25th Edition of Rendez-Vous with French Cinema

“Once you overcome the 1-inch-tall barrier of subtitles, you will be introduced to so many more amazing films.” 

This quote by Bong Joon Ho was aptly stated at the start of the 25th edition of Rendez-Vous with French Cinema. Great Films come from a variety of places that are not exclusive to the ones of our own language. And thanks to events such as this, it is a reminder of all the beautiful expressions of art different cultures have to offer worldwide. UniFrance and Film at the Lincoln Center joined together to co-sponsor the annual festival that showcasing and exemplifies the variety of contemporary French filmmaking in New York. 

The festival kicked off its series of movies with the premiere of The Truth, the first-ever French-language film from Japanese auteur Hirokazu Kore-eda. The film brought together screen legends such as Catherine Deneuve and Juliette Binoche who stunned as a strainer mother-daughter duo. The Truth is a compelling family drama, also co-starring Ethan Hawke.

“It is a great honor to open our 25th edition of Rendez-Vous with French Cinema with Hirokazu Kore-eda’s new film The Truth in the presence of French and American film icons Juliette Binoche and Ethan Hawke,” said the new Executive Director of UniFrance, Daniela Elstner. Hawke made a special appearance in which he thanked his cast and applauded the director of the film who had created this masterpiece.

Afterward, guests enjoyed a reception at The Elizabeth Collective to celebrate the beginning of the series. 

This year’s lineup also features new works by filmmakers such as Bruno Dumont, Alice Winocour, Christoph Honore, Claude Lelouch, Quentin Dupieux, Rebecca Zlotowski, and more. 

Highlights of the festival’s lineup include a number of prizewinning titles and festival hits, including Christophe Honoré’s fantastical On a Magical Night, for which Chiara Mastroianni won an award in Cannes’s Un Certain Regard section; Quentin Dupieux’s absurdist satire Deerskin starring Oscar winner Jean Dujardin and Adèle Haenel; Bruno Dumont’s Joan of Arc, which received a Cannes Special Jury Mention; Mounia Meddour’s Papicha, an unflinching story of young women’s resistance set during the Algerian Civil War; Alice Winocour’s space drama Proxima starring Eva Green; Prix Jean Vigo–winner Burning Ghost, a supernatural tale of love and loss from Stéphane Batut; Nicolas Pariser’s sharp political drama Alice and the Mayor; Damien Manivel’s transfixing Locarno prizewinner Isadora’s Children; The Specials, from the directing duo behind The Intouchables, Olivier Nakache and Éric Toledano, and starring Vincent Cassel and Reda Kateb; and Maïmouna Doucouré’s vibrant hip-hop dance drama Cuties, which recently premiered at Sundance.