The 76th edition of the Cannes film festival concludes today with the Closing Ceremony and presentation of the coveted award, the Palme d’Or which was awarded to Justine Triet’s Anatomy of a Fall.
The Jury, presided over by director Ruben Östlund and includes director Maryam Touzani, actor Denis Ménochet, writer/director Rungano Nyoni, actress/director Brie Larson, actor/director Paul Dano, writer Atiq Rahimi, director Damián Szifron and director Julia Ducournau, selected the winners from the 21 films in Competition this year.
The Closing Ceremony marks the end of the 76th Festival de Cannes, and was followed by the screening of Peter Sohn‘s film Elementary in the Grand Théâtre Lumière.
Related: Cannes Film Festival Winners Announced
The last 2 weeks the Croisette has been a buzz with extravagant parties and bold fashion statements captured at the 21 world premieres on the Palais des Festivals red carpet.
Johnny Depp’s period...
The Jury, presided over by director Ruben Östlund and includes director Maryam Touzani, actor Denis Ménochet, writer/director Rungano Nyoni, actress/director Brie Larson, actor/director Paul Dano, writer Atiq Rahimi, director Damián Szifron and director Julia Ducournau, selected the winners from the 21 films in Competition this year.
The Closing Ceremony marks the end of the 76th Festival de Cannes, and was followed by the screening of Peter Sohn‘s film Elementary in the Grand Théâtre Lumière.
Related: Cannes Film Festival Winners Announced
The last 2 weeks the Croisette has been a buzz with extravagant parties and bold fashion statements captured at the 21 world premieres on the Palais des Festivals red carpet.
Johnny Depp’s period...
- 5/27/2023
- by Robert Lang
- Deadline Film + TV
Denmark’s “Norwegian Offspring,” by Marlene Emilie Lyngstad, from Den Danske Filmskole, was chosen as the winner of the 26th edition of La Cinef.
In the story, a mother passes away and her estranged son – obsessed with theories about the repression of male sexuality in modern society – starts longing for offspring of his own.
“The jury was captivated by this bold filmmaker,” said Ildikó Enyedi, who presided over the jury.
“It made us laugh and cringe at the same time.”
Earlier, the Hungarian director – behind “On Body and Soul” and, most recently, “The Story of My Wife,” which was at Cannes – addressed the audience: “You made it. To be in this room, it’s a lot and we all know it. We really felt for you [during our discussions]. We tried to go for the raw talent, for the promise. I just hope we did a good job, because we wanted to.”
“It...
In the story, a mother passes away and her estranged son – obsessed with theories about the repression of male sexuality in modern society – starts longing for offspring of his own.
“The jury was captivated by this bold filmmaker,” said Ildikó Enyedi, who presided over the jury.
“It made us laugh and cringe at the same time.”
Earlier, the Hungarian director – behind “On Body and Soul” and, most recently, “The Story of My Wife,” which was at Cannes – addressed the audience: “You made it. To be in this room, it’s a lot and we all know it. We really felt for you [during our discussions]. We tried to go for the raw talent, for the promise. I just hope we did a good job, because we wanted to.”
“It...
- 5/25/2023
- by Marta Balaga
- Variety Film + TV
Get in touch to send in cinephile news and discoveries. For daily updates follow us @NotebookMUBI, and sign up for our weekly email newsletter by clicking here.REMEMBRANCEIsland in the Sun.The singer, actor, and civil rights activist Harry Belafonte has died, aged 96. Christina Newland wrote a piece on Belafonte for Notebook in 2020, praising his politics, his style, his music, and his work ss stage and screen. "His impact on American mid-century life has been so significant that it’s difficult to define him as any single thing, or to see him occupying only one role."NEWSNo Bears.Jafar Panahi has left Iran for the first time in fourteen years, it is being reported. Posting from an airport, his wife Tahereh Saeedi tweeted that, “after 14 years, Jafar’s ban was cancelled" and, that finally, the pair are "going to travel together for a few days…”The Cannes Film Festival have...
- 5/2/2023
- MUBI
Hungarian director and screenwriter Ildikó Enyedi has been announced as president of the Cannes Film Festival jury deciding the Short Film Palme d’Or and the 3 La Cinef prizes for student films in the Official Selection.
She will be joined by Iranian-American screenwriter and director Ana Lily Amirpour, Canadian actress and director Charlotte Le Bon, French actress Karidja Touré and Israeli filmmaker Shlomi Elkabetz.
Enyedi got her international break in Cannes in 1989 when her first film My 20th Century was selected for Un Certain Regard and won the Caméra d’Or
“When, in 1989, in that magical year of change in Europe I arrived in Cannes with my first feature film – with exhibitions banned, a student film banned and many difficulties – it was an unbelievable feeling,” said Enyedi.
“Being chosen meant to be understood, to be seen for real, as if this huge, colorful and flamboyant community of brilliant artists and...
She will be joined by Iranian-American screenwriter and director Ana Lily Amirpour, Canadian actress and director Charlotte Le Bon, French actress Karidja Touré and Israeli filmmaker Shlomi Elkabetz.
Enyedi got her international break in Cannes in 1989 when her first film My 20th Century was selected for Un Certain Regard and won the Caméra d’Or
“When, in 1989, in that magical year of change in Europe I arrived in Cannes with my first feature film – with exhibitions banned, a student film banned and many difficulties – it was an unbelievable feeling,” said Enyedi.
