French Films in the 2007 Los Angeles Film Festival

by debbie lynn elias

Molière
France • DIRECTOR Laurent Tirard
This comic romp, brought delightfully to life by some of France’s top acting talent, presents an imaginary episode in the life of the 17th-century playwright as if it were one of his own diverting social satires.
THURSDAY, JUN 28, 7:00 PM FRIDAY, JUN 29, 2:00 PM
Majestic Crest Theatre The Landmark

2 Days in Paris
USA • DIRECTOR Julie Delpy
Julie Delpy writes, directs, produces, stars, edits, and scores this charming and lively romp about a Parisian ex-pat and her American boyfriend passing through the City of Light for a visit.
Friday, Jun 29, 7:00 pm Sunday, Jul 1, 5:15 pm
Mann Festival The Landmark

Blame It on Fidel (La faute à Fidel)
France • DIRECTOR Julie Gavras
A 9-year-old girl’s life is turned upside down by her parents’ sudden political awakening in this refreshing look at the upheavals of the early ’70s.
WEDNESDAY, JUN 27, 5:00 PM THURSDAY, JUN 28, 7:30PM
Billy Wilder Theater Landmark’s Regent

Lady Chatterley
FRANCE/BELGIUM • DIRECTOR Pascale Ferran
Writer/director Pascale Ferran has created an electrifying and spellbinding adaptation that turns the period drama on its head, transforming Lady Chatterley into a frankly told story of physical and emotional awakening.
FRIDAY, JUN 29, 2:30 PM SATURDAY, JUN 30, 9:30 PM
Billy Wilder Theater The Landmark

My Best Friend (Mon meilleur ami)
FRANCE • DIRECTOR Patrice Leconte
Charming, poignant, and utterly entertaining, writer/director Patrice Leconte’s latest comic gem devilishly turns on a middle-aged man’s quixotic quest for friendship in our harried, modern times.
SATURDAY, JUN 30, 7:00 PM SUNDAY, JUL 1, 12:00 PM
Majestic Crest The Landmark

The Year After (L’année suivante)
FRANCE • DIRECTOR Isabelle Czajka
Isabelle Czajka’s moving debut is a portrait of teenage alienation, as 17-year-old Emmanuelle struggles to find meaning in the cultural wasteland of suburban Paris following the death of her father.
FRIDAY, JUN 22, 4:30 PM SATURDAY, JUN 23, 10:00 PM
The Landmark

Paraguayan Hammock (Hamaca Paraguaya)
Argentina/Austria/France/Germany, Netherlands, Spain, Paraguay • DIRECTOR Paz Encina
In the rural countryside, a peasant couple perform their everyday routines while waiting with stoic resignation for their only son to return from a far-off war.
SUNDAY, JUL 1, 2:30 PM
Billy Wilder Theater

Triple Agent
France/Greece/Italy/Russia/Spain • DIRECTOR Eric Rohmer
An exiled Russian general to protect his beloved Greek-born wife from the truth of his secret dealings with both French Communists and German Nazis. Fictionalized from the facts of the notorious 1937 “L’affaire Skoblin/Miller.”
TUESDAY, JUN 26, 7:00 PM
Billy Wilder Theater

Half Moon (Niwemang)
IRAN/IRAQ/AUSTRIA/FRANCE• DIRECTOR Bahman Ghobadi
A legendary musician assembles his many instrument-wielding sons for a dangerous road trip to Iraq in Bahman Ghobadi’s stirring tribute to the long-suppressed cultural traditions of Kurdistan.
SUNDAY, JUNE 24, 4:00 PM WEDNESDAY, JUNE 27, 2:15 PM
Billy Wilder Theater Italian Cultural Institute

Dry Season (Daratt)
Austria/Belgium/Chad/France • DIRECTOR Mahamat-Saleh Haroun
Teenage war orphan Atim journeys from his tiny village to the capital city on a mission to kill the man who years earlier murdered his father. His target turns out to be not a monster but a devoutly religious baker who gruffly takes the boy under his wing as an apprentice.
FRIDAY, JUN 29, 6:00 PM
Billy Wilder Theater

Love for Sale (O Cué de Suely)
Brazil/France/Germany/Portugal • DIRECTOR Karim Aïnouz
Returning home to a dusty and desolate rural town in northern Brazil, Hermila patiently waits with her newborn son for her husband to follow. However, it soon becomes painfully clear that he has abandoned them. Sexy, restless and resolute, she takes the name Suely and raffles off “a night in paradise” with herself.
SUNDAY, JUN 24, 9:30 PM MONDAY, JUN 25, 2:30 PM
Landmark’s Regent

On the Rumba River (Le Batelier de la Rumba)
FRANCE • DIRECTOR Jacques Sarasin
Brimming with music and dance, On the Rumba River looks at the life and times of beloved Congolese musician Wendo Kolosoy. Throughout a career that spans decades, Papa Wendo has weathered personal hard times as well as Congo’s troubled political and economic history — all of which he’s faced with a combination of determination, humor and, of course, music.
THURSDAY, JUN 28, 7:00 PM SATURDAY, JUN 30, 5:00 PM
Mann Festival Theatre Italian Cultural Institute

Syndromes and a Century (Sang sattawat)
THAILAND/AUSTRIA/FRANCE • DIRECTOR Apichatpong Weerasethakul
The foremost Thai creator of mysterious cinematic objects, Apichatpong Weerasethakul derives his latest magical concoction from the lives his own parents led before they became lovers.
SUNDAY, JUN 24, 7:00 PM TUESDAY, JUN 26, 9:45 PM
Billy Wilder Theater The Landmark


I Don’t Want to Sleep Alone (Hei yan quan)
TAIWAN/FRANCE/AUSTRIA • DIRECTOR Tsai Ming-liang
Taiwanese new wave maestro Tsai Ming-liang returns to his native Malaysia for this moody, deliberate meditation on desire and communication starring Lee Kang-sheng adrift in multiethnic contemporary Kuala Lumpur.
MONDAY, JUN 25, 7:00 PM TUESDAY, JUN 26, 4:30 PM
Billy Wilder Theater Landmark’s Regent