Véro Tshanda Beya Mputu in Félicité The 29th Palm Springs International Film Festival announced the bulk of its prizes at an awards brunch yesterday.
Among the prize winners were Alain Gomis' Oscar shortlisted Félicité, about a single mother struggling to help her son after an accident and Ziad Doueri's The Insult, which a Lebanese Christian and a Palestinian refugee become locked in a bitter court fight after a trivial argument over a piece of guttering.
Acting prizes from the Fipresci jury went to Daniela Vega for her portrayal of a trans woman struggling to get recognition from her older boyfriend's family when he dies suddenly, and Nakhane Touré for his role as a closeted gay man in John Trengove's The Wound.
The full winners - with the exception of the audience awards which will be announced today - are below.
Fipresci Prize
A special jury of international film...
Among the prize winners were Alain Gomis' Oscar shortlisted Félicité, about a single mother struggling to help her son after an accident and Ziad Doueri's The Insult, which a Lebanese Christian and a Palestinian refugee become locked in a bitter court fight after a trivial argument over a piece of guttering.
Acting prizes from the Fipresci jury went to Daniela Vega for her portrayal of a trans woman struggling to get recognition from her older boyfriend's family when he dies suddenly, and Nakhane Touré for his role as a closeted gay man in John Trengove's The Wound.
The full winners - with the exception of the audience awards which will be announced today - are below.
Fipresci Prize
A special jury of international film...
- 1/14/2018
- by Amber Wilkinson
- eyeforfilm.co.uk
Véro Tshanda Beya Mputu plays a mother scratching a living in the Congolese capital in Alain Gomis’s dramatic, compassionate study
Franco-Senegalese film-maker Alain Gomis has created a film portrait in an ambient social-realist style, showing us a woman called Félicité: a bar singer in the tough streets of Kinshasa in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Gomis leaves it up to us to determine the precise level of irony in her name.
Véro Tshanda Beya Mputu is a formidable presence as Félicité, a single mum of a tearaway teen boy Samo (Gaetan Claudia), for whom she must stay strong. She is scratching a living with her music, evidently bruised and humbled by the reverses of her life, drifting into a relationship with Tabu (Papi Mpaka), the boozy, unreliable guy who once came to repair her fridge.
Continue reading...
Franco-Senegalese film-maker Alain Gomis has created a film portrait in an ambient social-realist style, showing us a woman called Félicité: a bar singer in the tough streets of Kinshasa in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Gomis leaves it up to us to determine the precise level of irony in her name.
Véro Tshanda Beya Mputu is a formidable presence as Félicité, a single mum of a tearaway teen boy Samo (Gaetan Claudia), for whom she must stay strong. She is scratching a living with her music, evidently bruised and humbled by the reverses of her life, drifting into a relationship with Tabu (Papi Mpaka), the boozy, unreliable guy who once came to repair her fridge.
Continue reading...
- 11/9/2017
- by Peter Bradshaw
- The Guardian - Film News
Interview: Alain Gomis on Why Senegal's Oscar Submission 'Félicité' is a Film About the Modern World
By Jose Solís
The title heroine of Félicité is unlike any film character you’ve met. As played by Véro Tshanda Beya Mputu, she’s both larger than life and an everywoman trying to make a living as a singer in a Kinshasan bar. When her son Samo (Gaetan Claudia) has a devastating motorcycle accident, Félicité is forced to go in a race against time, as she tries to find the money to pay for his treatment. But this is only the first of Félicité’s many plights and before we know it, the film has become a soulful character study in which a woman must learn to accept love from others. If the film sounds like a social drama, it’s only because director Alain Gomis uses that familiar structure to invite us into a world that will seem new to many, but once inside he defies the conventions...
