Cork says ‘bonjour’ to French Film Festival 

THE Alliance Française Cork French Film Festival is back for its 34th year, bringing the best in Francophone cinema. The festival runs from March 9th to 12th in the Gate Cinema, and the programme consists of films from five French-speaking countries. Whether you are a fluent speaker or speak just a few words of Français, the beauty of subtitles allows everyone to understand what is said.

Valérie David-McGonnell is the president of Alliance Française de Cork and the co-director of the film festival.

She says the programme represents some of the best films in French cinema. The programmers are delighted to open the festival with the Irish premiere of The Innocent (L’Innocent) , a multi-award nominated film by renowned Parisian actor, writer, and director Louis Garrel .

The film is a dark comedy inspired by Garrel’s mother, who falls in love with a man in prison and Garrel’s attempts to derail the relationship. The film was nominated for 11 César Awards, the French film industry equivalent of the Oscars.

The festival has a family film this year, Dilili in Paris , which follows a little girl whose adventures in Paris lead her to cross paths with legends Marie Curie, Toulouse-Lautrec, Claude Debussy, Auguste Renoir, and more. According to David-McGonnell, it is important to include all ages and all levels of language ability.

“We need something for everyone. Our family film is for children in general and children with one or two parents who have French as a first language. It’s imperative to have opportunities for families with French as one of their languages. We are trying to cater to everyone in Cork and beyond, including Irish people and French-speaking people. Every year, people travel to Cork from outside the county to support the festival, which is fantastic.”

The festival also has a film for secondary school students. Rémi, Nobody’s Boy (Rémi Sans Famille) is an adventure film inspired by French author Hector Malot’s famous novel .

“Last year, over 800 students came to our secondary school film. This year we have Rémi, Nobody’s Boy, a little like Oliver Twist. Malot , who wrote the story, lived in the 19th century. He was excellent at writing adventure stories, and this is full of adventure. There’s nothing worse than being bored when you’re a teenager, so we needed to make sure we had an exciting film to show them, and it doesn’t get much more exciting than this film.”

Close is nominated for an Oscar at this year’s Academy Awards. It is a Belgian-made French-language film which centres on best friends, 13-year-old Léo (Eden Dambrine) and Rémi (Gustav de Waele).

The boys are incredibly close and think nothing of resting their heads on each other’s shoulders or hugging. When they start secondary school, their closeness draws negative attention, and a misguided comment about them being gay sets a tragic series of events in motion.

“We are delighted to have a French-language film nominated for an Oscar this year. It’s a Belgian film, and we’re grateful to the Belgian Embassy in Ireland for supporting this screening,” says David-McGonnell.

The programme also includes Eiffel, directed by Martin Bourboulon, which follows the construction of the Eiffel Tower and the love affair between its designer, Gustav Eiffel (Romain Duris) and long-time paramour, Adrienne (Emma Mackey).

Lie With Me (Arrête avec tes mensonges) sees an old romance between Guillaume de Tonquédec and Victor Belmondo and is revisited years after their relationship ends. More Than Ever (Plus que jamais) looks at what happens when illness comes between Hélène (Vicky Krieps ) and Mathieu (Gaspar Ulliel ).

Prima ballerina Élise (Marion Barbeau) must learn to cope when a devasting ankle injury jeopardises her career in Rise ( EnCorps ), and Viking is a comedy-drama that follows a group of volunteers as they prepare for a mission to Mars. Set in Senegal, Xalé is a thriller that sees a family devastated by an incident which has far-reaching consequences. This year’s theme is travel, and each film brings the audience on a journey, giving us an insight into life in French-speaking countries. David-McGonnell says that watching films gives you an appetite for travel.

“Allowing you to travel virtually through film gives you an appetite to travel. All our films this year will inspire you, especially Two Tickets to Greece (Les Cyclades) , about a group of French friends (Laure Calamy, Kristin Scott Thomas, Olivia Côte) who travel to Greece. We get to travel with them in beautiful Greece and listen to French, so it is a real opportunity to travel.”

David-McGonnell also says Driving Madeleine (Une belle course) is an excellent pick for those with wanderlust. “It is about a disillusioned taxi driver who drives an elderly woman through Paris on her last journey before she goes to live in a retirement home. It is a very moving film and a chance to see different views of Paris.”

David-McGonnell says that although all the festival films are equally good, she has a soft spot for Driving Madeleine as the director and two of the actors are from her region in France .

“The director, Christian Carion, and two of the main actors are from my region in France. I come from the north, from Hauts-de-France, and it is great to support my home territory.”

David-McGonnell says the films were programmed with French Honorary Consul in Cork Josselin Le Gall, and they have worked together to bring a variety of films and genres to the county .

“Cork and France have a long history. We are celebrating the 225th anniversary of ‘The Year of the French,’ which celebrates France’s attempt to help the Society of United Irishmen against British rule by sending ships to Ireland in 1798. Before that, France tried to land ships in Bantry to support the United Irishmen. Unfortunately, it failed due to bad weather but solidified France and Cork’s relationship.”

The festival also coincides with Francophonie Month in Ireland, which celebrates the French language and the diversity of French language countries.

• For the festival programme, see here