My French Film Festival - Four Fest Favorites at Cine-Club

Ready for awards season?

This month at our Online Ciné-Club we’ll be celebrating Unifrance’s “**My French Film Festival__”, an online showcase of some of French cinema’s most promising up-and-coming voices - and some old favorites. Each week we’ll be choosing one film in particular to discuss at our Sunday session, but all of the films in the festival’s selection are available to rent for a small fee after you sign up with your email or facebook account. You can also buy a pass to the whole fest for around 9 dollars, which will allow you to watch as many of the 9 feature films and 14 shorts as you like!*

We’ll point you to some of our favorites, but feel free to watch as many as you want - all films in the festival will be available to stream between January 14 and February 14th**.

Below are the specific films we’ll be discussing together at our weekly Ciné-Club sessions. All are welcome!

January 23rd : Nadia, Butterfly (Canada)

From the fest: “At 23, Nadia makes the controversial decision to retire from professional swimming and rid herself of a life of sacrifice. After one last race, the hidden excesses of the Olympic Village will offer Nadia her first breath of freedom. But as she plunges into the unknown, doubts arise: who is she really?”

Sign up for our Ciné-Club discussion of Nadia, Butterfly here.

January 30th: Madly in Life (“Une vie démente”, Belgium)

From the fest: “Alex and Noémie would like to have a child. But their plans get derailed when Alex’s elegant and charismatic mother, Suzanne, becomes increasingly zany. Between the child they desire and the unmanageable child that Suzanne has become, everything is turned upside down. This is the story of a rodeo, the bumpy journey of a couple who discover parenting in reverse!”

Sign up for our Ciné-Club discussion of Madly in Life here

February 6th: The Night Doctor (“Médecin de nuit”, France)

From the Fest: “Mikael is an after hours doctor. It’s a vocation. Between two patient-visits in slum areas, he cares for those whom no one else wants to see: the drug addicts, the homeless… He rubs shoulders with destitution. Torn between his wife and mistress, his life is in shambles. Especially when it comes to his pharmacist cousin who makes him write false prescriptions for Subutex. One night, he decides to get out of drug trafficking and rebuild his life. But there will be a heavy price to pay.”

Sign up for our Ciné-Club discussion of The Night Doctor here

February 13th: All Aboard! (“A l’abordage!”, France)

From the Fest: “On a hot summer night in Paris, Félix meets a young woman, Alma, and falls in love. The next morning, Alma hops on a train to join her family in southern France. Félix, determined to follow his soulmate, embarks on a carpool ride with his best friend Chérif and their reluctant driver Edouard. When the car breaks down upon arrival, things turn sour: Alma doesn’t seem too pleased by this unexpected visit.”

Sign up for our Ciné-Club discussion of All Aboard! here

*Here are some more detailed instructions on how to rent from the festival:

1. Go to myfrenchfilmfestival.com

2. Click the “log in” button at the top right, then either “I don’t have an account” to make an account (it only asks for an email and a password) or click “log in with facebook”

3. You are now free to browse the catalog! All short films are free to watch and all features are roughly 2 dollars to rent. You can alternatively buy a festival pass giving you access to the whole catalogue** at around 9 dollars total.

**Please note that several of the festival selections are unavailable in the US due to different distribution rights. All of the films we’ve selected for our Cine-Club are available, and you can watch them any time between now and February 14.