DIARY OF A FLEETING AFFAIR
(CHRONIQUE D’UNE LIAISON PASSAGÈRE)
Tuesday, October 11 – Renoir Theatre –5:00 pm
(Screening ends at 7:05 pm)
+ Short Film Presentation: GOOD MORNING MIDNIGHT
FICTION / ROMANTIC COMEDY
Presented in Association with:
Kinology
North American Premiere | France | 2022 | Comedy, Romance | 100 min | In French with English subtitles
Directed by: Emmanuel Mouret
Written by: Emmanuel Mouret, Pierre Giraud
Produced by: Frédéric Niedermayer (Moby Dick)
Cinematography: Laurent Desmet
Film Editing: Martial Salomon
Cast: Sandrine Kiberlain (Charlotte), Vincent Macaigne (Simon), Georgia Scalliet (Louise), Maxence Tual (Manu), Stéphane Mercoyrol (Carlos)
International Sales: Kinology
The chemistry between comic virtuosi Sandrine Kiberlain and Vincent Macaigne is nothing short of magical in Emmanuel Mouret‘s delicate romantic dramedy, Diary of a Fleeting Affair. Another variation on the director’s wry, ongoing conundrum over love and sex / fidelity and infidelity, the beautifully-written, elliptical film immediately plunges us into the heart of that delicious dilemma in scene one. Free-spirited Charlotte, a single mother of three grown kids, and Simon, a conflicted, happily-married man she blithely kissed goodbye at a recent party, meet in a bar. Over their first drink, she suggests they embrace the strong attraction between them and launch into a purely sexual dalliance. One with no emotional ties and no expectations of longevity. Simon hesitantly agrees, “Things are more beautiful, more intense, when we know we may never see them again.” What follows is a series of playful rendezvous, filled with intellectual banter, off-screen sensuality and genuine intimacy. But what permeates the screen in the occasional long pauses and awkward silences is the unspoken bond inevitably building between them. Dare we call it love?
A 1998 graduate of La Fémis film school in Paris, writer/director Emmanuel Mouret was first introduced to American audiences at COLCOA in 2005. Like Woody Allen, he has often played the naïve, clumsy hero in his films, beginning with his first shorts Caresse (1998) and Promène-toi donc tout nu (1999). He has directed 11 feature films to date. Vénus et Fleur (COLCOA 2005) and Change of Address (COLCOA 2007) both premiered at the Director’s Fortnight parallel section at Cannes, and Shall We Kiss? (COLCOA 2008) was presented at the Venice Film Festival. The Art of Love (COLCOA 2012) won the Foreign Press Award at the Hamburg Film Festival and the Best Screenplay Award at the Montréal World Film Festival. Other titles include Another Life (2013); Caprice (COLCOA 2015); and the period film Lady J, which was adapted from a novel by Diderot. Love Affair(s) (COLCOA 2021) was named Best French Film by the French Syndicate of Cinema Critics, nabbed a Best Screenplay Award at the Faro Island Film Festival, a Lumière Award for Best Film, and led France’s César Award nominations that year with a total of 14 nods, including Best Director and Best Film, and picking up the Best Supporting Actress Award for Émilie Dequenne. Diary of a Fleeting Affair premièred at this year’s Cannes Film Festival.
