APPLETON, WIS. — The Tournees Festival returns to Lawrence University in mid-January with its mix of award-winning French cinema. Five films will be shown three times each during the month-long 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 at 7 p.m. in the Wriston Art Center auditorium on the Lawrence campus. Admission is $3. An informal discussion session led by a faculty member of the Lawrence French department will be conducted following each Saturday evening screening.
Launched in 1995 by the French-American Cultural Exchange and the Cultural Services of the French Embassy, the Tournees festival provides colleges and university access to new French films that are normally only distributed in major cities. Lawrence was awarded a grant to serve as a Tournees film series host institution for the second straight year.
The films and dates are as follows.
Jan 10, 11, 12 “Paris, je t’aime” (“Paris, I Love You”), 2006, 116 min., rated R
A patchwork of 18 short films by major international directors each shot at a different locale in Paris. Featuring such notable actors as Natalie Portman, Gena Rowlands, Elijah Wood, Ben Gazzara and Catherine Deneuve, each film explores the fragile relationships that bind people who have recently met as well people who know each other well. Among the various narratives that make up this portrayal of Paris is a man torn between his wife and his lover and a father who grapples with a complex relationship with his daughter.
Jan. 17, 19, 20 (No showing on Jan. 18) — “La Moustache,” 2005, 86 min., Not rated
Winner of the International Critics Award (FIPRESCI Prize) at the Chicago International Film Festival, the film follows the torment of a man who impulsively shaves off the moustache he’s worn his entire adult life. Hoping to surprise his wife and friends, he’s stunned when they insist he’s never had a moustache. While he thinks it’s all a charade, he eventually explodes in frustration. His wife and his friends suspect he’s gone crazy and conspire to have him committed to a psychiatric facility.
Jan. 24, 25, 26 — “Daratt,” 2006, 96 min., Not Rated
Set in Chad following a devastating civil war, the film follows young Atim, whose father was murdered before his birth during the conflict, as he seeks revenge on his father’s killer. Instead of finding a cold-blooded murderer, Atim meets a charitable baker who seeks redemption through religion. Atim can not bring himself to kill the man in cold blood, so he goes to work for him as his assistant, creating a strange and complex relationship. The film received the Special Jury Prize at the 2006 Venice Film Festival.
Jan. 31, Feb. 1, 2 — “A tout de suite” (“Right Now”), 2004, 95 min., Not Rated
Lili, an impulsive, 19-year-old living in Paris meets a mysterious, young Moroccan man with whom she falls instantly in love. After learning of his involvement in a botched bank robbery, she flees Paris with him and his two friends, embarking on a cross-continent escape through Spain, Morocco and Greece. As the police close in, Lili is abandoned and left penniless in Athens. She eventually returns to Paris hoping to pick up the pieces of her life, but never quite recovers.
Feb. 7, 8, 9 — “Indigenes” (“Days of Glory”), 2006, 120 min. Rated R
Told through the stories of four courageous men, the film relates the forgotten role of the 20,000 Africans and 130,000 natives of North Africa who were recruited to help liberate France in World War II. Known as “Indigenes,” and often sent to the front lines of the battlefield, the soldiers faced tremendous racism both in the military and French society, forcing them to struggle for equality at every turn. The film received the 2007 Lumiere Award for best screenplay and the Cesar Award for best writing.