The title heroine of Félicité is unlike any film character you’ve met. As played by Véro Tshanda Beya Mputu, she’s both larger than life and an everywoman trying to make a living as a singer in a Kinshasan bar. When her son Samo (Gaetan Claudia) has a devastating motorcycle accident, Félicité is forced to go in a race against time, as she tries to find the money to pay for his treatment. But this is only the first of Félicité’s many plights and before we know it, the film has become a soulful character study in which a woman must learn to accept love from others. If the film sounds like a social drama, it’s only because director Alain Gomis uses that familiar structure to invite us into a world that will seem new to many, but once inside he defies the conventions...
- 11/2/2017
- by Jose
- FilmExperience
After winning the Grand Jury Prize at Berlin early this year, Alain Gomis's Félicité played as part of the slim but always robust Main Slate at the New York Film Festival. Featuring the great Véro Tshanda Beya Mputu in the title role, a single mother and a singer struggling to survive in the bustling streets of Kinshasa while trying to find love, Félicité is a structurally daring, vibrant, sensual and hopeful African film that you don't get to experience often. For me, it was one of the highlights of the festival. Gomis, a Senegalese director, was in town for the festival and I was lucky enough to have a chat with him about doing a film in Congo for the first time, the state of...
[Read the whole post on screenanarchy.com...]...
[Read the whole post on screenanarchy.com...]...
- 10/25/2017
- Screen Anarchy
Set in Kinshasa in the Democratic Republic of Congo, Félicité is the new film from Alain Gomis, a French director of Guinea-Bissauan and Senegalese descent. It tells the story of its eponymous heroine, a singer trying to put a life together and barely making it work. It is a poignant portrait of a woman in crisis but is also about Félicité’s search for herself, for peace, for a contented soul. The film, which will represent Senegal in the Foreign Language Oscar category, recently played at the New York Film Festival and will open in limited release on October 27. We had the chance to talk to Gomis about his film, and you can read our conversation below.
I’m curious about the inception of the project. How did you come about it?
It was a mystery! I had this character, this woman I knew in Senegal. And her son, this kid with an amputated leg.
I’m curious about the inception of the project. How did you come about it?
It was a mystery! I had this character, this woman I knew in Senegal. And her son, this kid with an amputated leg.
- 10/16/2017
- by The Film Stage
- The Film Stage
It’s beginning to look a lot like fall festival season. On the heels of announcements from Tiff and Venice, the 55th edition of the New York Film Festival has unveiled its Main Slate, including a number of returning faces, emerging talents, and some of the most anticipated films from the festival circuit this year.
This year’s Main Slate showcases a number of films honored at Cannes including Ruben Östlund’s Palme d’Or–winner “The Square,” Robin Campillo’s “Bpm,” and Agnès Varda & Jr’s “Faces Places.” Other Cannes standouts, including “The Rider” and “The Florida Project,” will also screen at Nyff.
Read MoreTIFF Reveals First Slate of 2017 Titles, Including ‘The Shape of Water,’ ‘Downsizing,’ and ‘Call Me By Your Name’
Elsewhere, Aki Kaurismäki’s Silver Bear–winner “The Other Side of Hope” and Agnieszka Holland’s Alfred Bauer Prize–winner “Spoor” come to Nyff after Berlin bows.
This year’s Main Slate showcases a number of films honored at Cannes including Ruben Östlund’s Palme d’Or–winner “The Square,” Robin Campillo’s “Bpm,” and Agnès Varda & Jr’s “Faces Places.” Other Cannes standouts, including “The Rider” and “The Florida Project,” will also screen at Nyff.
Read MoreTIFF Reveals First Slate of 2017 Titles, Including ‘The Shape of Water,’ ‘Downsizing,’ and ‘Call Me By Your Name’
Elsewhere, Aki Kaurismäki’s Silver Bear–winner “The Other Side of Hope” and Agnieszka Holland’s Alfred Bauer Prize–winner “Spoor” come to Nyff after Berlin bows.
- 8/8/2017
- by Kate Erbland
- Indiewire
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