“Being chosen meant to be understood, to be seen for real, as if this huge, colorful and flamboyant community of brilliant artists and...
- 4/20/2023
- by Melanie Goodfellow
- Deadline Film + TV
A sulky young pianist is talent-spotted at a Paris station in this dull drama that is enlivened by Kristin Scott Thomas and the charismatic Karidja Touré
What is it about the classical music world – populated mostly by people with sophisticated tastes and exacting standards – that so often inspires film-makers to make sentimental, middlebrow schlock? Does it spring from some patronising if well-intentioned desire to make high art available to consumers of lower-browed forms, such as cinema? Or is that too many movies about classical music are made by people who barely understand the milieu, the music, or institutions that nourish them?...
What is it about the classical music world – populated mostly by people with sophisticated tastes and exacting standards – that so often inspires film-makers to make sentimental, middlebrow schlock? Does it spring from some patronising if well-intentioned desire to make high art available to consumers of lower-browed forms, such as cinema? Or is that too many movies about classical music are made by people who barely understand the milieu, the music, or institutions that nourish them?...
- 7/9/2020
- by Leslie Felperin
- The Guardian - Film News
Frustrated with the lack of diversity and inclusion in the French film industry, 16 black actresses took to the red carpet in Cannes on Wednesday night, staging a protest against racism just days after 82 women, led by Cannes jury president Cate Blanchett, launched their own call for gender equality.
Led by actress Aïssa Maïga (“Bamako”), the group struck a defiant note while promoting a new book, “Noire N’est Pas Mon Métier” (My Profession is Not Black), which Maïga co-authored.
Speaking with Variety, the actress called it “a historic moment” as 16 black women linked arms on the red carpet outside the Palais for the first time. “It was beyond my wildest dreams,” she said. “For 20 years, I’ve been acting, and I’ve never felt like this.
“This was a statement we wanted to make to the entire world.”
The book features candid stories about the prejudice faced by black actresses in the French film industry.
Led by actress Aïssa Maïga (“Bamako”), the group struck a defiant note while promoting a new book, “Noire N’est Pas Mon Métier” (My Profession is Not Black), which Maïga co-authored.
Speaking with Variety, the actress called it “a historic moment” as 16 black women linked arms on the red carpet outside the Palais for the first time. “It was beyond my wildest dreams,” she said. “For 20 years, I’ve been acting, and I’ve never felt like this.
“This was a statement we wanted to make to the entire world.”
The book features candid stories about the prejudice faced by black actresses in the French film industry.
- 5/17/2018
- by Christopher Vourlias
- Variety Film + TV
It’s the honesty of Greta Gerwig’s “Lady Bird” that really makes the Saoirse Ronan-starring coming-of-age movie sing. Yes, it’s very funny and filled with enough genuinely great performances that it’s actually debatable which supporting star turns in the best work (it’s Laurie Metcalf, or maybe Beanie Feldstein, or possibly Tracy Letts), but what makes Gerwig’s movie such a gem is the honesty that infuses every part and every scene. Ronan’s Christine “Lady Bird” McPherson is a work-in-progress, but she’s also kind of a jerk, and Gerwig never shies away from showing the angstier, angrier side of growing up.
So often, high school-set features tend to lean into the more fun side of those four years, building up to the big dance or the big test or the big graduation, and while Lady Bird is consumed with getting to the next step,...
So often, high school-set features tend to lean into the more fun side of those four years, building up to the big dance or the big test or the big graduation, and while Lady Bird is consumed with getting to the next step,...
- 12/5/2017
- by Kate Erbland
- Indiewire
The Champs-Élysées Film Festival, created by producer, distributor and exhibitor Sophie Dulac, is a commitment to Parisian audiences for a cinematic trip between France and the USA showcasing the best of French and American independent cinema and highlighting New Orleans.
Six American indies and six French indies will judged for two separate awards and will also receive audience awards. The 2017 Jury consist of talents coming from all kinds of backgrounds and having a strong involvement in French independent cinema : — Lolita Chammah, actress, — Lola Créton, actress, — Vincent Dedienne, actor, humorist and author, — Jérémie Elkaïm, actor, screenwriter and director, — Camélia Jordana, singer and actress, — Gustave Kervern, director and actor — Karidja Touré, actress.
Classic Claude Brasseur back when…
The classic French actor Claude Brasseur will be the Guest of Honor along with the American director Alex Ross Perry and director Jerry Schatzberg. Other guests include directors Arnaud and Jean-Marie Larrieu, the French actress Aïssa Maïga.
Six American indies and six French indies will judged for two separate awards and will also receive audience awards. The 2017 Jury consist of talents coming from all kinds of backgrounds and having a strong involvement in French independent cinema : — Lolita Chammah, actress, — Lola Créton, actress, — Vincent Dedienne, actor, humorist and author, — Jérémie Elkaïm, actor, screenwriter and director, — Camélia Jordana, singer and actress, — Gustave Kervern, director and actor — Karidja Touré, actress.
Classic Claude Brasseur back when…
The classic French actor Claude Brasseur will be the Guest of Honor along with the American director Alex Ross Perry and director Jerry Schatzberg. Other guests include directors Arnaud and Jean-Marie Larrieu, the French actress Aïssa Maïga.
- 5/16/2017
- by Sydney Levine
- Sydney's Buzz
It’s been 3 years since 23-year-old French actress Karidja Touré’s break-out film, “Girlhood,” premiered at the Cannes Film Festival to critical acclaim, before being released in several major markets around the world, including right here in the USA. The film,… Continue Reading →...
