Close
Monthly Screenings
The French program at the festival is presented courtesy of the French Institute in Tel Aviv

Annette

Dir.: Leos Carax
| 139 minutes

Present day Los Angeles. Henry is a stand-up comedian with a fierce sense of humor. Ann, an internationally-renowned opera singer. Under the spotlight, they form a wholesome and glamorous couple. The birth of their first child, Annette, a mysterious little girl with an exceptional destiny, will turn their lives upside down.

Bergman Island

Dir.: Mia Hansen-Løve
| 112 minutes

Over the course of one summer, a filmmaking couple settles down to write on the Swedish island of Fårö, where Bergman lived and found inspiration. As their respective scripts progress, they encounter the wild landscapes of the island as memories of a first love resurface, blurring the lines between fiction and reality.

Theatrical Release

The Braves

Dir.: Anaïs Volpé
| 99 minutes

Margot and Alma are two best friends with a tremendous zest for life. They are ready to conquer the stage and the world, until reality gets in the way. Their strong friendship can seemingly get them through anything – the show must go on.

Bruno Reidal, Confessions of a Murderer

Dir.: Vincent Le Port
| 101 minutes

Cantal, France, 1905. In the forest surrounding his native village, young seminarian Bruno Reidal murders a boy before surrendering immediately to the authorities. In prison, under interrogation for weeks, he faces a panel of three doctors attempting to understand his lethal impulses. They order Bruno to retrace his past by writing his life story, as they try to identify the events or the anomaly that could have led to such an atrocity.

The Crusade

Dir.: Louis Garrel
| 67 minutes

Abel, Marianne, and their 13-year-old son Joseph live together in Paris. Their everyday existence is tested when Abel and Marianne discover that Joseph has secretly sold valuables from the family home to finance a mysterious ecological project in Africa.

Deception

Dir.: Arnaud Desplechin
| 105 minutes

London, 1987. Philip is a famous American writer living in exile in London. His mistress comes to see him in his office regularly, a refuge for the two lovers. They make love, they argue, they reconcile and talk for hours – about the women who mark out his life, about sex, antisemitism, literature, and about remaining true to oneself.

The Divide

Dir.: Catherine Corsini
| 98 minutes

Raf and Julie, a couple on the verge of a breakup, end up in an emergency room in the midst of a major Yellow Vests protest in Paris. Their encounter with Yann, an injured and angry demonstrator, will shatter their certainties and prejudices. Outside, tension escalate.

DNA

Dir.: Maïwenn
| 90 minutes

Summer in Paris, and the city is deserted. Neige regularly visits her beloved Algerian grandfather in his retirement home. It was Emir who raised her, and who offered protection from her toxic parents. Emir’s death will escalate family tensions and cause a profound identity crisis for Neige.

From Where They Stood

Dir.: Christophe Cognet
| 110 minutes

A handful of prisoners in WWII camps risked their lives to take clandestine photographs and document the hell the Nazis were hiding from the world. In the vestiges of the camps, director Christophe Cognet retraces the footsteps of these courageous men and women in a quest to unearth the circumstances and the stories behind their photographs, piecing together an archeology of images serving as acts of defiance.

Gagarine

Dir.: Fanny Liatard, Jérémy Trouilh
| 97 minutes

Yuri, 16, has lived all his life in the Gagarine Towers, a vast red brick housing project on the outskirts of Paris. From the heights of his apartment, he dreams of becoming an astronaut. But when plans to demolish his community’s home are revealed, Yuri joins the resistance. 

Good Mother

Dir.: Hafsia Herzi
| 99 minutes

Nora, a cleaning lady in her fifties, looks after her small family in a housing estate in Marseille. She is worried about her son Ellyes, who has been in prison for several months for robbery and is awaiting his trial. Nora does everything she can to make this wait as painless as possible....

Hold Me Tight

Dir.: Mathieu Amalric
| 97 minutes

The official synopsis of the film is exceptionally brief: “It seems to be the story of a woman who left.” And actually, it is best not to know too much about the film which starts as an enigma and gradually resolves itself. The film revolves around a tour-de-force performance by Vicky Krieps (PHANTOM THREAD) as a mother of two in the midst of an ongoing emotional crisis. The sixth film directed by renowned actor, Mathieu Amalric, was met with tremendous praise at the Cannes Film Festival.

Ibrahim

Dir.: Samir Guesmi
| 79 minutes

Young Ibrahim lives in a housing project on the outskirts of Paris with his father, Ahmed, with whom he has a difficult relationship. After he becomes involved in an ill-fated shoplifting scam with his best friend Achille, he is busted by security and lands his father with an unexpected and sizeable debt, putting Ahmed’s career at risk.

