| 1967 – 105′ – Classic –  Mystery, Action, Comedy  –
Written by Pierre Foucaud, Jean Halain.
Directed by Andre Hunebelle.
Starring Jean Marais, Louis de Funès, Mylène Demongeot, Jacques Dynam, Jean-Roger Caussimont.
In French with English subtitles.
A Kino Lorber release |

In the third and final episode of the trilogy, Fantômas imposes a head tax on the rich, threatening to kill those who do not comply. Journalist Fandor and commissaire Juve are invited to Scotland by Lord McRashley (played by Jean-Roger Caussimon). Lord McRashley, one of Fantômas’ potential victims, uses his castle as the headquarters to set up a trap for the menace called Fantômas.

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| 1965 – 104′ – Classic –  Mystery, Action, Comedy  –
Written by Pierre Foucaud, Jean Halain.
Directed by Andre Hunebelle.
Starring Jean Marais, Louis de Funès, Mylène Demongeot, Jacques Dynam.
In French with English subtitles.
A Kino Lorber release |

In the second episode of the trilogy Fantômas kidnaps distinguished scientist professor Marchand with the aim to develop a super weapon that will enable him to menace the world. Fantômas is also planning to abduct a second scientist, professor Lefebvre. Journalist Fandor develops an ingenious scheme whereby he disguises himself as Lefebvre and attends a scientific conference in Rome, Italy to lure Fantômas into attempting to kidnap him.

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The post FANTÔMAS UNLEASHED appeared first on The American French Film Festival in Los Angeles.

| 1964 – 104′ – Classic –  Mystery, Action, Comedy  –
Written by Pierre Foucaud, Jean Halain.
Directed by Andre Hunebelle.
Starring Jean Marais, Louis de Funès, Mylène Demongeot.
In French with English subtitles.
A Kino Lorber release |

Based on the phenomenally popular French pulp novellas, Louis Feuillade’s outrageous, ambitious FANTÔMAS series became the gold standard of espionage serials in pre-WWI Europe, and laid the foundation for such immortal works as Feuillade’s own Les Vampires and Fritz Lang’s Dr. Mabuse films.René Navarre stars as the criminal lord of Paris, the master of disguise, the creeping assassin in black: Fantômas. Over the course of three feature films (which combined to form a 5 1/2-hour epic), Fantômas, along with his accomplices and mistresses, are pursued by the equally resourceful Inspector Juve (Louis de Funès) and his friend, journalist Jerôme Fandor (Jean Marais).

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| 1979 / 2017   – 97′ – Classic – Digitally restored 40th anniversary – Comedy / Drama –
Written and Directed by Diane Kurys.
Starring Anouk Ferjac, Eléonore Klarwein, Odile Michel, Anouk Ferjac, Yves Rénier, Corinne Dacla, Dora Doll, Tsilla Chelton, Dominique Lavanant, Marthe Villalonga.
World Premiere Digitally Restored Version COLCOA French Film Festival. Official selections: Toronto International Film Festival, New York International Film Festival. Winner Louis Delluc Prize 1977.
In French with English subtitles.
A Cohen Media Group release.|

In the vein of such classic coming of age films as Francois Truffaut’s THE 400 BLOWS, Diane Kurys’s PEPPERMINT SODA captures a particular moment in the tumultuous life and development of young people. Anne (Eléonore Klarwein) and Frederique (Odile Michel) are sisters entering their teen years in 1963 France, torn between divorced parents and struggling with the confines of their strict school. Along the way, they undergo an awakening both political and romantic. Kurys’s celebrated film revels in the comedy and tragedy of the seemingly mundane, weaving a complex tapestry of everyday existence that also touches on the universal.

