Villa Albertine and Unifrance today announced the official selection for the\u00a0seventh edition of the Young French Cinema program.\u00a0Designed to support films without existing US distribution,\u00a0Young French Cinema brings the work of emerging French filmmakers to audiences across the Unites States. The 2022 program is now available for booking by art house cinemas, film societies, the Alliance Franc\u0327aise network,\u00a0and American universities.<\/p>\n
In collaboration with Unifrance, Young French Cinema is one of 15 professional programs from Villa Albertine, a new kind of cultural institution working across disciplines and continents to build a vibrant community of arts and ideas. In this spirit,\u00a0Young French Cinema offers a valuable entry point for diverse rising talents, from high-profile independent works to quirky comedies, animated features, powerful documentaries,\u00a0and exciting shorts. The 2022 selection highlights two major themes of contemporary French cinema:\u00a0gender diversity,\u00a0with women filmmakers comprising the vast majority of the selection, and a curiosity about the world outside of France, from Niger to Kosovo to Germany.<\/p>\n
The selection demonstrates that this young generation\u2014more than ever before\u2014shares a global artistic vision and a singular talent for combining cultural influences and tackling a wide\u00a0range of subject matters. The selection simultaneously represents the highest caliber of French filmmaking. Most of the films have premiered in top international festivals: 7 were selected at the 2021 Cannes Film Festival while others premiered in the 2021 editions of Locarno, TIFF, and more.<\/p>\n
FULL-LENGTH FEATURES:<\/strong><\/p>\n Above Water<\/em>\u00a0(Marcher sur l\u2019eau<\/em>) by Ai\u0308ssa Mai\u0308ga\u00a0\u2013\u00a0With this intimate portrait of a village in the semi-arid plains of northern Niger, internationally acclaimed Senegalese- French actress and activist Ai\u0308ssa Mai\u0308ga reveals the devastating effects of global warming on remote populations. A crucially important film about the injustices of climate change, it also raises essential questions about education and the rights of women. Premiered at Cannes Film Festival 2021.<\/p>\n The Braves<\/em> (Entre les vagues<\/em>)\u00a0by Anai\u0308s Volpe\u0301\u00a0\u2013\u00a0Aided by the intimate camera work of cult American cinematographer Sean Price Williams (Good Time) and ebullient\u00a0performances by two of French cinema\u2019s most engaging young actresses, Souheila\u00a0Yacoub (Climax) and De\u0301borah Lukumuena (Divines), Volpe\u0301 gives us a story of death that is bursting with life, a fresh take on the restless nights of Paris, and an ode to the power of female friendship. Premiered at Cannes Film Festival 2021<\/p>\n Good Mother<\/em> (Bonne me\u0300re<\/em>)\u00a0by Hafsia Herzi\u00a0\u2013\u00a0Shot in Herzi\u2019s childhood neighborhood,\u00a0Bonne me\u0300re\u00a0takes a documentary approach to the struggles of a woman supporting her children and grandchildren, capturing the tedium of the pre-dawn commute to work, the sadness of visits to a son in jail, and the nagging anger of being relegated to a neglected corner of society, yet capturing the resilience and humor that drives the people Herzi films, most of whom are local non-professionals. Premiered at Cannes Film Festival 2021<\/p>\n Hard Shell, Soft Shell<\/em> (Fragile<\/em>)\u00a0by Emma Benestan\u00a0\u2013\u00a0Adding to her distinguished track\u00a0record as an editor for Palme d\u2019Or winner Abdellatif Kechiche, writer-director Emma Benestan makes an exhilarating feature debut with this wryly feminist update on the romantic comedy. Benestan upends gender and class stereotypes to take the pulse of romance in an era of role reversals.<\/p>\n The Heroics<\/em> (Les He\u0301roi\u0308ques<\/em>)\u00a0by Maxime Roy\u00a0\u2013\u00a0The beauty of filmmaker Maxime Roy\u2019s\u00a0stirring debut resides in the way it dispels this notion of losers and winners without pulling any punches about the difficulties of life on the fringes. The extraordinary performance by lead actor and co-screenwriter Franc\u0327ois Cre\u0301ton, whose own struggleswith addiction inspired the character of Michel, doesn\u2019t leave us any choice but to love\u00a0him. Premiered at Cannes Film Festival 2021<\/p>\n The Hill Where Lionesses Roar<\/em> (La colline ou\u0300 rugissent les lionnes<\/em>)\u00a0by Lua\u0300na Bajrami\u00a0\u2013\u00a0Though only twenty years old, Bajrami displays a distinctly personal approach to\u00a0filmmaking, perceptible both in the film\u2019s autobiographical aspects and in her impressionistic manner of accumulating apparently banal moments to catch the\u00a0fleeting sensations of adolescent rage and hope. Selection of Cannes Film Festival 2021 and TIFF 2021.