- 3/20/2017
- by shadowandact
- ShadowAndAct
Martha Canga Antonio and Aboubakr Bensaihi are impressive as young Afro-Belgian lovers from rival gangs, but the hip-hop video aesthetic is obnoxious
Set in Brussels, this modern-day Romeo and Juliet story unfolds the tale of a doomed romance between Marwan (Aboubakr Bensaihi) and Mavela (Martha Canga Antonio), young lovers whose families come from north and sub-Saharan Africa, respectively, and who belong to rival gangs.
There’s a lot to admire, from the honesty about the brutality of gang culture, its pungent sense of place and the vitality of its young cast. With her breathy Betty Boop voice and impressive dramatic range, Canga Antonio represents a particular discovery here. I long to see her cast in a female buddy movie with Karidja Touré, the star of Girlhood, perhaps in a Francophone urban remake of Thelma and Louise.
Continue reading...
Set in Brussels, this modern-day Romeo and Juliet story unfolds the tale of a doomed romance between Marwan (Aboubakr Bensaihi) and Mavela (Martha Canga Antonio), young lovers whose families come from north and sub-Saharan Africa, respectively, and who belong to rival gangs.
There’s a lot to admire, from the honesty about the brutality of gang culture, its pungent sense of place and the vitality of its young cast. With her breathy Betty Boop voice and impressive dramatic range, Canga Antonio represents a particular discovery here. I long to see her cast in a female buddy movie with Karidja Touré, the star of Girlhood, perhaps in a Francophone urban remake of Thelma and Louise.
Continue reading...
- 8/18/2016
- by Leslie Felperin
- The Guardian - Film News
In Yes Please, Amy Poehler writes,
If you ever want to see heaven, watch a bunch of young girls play. They are all sweat and skinned knees. Energy and open faces.
Celine Sciamma's 2014 film Girlhood opens with just such a small slice of heaven: a group of French teenage girls play American football in an empty stadium. Unobserved by outside eyes, the girls throw, and tackle, and sprint. If not for the flashes of eyeliner and braids peaking out of their helmets, you'd be hardpressed to figure out who these young athletes were at all. This brief but intense scene is the last time these young women will be so carefree and unwatched. The rest of Sciamma's film is about growing up watched and watching, as one girl tries to break free of the constraints placed on her by class, gender, and race.
Marieme is a tall, shy tomboy living in the outskirts of Paris.
If you ever want to see heaven, watch a bunch of young girls play. They are all sweat and skinned knees. Energy and open faces.
Celine Sciamma's 2014 film Girlhood opens with just such a small slice of heaven: a group of French teenage girls play American football in an empty stadium. Unobserved by outside eyes, the girls throw, and tackle, and sprint. If not for the flashes of eyeliner and braids peaking out of their helmets, you'd be hardpressed to figure out who these young athletes were at all. This brief but intense scene is the last time these young women will be so carefree and unwatched. The rest of Sciamma's film is about growing up watched and watching, as one girl tries to break free of the constraints placed on her by class, gender, and race.
Marieme is a tall, shy tomboy living in the outskirts of Paris.
- 12/31/2015
- by Anne Marie
- FilmExperience
★★★★☆ Céline Sciamma proves with new film Girlhood (2014) that she's adept at crafting universally accessible coming-of-age stories. In this newest go-round, Sciamma trains her lens on the housing projects of an outlying Parisian neighbourhood. Here, the story revolves with notions of young women crafting their identities both publicly and privately. Despite the world of the film, Sciamma never falls into cultural clichés or stereotyping. She provides new avenues to experience depictions of turbulent teenage years. What results is a thoroughly absorbing drama that, much like the teenage experience, is felt very intensely in its highs as well as its lows.
Marieme (Karidja Touré) is a 16-year-old tomboy facing stalled academic prospects and a less-than-comforting home life. She crushes on her brother's good friend Ismaël (Idrissa Diabaté) and plays American football with other girls her age. But there is the sense of unfulfillment, that Marieme has not quite found her niche. Cue...
Marieme (Karidja Touré) is a 16-year-old tomboy facing stalled academic prospects and a less-than-comforting home life. She crushes on her brother's good friend Ismaël (Idrissa Diabaté) and plays American football with other girls her age. But there is the sense of unfulfillment, that Marieme has not quite found her niche. Cue...
- 9/7/2015
- by CineVue UK
- CineVue
Picking the best movies that come out in any given year is no easy feat. With over 800 movies released theatrically, there’s plenty to digest. As we reach the halfway point of the year, we decided to publish a list of our favourite movies thus far, in hopes that our readers can catch up on some of the films they might have missed out on. Below, you shall find the list of the top 30 films of 2015 to date, a list that ranges from independent horror films to documentary to foreign films and so much more. Here’s is part two of our three part list.
****
20. The 100-Year-Old Man Who Climbed Out the Window and Disappeared
Eccentrically layered yet simple in plot, the Swedish adaptation of Jonas Jonasson’s novel does a fine job in balancing satire with tenderness. Telling the story of Allan Karlsson (Robert Gustafsson), a 100-year-old explosive enthusiast...
****
20. The 100-Year-Old Man Who Climbed Out the Window and Disappeared
Eccentrically layered yet simple in plot, the Swedish adaptation of Jonas Jonasson’s novel does a fine job in balancing satire with tenderness. Telling the story of Allan Karlsson (Robert Gustafsson), a 100-year-old explosive enthusiast...
