
Sylvie lives in Brest with her two children, Sofiane and Jean-Jacques. Together they form a tight, happy family. One night, Sofiane hurts himself, alone in the apartment while his mother is out at work. The incident is reported and Sofiane is placed in foster care.
112 min – Genre: Fiction, Drama – Cast: Virginie Efira, India Hair, Mathieu Demy – Main Festivals: Cannes FF – Un Certain Regard
This program is presented in partnership with the Columbus Council on World Affairs
Young French Cinema is a program of UniFrance and Villa Albertine that aims to bring French films that are not distributed in the US to art house cinemas, film societies, the Alliance Française network, and American universities.
In partnership with
UniFrance
Founded in 1949 and strengthened thanks to its merger with TV France International in 2021, UniFrance is the organisation responsible for promoting French cinema and TV content worldwide.
Located in Paris, UniFrance employs around 50 staff members, as well as representatives based in the U.S., in China, and soon in Japan. The organisation currently brings together more than 1,000 French cinema and TV content professionals (producers, filmmaking talents, agents, sales companies, etc.) working together to promote French films and TV programmes among foreign audiences, industry executives and media.
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