De Gaulle

Biographical drama is one of French cinema’s most established and beloved genres, and Gabriel Le Bomin’s spectacularly-mounted De Gaulle stirringly depicts a crucial period in the life of one of the most famous (if not infamous) figures in the nation’s modern history, doing it enormous justice in the process.

It is May 1940, where the war between Germany and its neighbours has intensified. Shockingly, the French army collapses, and Hitler seizes Paris. The government is in panic and considers accepting defeat, but recently promoted two-star General Charles de Gaulle (The Translators’ Lambert Wilson, in a career-best performance), wants to change the course of history...

His wife, Yvonne (Isabelle Carré), is his first support, but very quickly events spiral out of control and separate them - she and their children set out on the roads of exodus, as Charles travels to London to meet with Winston Churchill. He wants to make another voice heard: that of resistance.

Matching the impact and scale of recent war dramas The Darkest Hour and The King’s Choice as it depicts crucial incidents in gripping tick-tock fashion, Le Bomin expertly mixes the historic and the Romanesque, charting both a military debacle and the eventual revelation of a destiny. De Gaulle is filmmaking on a grand scale, with an impact to match.

Eiffel

The iconic Eiffel Tower proudly stands on the Champ de Mars in the heart of Paris as a beacon of French artistry and ingenuity. But what do we know of Gustave Eiffel, the engineering genius to whom the wrought-iron lattice tower is named after? This lovingly detailed biopic recreates Paris in the late 19th century to tell his story, as the New Zealand premiere of the biggest French production of 2020.

Having already achieved international recognition for his work – which included the framework for the Statue of Liberty – Eiffel was in high demand. He wanted to design the Paris Subway, but the French government had other ideas: they wanted something special for the 1889 World’s Fair. Initially struggling for inspiration, everything changes when Eiffel encounters a mysterious woman that he once knew many years ago.

An all-star cast that includes Romain Duris (The Spanish Apartment) as Eiffel and Emma Mackey (Netflix’s Sex Education) as Adrienne Bourgès, the woman from his past, lead this gorgeous historical film, inviting audiences to be swept away by the passion and brilliance behind the creation of France’s greatest cultural icon.

Perfumes

Emmanuelle Devos (Read My Lips) and Gregory Montel (Call My Agent) shine in this fragrant French drama.

Anne Walberg (Devos) was once the star of her industry – a perfumer whose ability to produce enticing new fragrances was second to none and which saw her rise through a competitive landscape. She remains in demand, but her intemperate behaviour has made her difficult. However, striking up an unlikely friendship with her equally troubled new driver, Anne sees a way to return to the top, which might offer a solution to both their problems.

Grégory Magne’s intelligent drama is a visual and sophisticated treat.

★★★★ “A quietly delightful French comedy” - The Times

★★★★ “Enchanting” - The Irish Times

★★★★ “Admirably refreshing” - The Guardian

Skies of Lebanon

A poetic blending of the personal and political, Skies of Lebanon combines live action with animation to create a vivid picture of Lebanon, inspired by the family history of filmmaker Chloé Mazlo. Using stories told to her by her grandmother of life during the Lebanese Civil War, Mazlo crafts a touching and heart-breaking story of love during wartime.

Alba Rohrwacher (Happy as Lazzaro) plays Alice, a Swiss woman who moved to Beirut in the 1950s and falls in love with a Lebanese man. Wajdi Mouawad (author of the play Incendies, which was the source material for Denis Villeneuve’s 2010 film) plays Joseph, an astrophysicist with dreams of sending his fellow citizens into space, and the object of Alice’s affection. Joseph and Alice appear to lead the perfect life until their bliss is ripped apart by the civil war and nothing will be the same again.

An official selection for the 2020 Cannes International Critics’ Week, Skies of Lebanon stunningly gives shape to the emotional undercurrents felt by the characters through the use of animation. This rewarding and quietly devastating cinematic experience announces Mazlo’s arrival as an important new talent.

The Man in the Hat

The Man In The Hat sets off from Marseilles in a small Fiat 500. On the seat beside him is a framed photograph of an unknown woman. Behind him is a 2CV into which is squeezed Five Bald Men. Why are they chasing him? And how can he shake them off?

As he travels North through France, he encounters razeteurs, women with stories to tell, bullfights, plenty of delicious food, a damp man, mechanics, nuns, a convention of Chrystallographers and much more. And always, on his tail, the Five Bald Men.