- 6/3/2015
- by Staff
- SoundOnSight
Two films about poor black teen girls offer harrowing — and very universal — portraits of how our culture tries to crush the spirit out of all girls. I’m “biast” (pro): I’m desperate for stories about girls and women
I’m “biast” (con): nothing
(what is this about? see my critic’s minifesto)
You want to know what it feels like to be a teenaged girl? The opening sequence of Girlhood nails it in a way I promise you have never seen before on film. A group of rowdy, rambunctious girls is walking home from their sporting match — American football, of all things, with all its rough and tumble — chatting and laughing among themselves. Until they come upon a gang of teenaged boys just hanging out… and then they shut up in an instant as they scurry past. The boys don’t do or say anything to them; they don’t have to.
I’m “biast” (con): nothing
(what is this about? see my critic’s minifesto)
You want to know what it feels like to be a teenaged girl? The opening sequence of Girlhood nails it in a way I promise you have never seen before on film. A group of rowdy, rambunctious girls is walking home from their sporting match — American football, of all things, with all its rough and tumble — chatting and laughing among themselves. Until they come upon a gang of teenaged boys just hanging out… and then they shut up in an instant as they scurry past. The boys don’t do or say anything to them; they don’t have to.
- 5/8/2015
- by MaryAnn Johanson
- www.flickfilosopher.com
Title: Bande de Filles (Girlhood) Director: Céline Sciamma Starring: Karidja Touré, Assa Sylla, Lindsay Karamoh, Marietou Touré, Idrissa Diabate, Simina Soumare, Cyril Mendy, Djibril Gueye. ‘Girlhood’ is not Richard Linklater’s female equivalent to ‘Boyhood’, but surely is just as powerful in telling a teenage girl’s coming of age story. Writer-director Céline Sciamma, just as she did in her previous movies, ‘Water Lilies’ and ‘Tomboy,’ newly focuses on the struggles and conflicts of young women in today’s pressure-filled society. She decides to pay homage to Jean-Luc Godard’s classic ‘Bande a Part’ (Band of Outsiders), naming her latest work ‘Bande de Filles,’ (Band of Girls) as both stories explore the strivings of [ Read More ]
The post Bande de Filles (Girlhood) Movie Review appeared first on Shockya.com.
The post Bande de Filles (Girlhood) Movie Review appeared first on Shockya.com.
- 5/6/2015
- by Chiara Spagnoli Gabardi
- ShockYa
It didn’t involve Richard Linklater in any capacity and it didn’t take 12 years to make but Girlhood shares more than a little with its Oscar-nominated near-namesake. For one thing, it’s coming-of-age themes involve a central character – Karidja Touré’s Marieme – trying to make sense of an often-baffling, sometimes plain painful world; for another, music is a key ley line, both in the film and its protagonist’s life. This clip, in which Marieme and her friends soar to a slice of Rihanna’s ‘Diamonds’, gives a flavour of both.brightcove.createExperiences();Described by Empire as “an empathetic, powerful, almost documentary-like drama”, Girlhood depicts Marieme’s life on a Parisian banlieue. In another time and place you can see her crossing paths with Vinz, Hubert and Saïd from La Haine, but her crew can be an intimidating bunch in their own right. The character is enriched by other relationships,...
- 4/24/2015
- EmpireOnline
Girlhood break-out stars Karidja Touré and Assa Sylla She has explored girls in childhood (Tomboy), adolesence (Water Lilies) and finally on the verge of adulthood in Girlhood, receiving its Scottish premiere at Glasgow Film Festival. Now French director Céline Schiamma thinks it is time to move on although she has yet to find out in which direction...
Somewhere in the far reaches of the gilded bedroom turned interview space in the Grand Hotel in Paris, Céline Sciamma hangs out of the window high above the swirling traffic, mobile clamped in one hand and a dangling cigarette in the other.
Although Girlhood (the latest of three films after Water Lilies and Tomboy, an “accidental trilogy”), was premiered in the Cannes Director’s Fortnight last year, she finds herself still talking about it as its international career kicks in at such festivals as London and last month in Sundance. Mobile and cigarette...
Somewhere in the far reaches of the gilded bedroom turned interview space in the Grand Hotel in Paris, Céline Sciamma hangs out of the window high above the swirling traffic, mobile clamped in one hand and a dangling cigarette in the other.
Although Girlhood (the latest of three films after Water Lilies and Tomboy, an “accidental trilogy”), was premiered in the Cannes Director’s Fortnight last year, she finds herself still talking about it as its international career kicks in at such festivals as London and last month in Sundance. Mobile and cigarette...
- 2/19/2015
- by Richard Mowe
- eyeforfilm.co.uk
It takes only a look to unsettle, even undo, a teenage girl. A look can be so many things at once: an ogling, a scrutiny, a provocation, a form of surveillance and control. In “Girlhood,” the roving eyes of older boys transform a throng of rowdy female athletes into a flock of disconcertingly meek mademoiselles, their heads sunk as low as they’ll go without dislocating any vertebrae. Those same girls can’t bear the aggressive stares of other girls, either. The hostile female gaze transfigures them into raving lunatics, suddenly seized by the urgent need to slam their knuckles into an enemy’s sneering,...
