The 31st annual Rendez-Vous with French Cinema, a New York festival co-sponsored by promotion organization UniFrance and Lincoln Center Films, has announced a lineup of 22 titles, opening on March 5th with François Ozon’s The Stranger.
Featuring the work of contemporary French filmmakers, from emerging directors to established auteurs, the festival’s lineup focuses on films that have premiered in Cannes, Venice, and Locarno, some of which will premiere in North America or the United States at Rendez-Vous. More than 20 directors and film talents will attend selected screenings, followed by a post-screening Q&A.
Ozon will be on-site at the New York premiere of The Stranger on opening night of Rendez-Vous, along with rising star Rebecca Marder, who plays Marie Cardona in the film adaptation of Albert Camus’ classic novel. The film had its world premiere in Venice and won three top awards at the Lumière Awards, including Best Picture, Best Cinematography, and Best Actor for Benjamin Voisin.
Other anticipated highlights from Rendez-Vous include “Alpha,” Julia Ducournau’s bold follow-up to Palme d’Or winner; The production concludes the festival, headlined by an unforgettable performance by Tahar Rahim. Olivier Assayas’ Venice premiere of The Kremlin, starring Jude Law as the fictional Vladimir Putin and Paul Dano as the enigmatic strategist Vladislav. Director Dominique Moll’s Case 137, which premiered at Cannes and was nominated for a César Award, is a captivating film set during the Yellow Vests movement and starring Léa Drucker. Nino, César Award-nominated Pauline Roquez’s feature debut, bowed out at Cannes Critics’ Week and stars UniFrance’s Ten People to Watch winner Théodore Pellerin. Arnaud Desplechin’s melodrama “Two Pianos”. At Work, directed by Venice Prize-winning Valerie Donzelli, stars Bastien Bouillon as an aspiring writer struggling to make a living. And César Award-nominated director Stéphane Demoustier’s historical epic The Great Arch premiered in the Un Certain Regard section at Cannes, starring Claes Bang as Johann Otto von Spreckelsen, a Danish architect who comes to Paris in the early 1980s to oversee a difficult project.
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New York premieres include César Award-nominated director Hafsia Helge’s queer coming-of-age film The Little Sister, starring Cannes Best Actress winner Nadia Meriti as a young girl on a journey of self-discovery. Robin Campillo’s “Enzo,” the last project of the late Laurent Cantet, opened Cannes Directors’ Fortnight. And Cédric Klapisch’s Colors of Time tells the story of four distant cousins who reunite at their family home in Normandy and retrace the footsteps of their 19th-century ancestors to Paris.
Daniela Elstner, Executive Director of UniFrance, said: “It is a great honor to open a new edition of our rendezvous with French cinema with The Stranger, an adaptation of Albert Camus’ classic French novel, in the presence of director François Ozon and actress Rebecca Marder.” “This remarkable film, together with this year’s selection, is a powerful testament to the diversity and creativity of French cinema today.”
Elstner added, “Rendezvous with French Cinema continues to serve as a bridge between French and American culture, uniting filmmakers and audiences through a shared love of cinema.”
“At a time of heightened global uncertainty, I am deeply grateful for the strong and solid relationships we have built with our partners at Film at Lincoln Center,” Elstner said.
“The 31st Rendezvous with French Cinema reflects the unprecedented vibrancy and artistic ambition of contemporary filmmaking in France,” said Florence Armosini, Lincoln Center’s Vice President of Film at Lincoln Center Programming.
Armosini noted that this year’s roster brings together “prominent directors such as Olivier Assayas, François Ozon, Claire Simon and Pascal Bonitzer, as well as many exciting new filmmakers such as Leila Bouzid, Hubert Chael and Pauline Roquez, to name a few.”
She said, “Film at Lincoln Center is proud to continue our long-standing collaboration with UniFrance and to present the best of new French cinema to New York audiences.”
In addition to “The Wizard of the Kremlin,” Rendezvous will also host the U.S. premiere of Jean-Paul Salomé’s second film, “The Money Maker.” This crime drama stars Leda Kateb as a master forger in France during and after World War II.
A jury of six New York City University film and French studies students will select their favorite film for Best Emerging Filmmaker, and all film fans attending the festival will also be able to vote for their favorite film. The two awards will be announced immediately after the festival ends.
Rendezvous with French Cinema, sponsored by Villa Albertine, TV5 Monde and Maison Occitanie, will take place from March 5th to 15th.