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| 2013  – 88′ – Comedy –
Co-Written by Mikael Buch and Christophe Honoré.
Directed by Mikael Buch.
Starring Nicolas Maury, Carmen Maura, Jean-François Stévenin, Amira Casar, Clément Sibony, Charlie Dupont, Jean-Claude Bouvet, Jean-Luc Bideau.
Official Selection COLCOA French Film Festival.
In French with English subtitles.
A Zeitgeist Films release.|

Trailer

A sweet and hilarious fusion of gay romantic comedy, Jewish family drama and French bedroom farce, Mikael Buch’s Let My People Go! follows the travails and daydreams of the lovelorn Ruben (CALL MY AGENT’ Nicolas Maury), a French-Jewish gay mailman living in fairytale Finland (where he got his MA in “Comparative Sauna Cultures”) with his gorgeous Nordic boyfriend. But just before Passover, a series of mishaps and a lovers’ quarrel exile the heartbroken Ruben back to Paris and his zany family—including Almodovar goddess Carmen Maura (WOMEN ON THE VERGE OF  NERVOUS BREAKDOWN, VOLVER, THE WOMEN ON THE 6TH FLOOR) as his ditzy mom, and Truffaut regular Jean-François Stévenin as his lothario father. Scripted by director Mikael Buch and renowned arthouse auteur Christophe Honoré (LOVE SONGS), LET MY PEOPLE GO both celebrates and upends Jewish and gay stereotypes with wit, gusto and style to spare. The result is deeply heartwarming, fabulously kitschy and hysterically funny.<

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| 2014 – 104′ – Comedy  –
Written and Directed by Philippe Le Guay.
Starring Fabrice Luchini, Lambert Wilson, Maya Sansa, Laurie Bordesoules, Camille Japy.
Official Selection COLCOA French Film Festival, Tribeca International Film Festival. 3 César Awards nominations including Best Original Script, Best Actor (Fabrice Luchini).
In French with English subtitles.
A Strand Releasing release.|

Trailer

A once great actor, Serge Tanneur (Fabrice Luchini), has retired from the limelight. Too much pressure meant that one day, he simply decided he would act no more. For the past three years, he has lived in solitude on the Île de Ré, spending his time cycling through the windswept landscape.
Fellow actor Gauthier Valence (Lambert Wilson), whose career is flying high, is planning a production of Molière’s play The Misanthrope and wants to offer Serge the title role.
Gauthier is convinced he will accept, since Serge himself has become a misanthrope, withdrawn from society and raging against the world. It would be wonderful to see him return in that part. But Serge plays hard to get. Instead of committing, he suggests they rehearse together for the week. Things look to be going well, especially when a mysterious Italian divorcee (Maya Sansa) brings a romantic spark into his life.
With the play’s producer, Gauthier’s agent and his lover all arriving on the island at the weekend, the pressure is on Serge to make up his mind. Is he merely toying with Gauthier, or does he really intend to take to the stage once more? A new successful collaboration between filmmaker Philippe Leguay and actor Fabrice Luchini three years after THE WOMEN ON THE 6TH FLOOR (Also available on COLCOA VIRTUAL CINEMA).

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The post BICYCLING WITH MOLIERE appeared first on The American French Film Festival in Los Angeles.

| 2014 – 197′ – Mini Series – Comedy, Crime  –
Written and Directed by Bruno Dumont.
Starring Alane Delhaye, Lucy Caron, Bernard Pruvost, Philippe Jore, Corentin Carpentier, Julien Bodard, Baptiste Anquez, Lisa Hartmann  .
Special Presentation Cannes Film Festival – Directors Fortnight. Official Selections Toronto International Film Festival, San Sebastian International Film Festival, New York International Film Festival, Palm Springs International Film Festival.
In French with English subtitles.
A Kino Lorber release. |

Trailer

French auteur Bruno Dumont, best known for uncompromising and austere dramas, proves with the comedy Li’l Quinquin that he is capable of shifting gears without conceding his signature style. This absurdist, metaphysical murder mystery opens with the discovery of human body parts stuffed inside a cow – a literal bete humaine – on the outskirts of the English Channel in northern France. The bumbling and mumbling Captain Van der Weyden (played by Bernard Pruvost) is assigned to investigate the crime, but he has to contend with a young prankster, the mischievous Quinquin (Alane Delhaye), as he proceeds to investigate the case. Dubbed an “epic farce” by the New York Film Festival, LI’L QUINQUIN has been compared to TWIN PEAKS and TRUE DETECTIVE. But simply speaking, LI’L QUINQUIN is “a wonderfully weird and unexpectedly hilarious” (Scott Foundas, Variety) masterwork from one of the most important contemporary French directors.