- 1/29/2015
- by Inkoo Kang
- The Wrap
Girlhood (Bande de fille) Strand Releasing Reviewed for Shockya by Harvey Karten. Data-based on Rotten Tomatoes. Grade: B+ Director: Céline Sciamma Screenwriter: Céline Sciamma Cast: Karidja Touré, Asssa Sylla, Lindsay Karamoh, Mariétou Touré, Idrissa Diabaté Screened at: Review 1, NYC, 4/15/14 Opens: February 6, 2015 There’s enough energy on display from these French teenage girls to power an Airbus 330, or at least put some speed on the train that carries the young people from their working-class suburb to Paris. “Girlhood” may or may not be a comment on French politics, specifically the charge that Western Europe has not done enough to assimilate those with Arab or Muslim backgrounds, hence [ Read More ]
The post Girlhood Movie Review appeared first on Shockya.com.
The post Girlhood Movie Review appeared first on Shockya.com.
- 1/28/2015
- by Harvey Karten
- ShockYa
It was a battle of Yves Saint Laurent biopics at the Césars (the French Oscars, if you will) this year as both the French foreign language Oscar submission "Saint Laurent" (leader of the pack with 10 nods) and "Yves Saint Laurent" picked up a ton of mentions. Oscar players that popped up include "Two Days, One Night" star Marion Cotillard and animated feature "Song of the Sea." Foreign film Oscar nominee "Timbuktu" also had a major showing. And of course, in the Césars' foreign category, films like "Boyhood," "The Grand Budapest Hotel" and "12 Years a Slave" are duking it out. Check out the full list of nominees below, and remember to keep track of it all at The Circuit. Best Film "Les Combattants" "Eastern Boys" "La Famille Bélier" "Saint Laurent" "Hippocrate" "Sils Maria" "Timbuktu" Best Director Céline Sciamma, "Bande De Filles" Thomas Cailley, "Les Combattants" Robin Campillo, "Eastern Boys" Thomas Lilti,...
- 1/28/2015
- by Kristopher Tapley
- Hitfix
Update, 2:25 Am Pt: Last year’s dueling Yves Saint Laurent biopics each picked up several nominations this morning for France’s César Awards. Bertrand Bonello’s Saint Laurent, the country’s entry for the Foreign Language Oscar, leads the pack with 10 mentions, followed by Thomas Cailley’s Directors’ Fortnight title Les Combattants with nine, and Oscar nominee Timbuktu with eight. Yves Saint Laurent, from helmer Jalil Lespert, took seven nods. Otherwise, there are a number of usual suspects in the batch including Best Actress Oscar nominee Marion Cotillard for Two Days, One Night, as well as Juliette Binoche for Olivier Assayas’ Sils Maria. In something of a departure — and a first — for the French Académie, they nominated American actress Kristen Stewart for her supporting turn in that Cannes competition entry. (Adrien Brody won the Best Actor prize in 2003 for The Pianist.) There are also six nominations for late 2014 release La Famille Bélier.
- 1/28/2015
- by Nancy Tartaglione
- Deadline
Céline Sciamma's pained, thrilling, observational tale of growing up broke and black in slablike Paris flats is no rebuke to Boyhood, but its besties-dancing-to-Rihanna rhapsody eats the lunch of that bit where Richard Linklater has Ethan Hawke drone on about Wings. They sing: "We're beautiful like diamonds in the sky!" Raw and insistent, bold and brawling, Girlhood throbs with the global now, illustrating the ways an indifferent society boxes in the people who grow up in project-style boxes. Superb newcomer Karidja Touré stars as sixteen-year-old Marieme, a somewhat listless student, just about to fail out of school, but a pretty good big sister. She's quick to laugh and dish advice about handling the onset of puberty: Wear baggier shirts.
But Mariem...
But Mariem...
- 1/28/2015
- Village Voice
Strand Releasing will open the film in theaters - likely a very limited release - this weekend, January 30, 2015. Of note, Karidja Touré and Assa Sylla - stars of one of the most buzzed about films of the last year, directed French filmmaker Céline Sciamma - were selected by the French Academy to be honored with its Révélations des César (essentially a breakthrough award for newcomers; or performers to watch). The César, of course, is the French equivalent of the Oscars here in the USA, so this is a top honor for both of them. "Girlhood" follows Marieme, a high schooler who feels oppressed by her family...
- 1/26/2015
- by Tambay A. Obenson
- ShadowAndAct
Proust’s little “bande de filles” was nothing like this. Nor is Ousmane Sembene’s classic film “Black Girl” like this, except for the silence displayed by the protagonists of the two films as they deal with life’s offerings. Nor does this have the depth of “La Vie d’Adele, Chapitre 1” although it ends in a way that invites the viewer to want to see what the next chapter offers.
What I saw was the story of a poor black girl in one of the banlieus (the ‘hood) of Paris trying to find a way out of her dead end life. But I never saw the working her mind or the depth of her character. I saw she had an intuition about life, was fearless, kind, and determined. Does intelligence count? We must wait for the next chapter to find out how she succeeds if she indeed does. I don’t know if the director has the answer to this. And I wonder if the way out is through a person or through her own innate resources which I never did see. And this is where I take exception to the film. She failed school, never seemed to care, played American (??) football but seemed to have no attachment to the game or the players
Who is the director-writer Céline Sciamma? She’s a very talented white girl who went to La Femis, the French film school some regard as elitist. Her previous two films, deal with female sexual ambiguity (“Tomboy”, “Water Lilies”) and are very authentic, moving and valuable films worth watching more than once.