As the Fiat 500 wends its way across the mountains, gorges and bridges of France, the 2CV hard behind him, the Thin Man (Ciaran Hinds) comes face to face with the vivid eccentricities of an old country on an old continent.

★★★★ "It's quirky and touching, and if you want to travel but don't want to travel, then off-the-beaten-track France will do your heart good." - RTÉ

"...a picturesque odyssey across the French countryside, the best Provençal driving holiday you’ve never had." - The Guardian

"Beautifully made, sumptuously shot and a definite change of pace from the hectic bustle of blockbuster cinema." - HeyUGuys

A Friendly Tale

A superb all-star quartet in stellar form leads the terrific new comedy of manners from Daniel Cohen, the story of life-long friends whose loyalties to each other are unexpectedly tested.

Life loving 40-something Lea (Oscar nominee Bérénice Bejo, The Artist) works in retail, and is happily married to Marc (Vincent Cassel), a conservative and somewhat insecure salesman. Lea has long been considered a dreamer by her know-it-all best friend Karine (the inimitable Florence Foresti), who seems content enough with her advertising executive job and life with gentle giant Francis (François Damiens) and their two kids. But something is about to upset the intricate balance of this quartet.

Over dinner one evening, Lea unexpectedly announces she is trying her hand at writing a novel, a declaration met with some bemusement; Marc is certainly unconvinced. Lea’s burst of creativity triggers an apparently threatened Karine to pick up her own pen, and even Francis dusts off a long-abandoned artistic side. When Lea’s book is picked up by a major publisher great things seem assured, if only her friends and husband can handle it…

Antoinette in the Cévennes

An Official Selection of the 2020 Cannes International Film Festival, writer/director Caroline Vignal’s hilarious and life-affirming romantic comedy stars the wonderful Laure Calamy (Call My Agent!, Sibyl) as a woman who finds herself on a journey of self-discovery in somewhat unexpected circumstances.

40-something primary school teacher Antoinette (Calamy) has been eagerly looking forward to a long-planned weekend escape with married lover Vladimir, the father of one of her pupils. However, their plans are upended by his wife’s booking of a surprise hiking trip in the picturesque Cévennes mountains in the South of France. Completely unversed in the ways of the wilderness, the spurned Antoinette impulsively decides to follow them, and once paired with an unlikely companion – an obstinate but evidently wise grey donkey named Patrick – discovers much, much more than she bargained for...

Carried by the remarkable Calamy and her scene-stealing co-star, Vignal’s wonderfully mischievous film offers both its lead character and audiences an uproarious and poignant reminder of the virtues of independence, and that the journey, not the destination, is often the reward.

Delicious

Éric Besnard’s mouth-watering new film (in the grand tradition of Chocolat and Big Night) is set in 1789, just prior to the Revolution, when gastronomy is strictly the domain of the aristocrats. When the talented but prideful cook Manceron (Grégory Gadebois) serves an unapproved dish of his own creation at a dinner hosted by the self-entitled Duke of Chamfort, the repercussions are brutal, and he is promptly dismissed. Wounded, Manceron retreats with his son to a regional inn visited only infrequently by travellers, and where vegetable soup is the common meal. When a mysterious woman (Isabelle Carré) arrives and offers to pay to become his apprentice, the stage is set for a wildly enjoyable tale of reignited passion, mentorship and revenge... and of the creation of France’s very first restaurant

Eiffel

The iconic Eiffel Tower proudly stands on the Champ de Mars in the heart of Paris as a beacon of French artistry and ingenuity. But what do we know of Gustave Eiffel, the engineering genius to whom the wrought-iron lattice tower is named after? This lovingly detailed biopic recreates Paris in the late 19th century to tell his story, as the New Zealand premiere of the biggest French production of 2020.

Having already achieved international recognition for his work – which included the framework for the Statue of Liberty – Eiffel was in high demand. He wanted to design the Paris Subway, but the French government had other ideas: they wanted something special for the 1889 World’s Fair. Initially struggling for inspiration, everything changes when Eiffel encounters a mysterious woman that he once knew many years ago.

An all-star cast that includes Romain Duris (The Spanish Apartment) as Eiffel and Emma Mackey (Netflix’s Sex Education) as Adrienne Bourgès, the woman from his past, lead this gorgeous historical film, inviting audiences to be swept away by the passion and brilliance behind the creation of France’s greatest cultural icon.

Only the Animals

Evelyne Ducat (Valeria Bruni Tedeschi) has gone missing. Following a snowstorm, her car is found on the road to a rural French plateau where a few isolated farms struggle to survive.

