By Anthony Frajman
Following on the heels of its successful 2022 edition, which had over 200,000 attendees, the beloved Alliance Française French Film Festival is back for its 33rd year.
Returning for her third year as Artistic Director, French Cultural Attaché Karine Mauris has delivered a programme which promises something for everyone – from zombies to stories of survival to culinary tales.
Ahead of the festival launch, Mauris spoke to FilmInk about some of her favourites from this year’s selection.
You’ve presented a very eclectic line-up this year, full of new French talent like Alice Diop (Saint Omer) and established stars like Marion Cotillard (Brother and Sister) and Juliette Binoche (Winter Boy). How would you sum up the 2023 programme?
“I think it’s a sense of France. You can find in France what you are looking for. If you like food and cooking, we’ve got beautiful movies like Umami or Sugar and Stars; if you like another dimension of France, you can go to Ténor. We’ve got incredible stories of the kind of heroes that are not like American heroes. If you see Masquerade, if you see Country Cabaret, which is from a real story of these farmers who create a cabaret in the middle of nowhere; it’s a very beautiful movie. And we’ve got this incredible movie made by Jean-Jacques Annaud, which is Notre-Dame on Fire. One of my favourite movies The Black Pharaoh, The Savage and The Princess is for families. I’m very proud of all these movies in this selection.”
How difficult was it this year to make the selection?
“It was difficult because there were so many movies. So many possibilities. And, you have to have something for everybody.
“For example, this movie arrived very late called Lie with Me. And it arrived the day where I said, ‘okay guys, it’s over. My selection is done’. The hardest thing is to stop. The hardest thing is not to say yes or no, it’s to say, ‘I’ve got enough’.
“And last minute, the distributor called me and said, ‘Karine, I’ve got this movie. It’s an adaptation of a book called Lie with Me, please watch it. And I said, ‘no, I stopped today’. And they said, ‘please watch it. Please, please’. It was the weekend. I say, ‘okay. I watch it on the weekend, and I cry.
“And I sent it to the other directors, the first thing, and I said, ‘please watch this movie. Support me on it. We have to take it. The storytelling is so incredible, so beautiful. And, it’s such a pleasure to have it, I think it’s one of the most beautiful love stories I have seen in a long time.”
Which is relevant, considering that one of the major strands of this year’s programme is falling in love.
“We always speak about love. Love is everywhere in our movies. If I look at all the movies , even One Fine Morning, it’s one of my favourites with Léa Seydoux, she has a father who is very sick and she falls in love with a man at the same time. So, she has a confusion of feelings. Another one I really love is Annie’s Fire. It’s about abortion. It’s about a movement created two years before the law which gave women the right to do abortion and to do what they want with their body. At this time, in 1973, women are going to jail. And a lot of women were dying. It’s an incredible movie.”
You chose to open the festival with Masquerade. Can you tell us about this year’s opening night film?
“This year, I bring you back to the south of France, with a movie that looks like it was made in the seventies. I will say, it’s a really sea-sex-sun-movie. You don’t know where we are going. And by the way, we don’t care because it’s really well made. It was a massive success in France. it was one of the biggest successes in France. And you’ve got Isabelle Adjani and François Cluzet.”
For viewers who are new to French Cinema, what would you recommend?
“I think The Innocent is a perfect movie for people who don’t know French Cinema. Louis Garrel directed and stars in it. It’s a movie that can work very well with people in their 20s, people in their 30s, 50s. I was thinking maybe to put it in the opening in the beginning, but I think Masquerade was perfect for the opening. Two Tickets to Greece is a very funny comedy too.”
What are your top picks for the festival?
“I would take them all, but I’m very French, I’m a very romantic person, but I can tell you the one I really wanted to put in the festival, The Colours of Fire. I think it’s an important movie. It’s Fanny Ardant, she’s amazing and is a very important actor.
“I really love Robust with Depardieu. We’re in the real house of Depardieu. Déborah Lukumuena is his driver. He’s an actor. It’s in his house and he is really his character. And we have this young woman who tries to find a place, and they save each other. It’s wonderful. It’s a very short movie. And One Fine Morning, with Léa Seydoux.
“I chose all these movies to bring the people back to the theatre. I think each movie has its place on the big screen. And, I wanted not only to show the new generation, but to show the diversity of our country with our actors. The French have heritage from Africa, from North Africa, from lots of countries… And, I love the fact that we don’t see always the same person all the time.”
Alliance Française French Film Festival 2023 screens from March 7 to April 5. Details here.