When I see films like “Sister” by Ursula Meier, or even “ Two Days, One Night” by the Dardenne Brothers whom I love, even while I enjoy the films – as I did this one (except for certain moments when I wanted to laugh, e.g., when she wears the blond wig and red dress to deliver drugs at a white party) -- I am aware that I am watching depictions of working class people in dramas directed by bourgeois filmmakers. And when I hear the vulgar loud-mouth dishing of girl-gangs I am not fooled into thinking it is clever repartee when I know it is foul and crude. And today, with the issues of immigrants and second and third generations of non-integrated minorities, this is a sensitive area. Having seen the “nouvelle vibe” films of Rachid Djajdani whose film “Hold Back” won the Fipresci Prize in Directors Fortnight in 2012 or “Brooklyn” by Pascal Tessaud, I am even more sensitized to authenticity.
I don’t think this shows the French black reality in the suburbs. It looks more like a white view of the U.S. urban black ‘hood. When I grew up blacks barely existed in our thoughts or imagination. I was white and Jewish living in a non-Jewish, white (bigoted) working class neighborhood. There I absorbed the prevailing view of the Mexicans who lived on the other side of the tracks. They were all considered “pachucos”. And I longed to join the girl gangs who had fights like the little bande de filles in this movie; they carried switch blade knives, razors in their big hair and pulled the earrings out of the pierced ears. The two fights in this movie were just like I imagined the fights and were like those male-imagined “catfights” in the Aip prison movies or of the bar-girls in western movies of that era. Something in this movie has the same scent of inauthenticity. I realize I am projecting my own girlhood longing to join the bande de filles onto Céline, and perhaps it’s pure projection, but it feels as if she is attracted to them for reasons other than storytelling. The story is ok but the telling is faulty.
That said, I am very glad Strand is releasing “Girlhood”, and I hope it creates some Wom, just as I hoped “Dear White People” would. It did well, grossing more than $4 million. I hope this film does as well, though being French, the most I can hope is that it reaches the $1 million box office level. When I saw “Dear White People” last year in Sundance, I kept quiet because my thought was, that if that is what black students at the universities are preoccupied with today, then I pity the future of America. And I did not believe for a minute that such overriding preoccupations were real. However, it did quite well and I hope this one does too, although I believe that I am watching stereoptypes. What are these people’s serious thoughts; where are their depths of feelings?
When I grew up and met real Mexicans, I saw none of the stereotypical behavior I was told to beware of. Even when I met gang members, there was no romantic element at all, only a degradation of humanity caused by the unrelenting prejudice of society’s impersonalization.
I loved the French review of this film by Régis Dubois, who has a blog very well-respected by black community in France.
For those interested in going into such films in greater depth, see the films of Carrénard,Maldhé, Zadi,Zouhani, May,Djajdani or Tessaud. Check out what is playing at the Festival Cinébanlieue or Les Pépites du Cinéma. These show the truth about what is happening in the minds of “these people”.
Girlhood (Bande de Filles) is being sold by Films Distribution
Strand Releasing will release it in the U.S.
Other territories sold are:
Brazil--Imovision
Denmark--Reel Pictures Aps, Peripher
France-Oct 22, 2014-Pyramide Distribution
Norway--As Fidalgo Film Distribution
Slovenia--Demiurg
Sweden--Folkets Bio
U.S.--Strand Releasing
Writer/director Céline Sciamma’s look at a group of black high school students living in the tough banlieues of Paris is grounded by newcomer Karidja Touré. "Girlhood," is scheduled to open in New York on January 30, 2015 with a national roll out to follow.
Fed up with her abusive family situation, lack of school prospects and the “boys’ law” in the neighborhood, shy Marieme (Karidja Touré) starts a new life after falling in with a group of three free-spirited girls. She changes her name, her style, drops out of school and starts stealing to be accepted into the gang. When her home situation becomes unbearable, Marieme seeks solace in an older man who promises her money and protection. Realizing this sort of lifestyle will never result in the freedom and independence she truly desires, she finally decides to take matters into her own hands.
French director/writer Céline Sciamma’s debut feature, “Water Lilies”, catapulted her as one of France’s most fresh and notable women directors, garnering her a César nomination for Best First Feature as well as the prestigious Prix Louis Deluc for Best First Feature awarded by the French Film Critics. Her second film, “Tomboy”, won the Teddy Jury Award at the 2011 Berlin International Film Festival. This is Ms. Sciamma’s third feature film.
This film has great credentials, having debuted in Cannes 2014 Directors Fortnight, gone on to Toronto - Tiff 2014 Contemporary World Cinema and
Stockholm Iff 2014 - Competition (Best Film, Best Cinematography) and Sundance World Dramatic Competition 2015.
Critics loved it too.
“Celine Sciamma’s ‘Girlhood’ is one of the best coming of age movies in years.” — Eric Kohn, Indiewire...
What I saw was the story of a poor black girl in one of the banlieus (the ‘hood) of Paris trying to find a way out of her dead end life. But I never saw the working her mind or the depth of her character. I saw she had an intuition about life, was fearless, kind, and determined. Does intelligence count? We must wait for the next chapter to find out how she succeeds if she indeed does. I don’t know if the director has the answer to this. And I wonder if the way out is through a person or through her own innate resources which I never did see. And this is where I take exception to the film. She failed school, never seemed to care, played American (??) football but seemed to have no attachment to the game or the players
Who is the director-writer Céline Sciamma? She’s a very talented white girl who went to La Femis, the French film school some regard as elitist. Her previous two films, deal with female sexual ambiguity (“Tomboy”, “Water Lilies”) and are very authentic, moving and valuable films worth watching more than once.