<\/p>\n The Horizon<\/em> (L\u2019Horizon<\/em>)\u00a0by Emilie Carpentier\u00a0\u2013\u00a0While writer-director Emilie Carpentier captures our attention\u2014and emotions\u2014with a charming tale of first love between two young people from different backgrounds, her real subject here is the dawning of political and social awareness at the cusp of maturity.\u00a0In capturing Adja\u2019s gradualdecision to step up and fight for her future, she pays tribute to the courage of a generation for whom the fight for environmental justice is an urgent matter of survival.<\/p>\n Magnetic Beats<\/em> (Les Magne\u0301tiques<\/em>)\u00a0by Vincent Mae\u0308l Cardona\u00a0\u2013\u00a0Deploying a stellar soundtrack of European post-punk classics, Cardona juxtaposes the eternal thrills of first love and the frustrations of provincial life with a lovingly specific depiction of a bygone period, lending tremendous emotional immediacy to the lives of those who came of age at the dawn of the 1980s. Premiered at Cannes Film Festival 2021.<\/p>\n Robust<\/em> (Robuste<\/em>)\u00a0by Constance Meyer\u00a0\u2013\u00a0With this closely observed double portrait of an aging French film star and the young Black woman he hires as his new bodyguard, first-time feature writer-director Constance Meyer breathes new life into the odd couple theme, bearing witness to a passing of the torch from the legendary Ge\u0301rard Depardieu to the formidable young actress De\u0301borah Lukumuena. Premiered at Cannes Film Festival 2021.<\/p>\n Secret Name <\/em>(La place d\u2019une autre<\/em>)\u00a0by Aure\u0301lia Georges\u00a0\u2013\u00a0Aure\u0301lia Georges\u2019s adaptation of Wilkie Collins\u2019 novel,\u00a0The New Magdalen, focuses on the impact of rigid class hierarchy on the lives of three women, offering a nuanced feminist reading that resonates with the iniquities of our era. Premiered at Locarno IFF 2021.<\/p>\n SHORTS:<\/strong><\/p>\n The World Within<\/em> (Le Monde en Soi<\/em>)\u00a0by Jean-Charles Finck, Sandrine Stoi\u0308anov\u00a0\u2013\u00a0While preparing her first exhibition, a young painter commits so passionately to her creations that she loses touch with reality and descends into hallucinatory chaos. Confined in a clinic, she progressively rebuilds herself through painting and the daily observation of a squirrel under her window.<\/p>\n The Departure<\/em> (Le De\u0301part<\/em>)\u00a0by Sai\u0308d Hamich Benlarbi\u00a0\u2013\u00a0Adil, aged 11, spends the summer playing with his friends and waiting for his idol, Olympic runner Hicham El Guerrouj, to compete in his last Games. The arrival of his father and older brother from France for a few days will mark him forever.<\/p>\n Se\u0308r Bi<\/em> (Les Tissus Blancs<\/em>)\u00a0by Moly Kane\u00a0\u2013\u00a0Tomorrow, Zuzana is getting married. From now on, every minute counts to erase her past and for her to become the woman she is expected to be.<\/p>\n Locked Out <\/em>(Confine\u0301s dehors<\/em>)\u00a0by Julien Goudichaud\u00a0\u2013\u00a0March 2020, a global pandemic hits humanity. In an empty and silent Paris, there remain urban ghosts, Sarah, Nelson and Katia, who have no other choice but to be locked out. These people forgotten by the health crisis ask us: how to continue to survive in a world at a standstill?<\/p>\n The Right Words<\/em> (Haut les coeurs<\/em>)\u00a0by Adrian Moyse Dullin\u00a0\u2013\u00a0Fifteen-year-old Kenza and her thirteen-year-old brother Mahdi regularly act out an escalation of petty cruelties and humiliations inspired by social networks. Today, during a bus ride, Kenza puts her naive and romantic little brother to the test: he must make a declaration of love now\u00a0to Jada; a girl Mahdi loves but who doesn\u2019t know him.<\/p>\n The Bath<\/em> (Le Bain<\/em>)\u00a0by Anissa Daoud\u00a0\u2013\u00a0Due to his wife\u2019s business trip, Imed, a young\u00a0father, finds himself alone for a few days for the first time with his five-year-old son and must confront his deepest fears.<\/p>\n To accommodate public health guidelines and bring the best emerging French cinema to the widest US audiences, the 2022 Young French Cinema selection is available both in-person and virtually, through Eventive and other platforms. Unifrance has also put in place a limited number of grants to help independent cinemas cover screening fees for the 2022 features selection.<\/p>\n Discover more about Young French Cinema here<\/a>\u00a0<\/p>\n