French

Synopsis
Paris, 1993. Selma, 17, grows up in a bourgeois and secular Berber family. After meeting Julien, the dashing young man she’s attracted to, she realizes for the first time how restrictive the rules of her patriarchal family are and how they prevent her from blossoming. As radical Islamism rages in Algeria, her family’s homeland, and her family collapses, Selma discovers the power of her own desire. She’s a fighter. Drawing strength from those closest to her, she begins her quest to become a free woman and follow her own path.Read More »

Greece. Sometime in the near future. A seaside resort struck by a heavy heat wave. Water is rare and violence is mounting. Ashraf, a solitary immigrant, is looking after a villa while its owners are away. On a dusty road crushed by the sun, he is stopped by a police officer for an identity check.Read More »

Maia, a single mother, lives in Montreal with her teenage daughter, Alex. On Christmas Eve, they receive an unexpected delivery: notebooks, tapes, and photos Maia sent to her best friend from 1980’s Beirut. Maia refuses to open the box or confront its memories, but Alex secretly begins diving into it. Between fantasy and reality, Alex enters the world of her mother’s tumultuous, passionate adolescence during the Lebanese civil war, unlocking mysteries of a hidden past.Read More »

Synopsis:
Benedetta is a 2021 biographical drama film directed and co-written by Paul Verhoeven, starring Virginie Efira as Benedetta Carlini, a novice nun in the 17th century who joins an Italian convent and has a lesbian love affair with another nun.
The film is loosely based on the 1986 non-fiction book Immodest Acts: The Life of a Lesbian Nun in Renaissance Italy by Judith C. Brown.
The events of the movie occur during the 17th century. The main character is Benedetta Carlini, who is an Italian nun in the abbey of a convent in Tuscany. She was considered to be mystical and venerated by her religious entourage, and finally arrested and judged for sapphism.Read More »

Synopsis:
Recovering from his disastrous experience with the never-completed La Fleur de L’Age, French filmmaker Marcel Carne proved he hadn’t lost his touch with La Marie du Port. Played by Nicole Courcel, the eponymous Marie is the younger sister of Odile (Blanchette Burnoy). Odile in turn is the mistress of been-there-done-that Chatelard (Jean Gabin). Upon meeting Marie, Chatelard’s cynicism melts away. Still, he merely toys with the girl’s affections–at least until he discovers that Odile is carrying on an affair with Marie’s boyfriend. Chatelard stops Marie from committing suicide, and for the first time in his life really means it when he pledges his undying devotion. Like many French films of the era, La Marie du Port was but a shadow of its former self when the American censors got through with it.Read More »

Jane Birkin, Bernadette Lafont, Elisabeth Wiener and Emma Cohen are 4 pretty girls rooming together. After witnessing and accidentally helping several thugs get away with a heist, the women notice through their telescope that the stolen loot is in the apartment right across the street! They plan their own burglary of the already stolen loot in this lighthearted caper comedy with a bit of nudity! Serge Gainsbourg did the bouncy score.Read More »

Amina, a practicing Muslim, lives with her daughter, 15-year-old Maria. When Amina learns Maria is pregnant and wants to abort the child, they face an impossible situation in a country where abortion is legally and morally condemned.Read More »

Synopsis:
The many ways in which men are fascinated, compelled, and confused by their attraction to women are explored in this four part drama. As a filmmaker (John Malkovich) tries to sort out his plans for his next film, he considers several stories about women and the men who love them. Silvano (Kim Rossi Stuart) meets Carmen (Ines Sastre) and immediately asks her for a date, but despite his attraction, he can’t follow through on his feelings for her. The director spies a woman on the streets (Sophie Marceau) and follows her obsessively, but when he finally meets her, he’s disappointed, despite their mutual physical attraction. Read More »

Stendhal’s epic tale of a young French officer in the Napoleonic wars, and his aunt – a duchess of legendary beauty and resourcefulness.Read More »