When I see films like “Sister” by Ursula Meier, or even “ Two Days, One Night” by the Dardenne Brothers whom I love, even while I enjoy the films – as I did this one (except for certain moments when I wanted to laugh, e.g., when she wears the blond wig and red dress to deliver drugs at a white party) -- I am aware that I am watching depictions of working class people in dramas directed by bourgeois filmmakers. And when I hear the vulgar loud-mouth dishing of girl-gangs I am not fooled into thinking it is clever repartee when I know it is foul and crude. And today, with the issues of immigrants and second and third generations of non-integrated minorities, this is a sensitive area. Having seen the “nouvelle vibe” films of Rachid Djajdani whose film “Hold Back” won the Fipresci Prize in Directors Fortnight in 2012 or “Brooklyn” by Pascal Tessaud, I am even more sensitized to authenticity.
I don’t think this shows the French black reality in the suburbs. It looks more like a white view of the U.S. urban black ‘hood. When I grew up blacks barely existed in our thoughts or imagination. I was white and Jewish living in a non-Jewish, white (bigoted) working class neighborhood. There I absorbed the prevailing view of the Mexicans who lived on the other side of the tracks. They were all considered “pachucos”. And I longed to join the girl gangs who had fights like the little bande de filles in this movie; they carried switch blade knives, razors in their big hair and pulled the earrings out of the pierced ears. The two fights in this movie were just like I imagined the fights and were like those male-imagined “catfights” in the Aip prison movies or of the bar-girls in western movies of that era. Something in this movie has the same scent of inauthenticity. I realize I am projecting my own girlhood longing to join the bande de filles onto Céline, and perhaps it’s pure projection, but it feels as if she is attracted to them for reasons other than storytelling. The story is ok but the telling is faulty.
That said, I am very glad Strand is releasing “Girlhood”, and I hope it creates some Wom, just as I hoped “Dear White People” would. It did well, grossing more than $4 million. I hope this film does as well, though being French, the most I can hope is that it reaches the $1 million box office level. When I saw “Dear White People” last year in Sundance, I kept quiet because my thought was, that if that is what black students at the universities are preoccupied with today, then I pity the future of America. And I did not believe for a minute that such overriding preoccupations were real. However, it did quite well and I hope this one does too, although I believe that I am watching stereoptypes. What are these people’s serious thoughts; where are their depths of feelings?
When I grew up and met real Mexicans, I saw none of the stereotypical behavior I was told to beware of. Even when I met gang members, there was no romantic element at all, only a degradation of humanity caused by the unrelenting prejudice of society’s impersonalization.
I loved the French review of this film by Régis Dubois, who has a blog very well-respected by black community in France.
For those interested in going into such films in greater depth, see the films of Carrénard,Maldhé, Zadi,Zouhani, May,Djajdani or Tessaud. Check out what is playing at the Festival Cinébanlieue or Les Pépites du Cinéma. These show the truth about what is happening in the minds of “these people”.
Girlhood (Bande de Filles) is being sold by Films Distribution
Strand Releasing will release it in the U.S.
Other territories sold are:
Brazil--Imovision
Denmark--Reel Pictures Aps, Peripher
France-Oct 22, 2014-Pyramide Distribution
Norway--As Fidalgo Film Distribution
Slovenia--Demiurg
Sweden--Folkets Bio
U.S.--Strand Releasing
Writer/director Céline Sciamma’s look at a group of black high school students living in the tough banlieues of Paris is grounded by newcomer Karidja Touré. "Girlhood," is scheduled to open in New York on January 30, 2015 with a national roll out to follow.
Fed up with her abusive family situation, lack of school prospects and the “boys’ law” in the neighborhood, shy Marieme (Karidja Touré) starts a new life after falling in with a group of three free-spirited girls. She changes her name, her style, drops out of school and starts stealing to be accepted into the gang. When her home situation becomes unbearable, Marieme seeks solace in an older man who promises her money and protection. Realizing this sort of lifestyle will never result in the freedom and independence she truly desires, she finally decides to take matters into her own hands.
French director/writer Céline Sciamma’s debut feature, “Water Lilies”, catapulted her as one of France’s most fresh and notable women directors, garnering her a César nomination for Best First Feature as well as the prestigious Prix Louis Deluc for Best First Feature awarded by the French Film Critics. Her second film, “Tomboy”, won the Teddy Jury Award at the 2011 Berlin International Film Festival. This is Ms. Sciamma’s third feature film.
This film has great credentials, having debuted in Cannes 2014 Directors Fortnight, gone on to Toronto - Tiff 2014 Contemporary World Cinema and
Stockholm Iff 2014 - Competition (Best Film, Best Cinematography) and Sundance World Dramatic Competition 2015.
Critics loved it too.
“Celine Sciamma’s ‘Girlhood’ is one of the best coming of age movies in years.” — Eric Kohn, Indiewire...
- 1/25/2015
- by Sydney Levine
- Sydney's Buzz
Girlhood
Written and directed by Céline Sciamma
France, 2014
When Boyhood broke at last year’s Sundance Film Festival, almost everyone agreed that Richard Linklater had created a powerful statement about the nature of growing up. Céline Sciamma’s Girlhood probably won’t generate that type of hype, but it’s no less powerful and probably more accomplished on a dramatic level. Unlike Boyhood, there are no security blankets in this world; some of the girls will make it and others will not. The only thing you can do is know yourself and fight like hell to protect that vision. Girlhood resonates with a quiet power and wisdom that demands to be heard.