While the local gendarmes look for answers, five people, each of them somehow linked to the woman’s disappearance, try desperately to protect their secrets. But none of them suspect that the whole story began far from the windswept French highlands, on another continent where the sun beats down and where poverty can drive people to extremes.

Dominik Moll’s sophisticated French thriller Only the Animals watches quietly as an all-star cast are connected by desire, fear, ambition, poverty and murder.

How to Be a Good Wife

The sparkling new comedy from César-winner Martin Provost (The Midwife, Seraphine).

It’s 1967. The immaculate and morally upright Paulette Van Der Beck (the ever-exquisite Binoche) and her husband Robert have been running Van der Beck’s School of Housekeeping and Good Manners in the lush regions of Alsace for over two decades, with the help of Paulette’s eccentric stepsister Gilberte (Moreau) and the school’s communist-fearing, ex-Resistance nun Marie-Therese (a scene-stealing Lvovsky). Their mission: to train teenagers to become perfect housewives, in times when women were expected to be largely subservient.

After an accident turns clockwork order into chaos, Paulette discovers that the school is on the verge of financial ruin. Forced to assume executive responsibilities, she is flustered even more by an encounter with her long-lost first love, André (Edouard Baer), who becomes relentless in his desire to rekindle their romance. Meanwhile, a sweeping nationwide protest movement is transforming society around them, encouraging the school’s pupils to challenge authority and question their own desires and beliefs… Before long the entire group undertakes a journey of liberation, one that will transform all their lives.

Striking a near-magical tone that’s both satirical and tender, this tale of solidarity looks set to become one of the year’s biggest comedic hits.

Miss

Twenty years ago, Billy Elliot showed us that boys can dance and now Miss will win hearts as it proves that boys can compete in beauty pageants. The new film by Ruben Alves (The Gilded Cage) is a feel-good story about overcoming hardship and prejudice, with a fun and light-hearted commentary on how attitudes towards gender are shaped. It is the best kind of thought-provoking film: one that is celebratory and joyful.

Ever since childhood Alex (Alexandre Wetter) had wanted to enter the annual Miss France beauty pageant, despite being a boy. However, adolescence was not kind and Alex suffered huge blows to his self-esteem. When an unexpected encounter allows Alex to once more pursue his dreams, he does everything he can to transcend the traditional binary gender definitions that threaten to hold him back.

Miss is the first major acting role for Wetter, a model who has made a career out of defying gender norms. Wetter’s personal journey makes them the perfect person to play Alex in this inspirational film that inspires us to rethink the status quo.

The Rose Maker

The magnificent Catherine Frot (Marguerite) takes centre stage as Eve, a world-renowned rose farmer dealing with hard times. In this easy-going and good-natured comedy, Eve allows herself to reluctantly accept help from an unlikely source and by doing so, discovers new aspects of life that are worth nurturing.

Eve used to be content living almost in complete isolation to focus on her passion of growing roses. When financial ruin threatens her business and livelihood, desperate measures are required. The solution comes in the form of three new workers, who are recruited cheaply from a back-to-work program. There’s just one small problem: they know absolutely nothing about growing roses, or really anything at all. Eve is going to have to tend to a lot more than just her rose bushes to keep her head above water.

Funny and kind-hearted, The Rose Maker makes full use of casting veteran actor Frot alongside a diverse ensemble of emerging actors to play the hapless farmhands; emphasising how underneath all the obvious differences, there is a shared humanity and the potential for friendship.

The Wedding Speech

Imagine being stuck at an excruciating never-ending family dinner. You and your girlfriend are on a break and now she’s not answering your messages. And to top it off, you’re asked to give a wedding speech even though you are neurotic and hate public speaking. This is the situation Adrien (Benjamin Lavernhe, C’est la vie) is facing and the results will have you in stitches.

In this smart and sophisticated arthouse comedy, we are taken deep into Adrien’s mind, to experience his paranoid thoughts and anxiety-fuelled memories about his family. Based on the book by acclaimed comic artist Fabrice Caro, The Wedding Speech skilfully adapts the novel’s stream of consciousness style of writing through inventive cinematic techniques used to break the fourth wall.

This film from director Laurent Tirard, whose previous crowd-pleasing films include Astérix and Obélix: God Save Britannia and Little Nicholas, hits all the funny bones as it charts Adrien’s unravelling. Officially selected for Cannes and co-starring Sara Giraudeau (The Bureau, The Translators) and Kyan Khojandi (Rosalie Blum), it is not to be missed.