APPLETON, WIS. — Award-winning contemporary French cinema, including a 2005 Cannes Film Festival Golden Palm winner, will be featured in a month-long film festival at Lawrence University beginning January 11. Five films will each be shown three times as part of the 2007 Tournees Festival, which was made possible with the support of the Cultural Services of the French Embassy and the French Ministry of Culture.
The films, in French with English subtitles, will be shown in the Wriston Art Center auditorium on the Lawrence campus beginning at 7 p.m. Admission is free with a Lawrence University I.D. or $3 for the general public.
“Given that the Fox Cities doesn’t have any regular venue for foreign films, this is a fabulous opportunity for the Lawrence French and Francophone Studies department to offer the community a glimpse of the breadth and variety of the French-speaking world and its cultures through contemporary films,” said Eilene Hoft March, professor of French at Lawrence, who is coordinating the series.
“The Cultural Services of the French Embassy and the French Ministry of Culture has subsidized film festivals through competitive grants on campuses all over the United States in an effort to encourage cross-cultural understanding,” Hoft-March added. “We’re thrilled to be one of those campuses that received the grant this year. We hope to enhance the series through post-film discussions led by a member of the Lawrence faculty on Thursday evenings.”
The films and dates are as follows.
Jan. 11, 12, 13 — “No Rest for the Brave” (2003)
A refreshingly original combination of a coming-of-age story and French existentialism spiced with plenty of wit and vivid imagery, where grand ideas mesh with bizarre occurrences to create a fascinating, surreal journey of discovery, chance and mystery. The film follows the adventures of Basile, an angst-ridden French teenager who is convinced he will die if he falls asleep. The notion leads him on a road trip that becomes a hallucinatory odyssey as he encounters murder, sex and intrigue.
Jan. 18, 20, 21 — “Moolade” ( 2004) Note: No showing on Friday. Jan. 19
Winner of the 2004 Cannes Best Film Award, “Moolade” tackles the explosive issue of female circumcision. Set in a small African village, four young girls face a ritual purification that involves genital mutilation. They flee to the house of Collé Ardo Gallo Sy, a strong-willed woman who invokes the time-honored custom of “mooladé” (sanctuary) to protect the fugitives, creating a conflict in the community and forcing every villager to take sides. The film explores heroism in daily life and the “underground struggle” of people which is often overlooked by their governments and the rest of world.
Jan. 25, 26, 27 — “Little Jerusalem” (2004)
Recognized with a screenwriting award at the 2005 Cannes Film Festival, “Little Jerusalem” is the nickname of a low-income housing neighborhood near Paris where a large number of Jewish immigrants live. The film focuses on sisters Laura and Mathilde, members of a Tunisian family of eight, who share a cramped apartment amid rising tensions between Muslim and Jewish communities. The film delicately depicts the intimate lives of two women while raising questions of religious interpretation, freedom, sexuality and family relationships.
Feb. 1, 2, 3 — “The Child” (2005)
Winner of the 2005 Golden Palm Award, the highest prize given to a film at the Cannes Film Festival, “The Child” follows the transformation of Bruno, a dispossessed 20-year old who lives with his girlfriend, Sonia. Surviving on unemployment benefits, panhandling and petty thievery, Sonia gives birth to a son, Jimmy, for whom Bruno feels little attachment. Seeing Jimmy as little more than a potential source of wealth, Bruno sells Jimmy on the black market, which sends Sonia to the hospital. Realizing his mistake, Bruno sets out to get Jimmy back, robbing a store to do so. Overcome with a newly discovered sense of obligation to his son, Bruno steps forward and takes responsibility for the crime, which lands him in prison.
Feb. 8, 9, 10 — “Far Side of the Moon” (2003)
The recipient of several honors, including the FIPRESCI Prize (International Film Critics Award) at the 2004 Berlin Film Festival, “Far Side of the Moon” is an engaging metaphor of mysterious dualities, juxtaposing sibling rivalry with the U.S.-Soviet space race. The film centers around two estranged brothers with little in common who relive childhood disputes while disposing of their deceased mother’s belongings. Philippe is a 40ish doctoral student who has repeatedly failed to defend his dissertation on human narcissism and space exploration. His younger brother André is a television meteorologist. The film probes issues of competition and reconciliation while searching for meaning in the universe.