Marieme (Karidja Touré) is a young French girl locked into a life she has no interest in living. The ghetto where she lives is the kind of place that follows a strict script; play your role or pay the price.
Written and directed by Céline Sciamma
France, 2014
When Boyhood broke at last year’s Sundance Film Festival, almost everyone agreed that Richard Linklater had created a powerful statement about the nature of growing up. Céline Sciamma’s Girlhood probably won’t generate that type of hype, but it’s no less powerful and probably more accomplished on a dramatic level. Unlike Boyhood, there are no security blankets in this world; some of the girls will make it and others will not. The only thing you can do is know yourself and fight like hell to protect that vision. Girlhood resonates with a quiet power and wisdom that demands to be heard.
Marieme (Karidja Touré) is a young French girl locked into a life she has no interest in living. The ghetto where she lives is the kind of place that follows a strict script; play your role or pay the price.
- 1/24/2015
- by J.R. Kinnard
- SoundOnSight
Two Days, One Night, Mommy and Fevers nominated in French-language foreign film category.Scroll down for full list of nominations
The Lumière Awards, France’s version of the Golden Globes, has announced the nominations for its 20th anniversary edition. There is no clear front-runner this year.
Bertrand Bonello’s Yves Saint Laurent biopic Saint Laurent, Benoît Jacquot’s 3 Hearts, starring Gainsbourg and Chiara Mastroianni as sisters who unwittingly fall for the same man, and Eric Lartigau’s Christmas hit La Famille Bélier, about an aspiring singer growing up in deaf family, lead the field with four nominations each including best film.
Céline Sciamma’s gritty urban drama Girlhood (Bande de Fille) and Lucas Belvaux’s chalk-and-cheese romance Not My Type(Pas Mon Genre) and, which were also nominated in the best film category, followed behind with three nominations.
Franco-Mauritanian Abderrahmane Sissako Timbuktu about the impact of Islamic fundamentalism on a rural community in Mali, is the sixth...
The Lumière Awards, France’s version of the Golden Globes, has announced the nominations for its 20th anniversary edition. There is no clear front-runner this year.
Bertrand Bonello’s Yves Saint Laurent biopic Saint Laurent, Benoît Jacquot’s 3 Hearts, starring Gainsbourg and Chiara Mastroianni as sisters who unwittingly fall for the same man, and Eric Lartigau’s Christmas hit La Famille Bélier, about an aspiring singer growing up in deaf family, lead the field with four nominations each including best film.
Céline Sciamma’s gritty urban drama Girlhood (Bande de Fille) and Lucas Belvaux’s chalk-and-cheese romance Not My Type(Pas Mon Genre) and, which were also nominated in the best film category, followed behind with three nominations.
Franco-Mauritanian Abderrahmane Sissako Timbuktu about the impact of Islamic fundamentalism on a rural community in Mali, is the sixth...
- 1/12/2015
- ScreenDaily
Announced a month ago, Karidja Touré and Assa Sylla - stars of one of the most buzzed about films this year, French filmmaker Céline Sciamma's coming-of-age drama "Bande de filles" ("Girlhood") - were selected by the French Academy to be honored with its Révélations des César (essentially a breakthrough award for newcomers; or performers to watch). The César, of course, is the French equivalent of the Oscars here in the USA, so this is a top honor for both of them. "Girlhood" follows Marieme, a high schooler who feels oppressed by her family environment, dead-end future...
- 12/12/2014
- by Tambay A. Obenson
- ShadowAndAct
Congratulations are in order for actresses Karidja Touré and Assa Sylla, stars of one of the most buzzed about films this year, French filmmaker Céline Sciamma's coming-of-age drama "Bande de filles" ("Girlhood"); both young ladies have been selected by the French Academy to be honored with its Révélations des César (essentially a breakthrough award for newcomers; or performers to watch). The César, of course, is the French equivalent of the Oscars here in the USA, so this is a top honor for both of them. Every year, the French Academy’s Newcomers Committee and the Governing Board choose a maximum of 32...
- 11/17/2014
- by Tambay A. Obenson
- ShadowAndAct
AFI Fest 2014 presented by Audi today announced this year’s Jury and Audience Awards for features and short films included in the festivals New Auteur and Shorts programs. The New Auteurs section highlights first and second-time feature film directors and the Shorts selections represent diverse and varied international perspectives. Grand Jury Awards were presented to Self Made (Boreg), which received the New Auteurs Critics’ Award, and to The Tribe (Plemya), which received the Vizio Visionary Special Jury Award. Buffalo Juggalos by Scott Cummings received the Live Action Short Award, and Yearbook by Bernardo Britto received the Animated Short Award. Special Jury Award winners went to GÜEROS and Violet. Red Army, GÜEROS, 10,000 Km and The Midnight Swim received Audience Awards.
Select award-winning films will screen again today at the Chinese 6 Theatres. Admission is available to AFI Fest 2014 pass holders and the general public via the rush line, which begins forming one...
Select award-winning films will screen again today at the Chinese 6 Theatres. Admission is available to AFI Fest 2014 pass holders and the general public via the rush line, which begins forming one...
- 11/14/2014
- by Michelle McCue
- WeAreMovieGeeks.com
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