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FESTIVALS / AWARDS France

200 films to be showcased at the La Rochelle Film Festival

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- The 49th edition, unspooling from 25 June-4 July, will pay tribute to filmmakers Xavier Beauvois, Radu Jude, Joana Hadjithomas and Khalil Joreige as well as composer Gabriel Yared

200 films to be showcased at the La Rochelle Film Festival
Drift Away by Xavier Beauvois

Today marks the start of the 49th La Rochelle Film Festival (FEMA), a non-competitive event that pulls off the enviable feat of being both highly popular (with almost 87,000 admissions taken in 2019) and extremely demanding in terms of artistic quality. Standing out on this year’s menu, from 25 June-4 July, are around 200 films, and tribute will be paid (in their presence and with screenings of all of the features in their filmographies) to four filmmakers who all took part in the Berlinale competition with their most recent works earlier this year: France’s Xavier Beauvois (with the premiere of Drift Away [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Xavier Beauvois
film profile
]
), Romania’s Radu Jude (with his Golden Bear winner, Bad Luck Banging or Loony Porn [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Radu Jude
film profile
]
), and Lebanese duo Joana Hadjithomas and Khalil Joreige (with Memory Box [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Joana Hadjithomas, Khalil J…
film profile
]
). There will also be tributes to French composer Gabriel Yared (with four films) and to late Italian composer Ennio Morricone (on the closing night).

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Notable among the retrospectives are those dedicated to Italy’s Roberto Rossellini (with 18 films), France’s Maurice Pialat (11 films) and René Clément (six films), as well as Mexico’s Roberto Gavaldón (five films). The programme will also offer a deep dive into “The Essential Michael Cimino”, a “Day With Sigourney Weaver”, a section comprising 16 re-released classics and rarities, a selection of six films by women directors who rose to prominence in the Critics’ Week (to tie in with the 60th anniversary of the Cannes parallel section), an animation-related focus on stop motion, and an exploration of childhood in silent movies.

The firm favourites of the year making up the "Ici et ailleurs" (lit. “Here and Elsewhere”) strand include 38 features, among which we find The World After Us [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Louda Ben Salah-Cazanas
film profile
]
by Louda Ben Salah–Cazanas, Luzzu [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Alex Camilleri
film profile
]
by Malta’s Alex Camilleri (which won an award at the Sundance Film Festival), Atomic Summer [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile
]
by Gaël Lépingle, February [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile
]
by Bulgaria’s Kamen Kalev (which was blessed with the 2020 Cannes Official Selection label), The Man Who Sold His Skin [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Kaouther Ben Hania
film profile
]
by Tunisia’s Kaouther Ben Hania, This Is Not a Burial, It’s a Resurrection [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile
]
by Lemohang Jeremiah Mosese (from Lesotho), Theo and the Metamorphosis [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Damien Odoul
film profile
]
by Damien Odoul, the Belgian production Madly in Life [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Raphaël Balboni & Ann Sirot
film profile
]
by Anne Sirot and Raphaël Balboni, and documentaries of the calibre of We [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Alice Diop
film profile
]
by Alice Diop, Mr Bachmann and His Class [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile
]
by Maria Speth, The Truffle Hunters [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Gregory Kershaw and Michael…
film profile
]
by Michael Dweck and Gregory Kershaw, and The Most Beautiful Boy in the World [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Kristina Lindström and Kris…
film profile
]
by Kristina Lindstrom and Kristian Petri.

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(Translated from French)

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