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| 2015 – 102′ –  Family / Comedy -,
Co-Written & Directed by Laurent Tirard.
Based on Jean-Jacques Sempé and René Goscinny’s best sellers.
Starring Valérie Lemercier, Kad Merad, Mathéo Boisselier, Dominique Lavanant, François-Xavier Demaison, Francis Perrin, Bouli Lanners, Judith Henry.
In French with English subtitles.
A Distrib Films US  release.|

Trailer

It’s the end of the school year. The long-awaited holidays have finally arrived. Little Nicholas, his parents and Granny hit the road heading for the sea, and move into the Beau-Rivage Hotel. At the beach, Nicholas wastes little time making new friends: there’s Ben, who isn’t on holiday because he lives here; Freddy, who eats anything, all the time… even fish… even raw. There’s Jocky, who talks funny because he’s English, Crispin the constant crybaby, and Christopher, who always wants to be right and is really, really annoying. Nicholas also gets to know Elizabeth, a little girl who follows him everywhere, wide-eyed. ”How sweet, those two. I hear wedding bells in the future,” laugh the grown-ups. Nicholas panics! Luckily his pals are there to help him… and to cause trouble. Between the beach, the hotel and the forest, with his friends, his family, the beach attendant and the swimming coach, Nicholas is really going to enjoy a holiday to remember. A faithful adaptation to the screen by Laurent Tirard of the adventures of “Le Petit Nicolas”, created by Jean-Jacques Sempé and René Goscinny.

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| 2018 –  107′ – Comedy / Biopic / Romance –
Written by Academy Award Winner Michel Hazanavicius and Anne Wiazemsky.
Directed by Academy Award Winner Michel Hazanavicius.
Starring Louis Garrel, Stacy Martin, Academy Award Nominee Bérénice Bejo, Micha Lescot, Grégory Gadebois, Marc Fraize.
Official Selection Cannes International Film Festival, Toronto International Film Festival. 4 César Award nominations.
In French with English subtitles. A Cohen Media Group release.|

Trailer

Paris 1967. Jean-Luc Godard, the leading filmmaker of his generation, is shooting LA CHINOISE with the woman he loves, Anne Wiazemsky, 20 years his junior. They are happy, attractive, in love. They marry. But the film’s reception unleashes a profound self-examination in Jean-Luc. The events of May ’68 will amplify this process, and the crisis that shakes the filmmaker. Deep-rooted conflicts and misunderstandings will change him irrevocably. Revolutionary, off-the-wall, destructive, brilliant, he will pursue his choices and his beliefs to the breaking point… With his romantic and slyly funny GODARD MON AMOUR the Academy Award-winning director of THE ARTIST, Michel Hazanavicius, once again affectionately transports moviegoers back to a unique time and place in cinematic history: France, in the late 1960s. Actress Anne Wiazemsky (Stacy Martin) finds herself juggling political protests and artistic challenges in her married life with renowned filmmaker Jean-Luc Godard (Louis Garrel). As her country undergoes enormous cultural change, so too does Anne’s dynamic with her husband. GODARD MON AMOUR is a story of both real love and reel love.

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| 2014 – 117′ – Comedy  –
Written and Directed by Cédric Klapisch.
Starring Romain Duris, Audrey Tautou, Cécile de France, Kelly Reilly, Sandrine Holt, Li Jun Li .
Official Selection COLCOA French Film Festival.
In French with English subtitles.
A Cohen Media Group release.|

Life is complicated, just ask the ghosts of Hegel and Schopenhauer. That’s what Xavier (Romain Duris) does, a genial fortyish author who, wanting to remain close to his young children, trades the comforts of Paris for the cultural kaleidoscope of New York City. Camped out in the living room of his old friend, Isabelle, and her female companion, and making ends meet as a bicycle courier, the freewheeling Xavier rides headlong into a series of fresh emotional “complications” that just might be the thing he needs to get him past a creative slump. Eleven years ago, filmmaker Cédric Klapisch first introduced us to Xavier and his band of merry multi-nationals in the smash L’AUBERGE ESPAGNOLE. Two years later, RUSSIAN DOLLS checked back in to see how life was treating them. CHINESE PUZZLE brings their stories to a frothy and satisfying conclusion that gives each of its stars their moment to shine.

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