Jane by Charlotte

Dir.: Charlotte Gainsbourg
| 90 minutes

Filmmaker and musician Charlotte Gainsbourg turns the camera lens on her mother, Jane Birkin, and presents an intimate and unique portrayal, with intensity and shared sense of reserve. Through the camera lens, mother and daughter reveal themselves to one another, begin to step back, leaving space for the relationship to unfold. 

Lingui, the Sacred Bonds

Dir.: Mahamat-Saleh Haroun
| 87 minutes

Amina lives alone with her 15-year-old daughter Maria. Her already fragile world collapses the day she discovers that her daughter is pregnant. The teenager does not want this pregnancy. In a country where abortion is not only condemned by religion, but also by law, Amina finds herself facing a losing battle.

Mandibles

Dir.: Quentin Dupieux
| 77 minutes

The new film by French director Quentin Dupieux (RUBBER, DEERSKIN) is an unusual comedy about two men who meet a giant fly, and that is not the last surprise in store for them – and us. The film is one of the best works screened in the most recent Venice Film Festival and stars Adele Exarchopoulos, who has become a steady guest at film festivals in the past decade and excels in her role, as usual.

The Night Doctor

Dir.: Elie Wajeman
| 82 minutes

Mikaël is a doctor on night call. He looks after patients from underprivileged neighborhoods, as well as drug addicts. Torn between his wife and his mistress, embroiled in trafficking fraudulent prescriptions with his cousin, Mikaël is left with no choice: Tonight, he has to reclaim control over his life.

OSS 117: From Africa with Love

Dir.: Nicolas Bedos
| 116 minutes

Secret Agent OSS 117 is back! The year is 1981, and he has a new mission – more sensitive, more dangerous, and hotter than ever. This time, he is sent to Africa to track down the young and promising Agent OSS 1001, who disappeared on the Black Continent. The great Jean Dujardin returns to the role of the French spy in a new episode of the successful spy parody series.

Our Men

Dir.: Rachel Lang
| 106 minutes

They come from all over the world but they have one thing in common: The Foreign Legion, their new family. OUR MEN tells these stories: Stories of women who struggle to keep their love alive; stories of men who leave for battle.

Paris, 13th District

Dir.: Jacques Audiard
| 104 minutes

Palme D'Or winner Jacques Audiard (RUST AND BONE, DHEEPAN) returns with an adaptation of KILLING AND DYING, the graphic novel by Adrian Tomine, a modern tale of love and friendship, co-written with Léa Mysius and Céline Sciamma and filmed in a sumptuous black and white.

Playlist

Dir.: Nine Antico
| 86 minutes

Sophie, 26, just found out she landed that job with a famous Parisian publisher. Her dream? Not exactly: she would rather see her own graphic work printed…. When she tells her boyfriend Jean that she is pregnant, everything explodes. They break up and she must return to waiting tables like her friend Julia, an aspiring actress. 

Should the Wind Drop

Dir.: Nora Martirosyan
| 100 minutes

Alain is an international auditor who arrives at the airport of a small self-proclaimed republic in the Caucasus to green light its eventual reopening. Through Edgar, a local boy running a make-shift business in the airport, Alain will risk everything to facilitate the opening of this isolated territory.

Titane

Dir.: Julia Ducournau
| 108 minutes

Following a series of unexplained crimes, a father is reunited with his son who has been missing for 10 years. TITANE, the second feature film by Julia Ducournau (RAW), is the big winner at this year’s Cannes Film Festival, the recipient of the 2021 Palme D’Or.  For Adults 18+ only

Vortex

Dir.: Gaspar Noé
| 142 minutes

Gaspar Noé chose to describe his new film with an enigmatic quote: “Life is a short party that will soon be forgotten.” The esteemed director, known as the bad boy of French cinema for his films IRREVERSIBLE and CLIMAX, makes a 180 degree turn in his choice of narrative and style. The film follows the daily routine of an elderly couple; the wife suffers from dementia and their son shows little interest in their plight.

The World After Us

Dir.: Louda Ben Salah-Cazanas
| 85 minutes

Labidi is a struggling young writer who garnered some success with a short story and is currently trying to publish his first novel. While living with his roommate and best friend in a small room and making food deliveries on his bike to survive, he meets Elisa, a student. Caught up in a whirlwind romance, he doesn’t always make the right choices.