French

Synopsis:
Edouard Binet, an aimless Frenchman, has been travelling in North Africa for many years, and is sailing to Belgium. En route, he meets Sylvie Baron. He introduces her to Nemrod Lobetoum, a rich Egyptian carrying valuable jewelry, and Sylvie and Nemrod become friends. Their friendship escalates to love, which makes Edouard jealous. Days later, Edouard arrives at a rooming house owned by Mme. Louise Baron, Sylvie’s mother, wearing blood-stained clothes. It appears that Nemrod was killed on a train after he arrived in France, but Edouard denies any knowledge of what happened. Sylvie suspects that Edouard is responsible for Nemrod’s death, but by now her mother has become Edouard’s ally.Read More »

Rapt, also released under the names ‘The Kidnapping’ and ‘Magic Mountain’, is a simple drama set in the enchanting Swiss Alps. Two agrarian villages are separated by the mountains; they are idyllic but each is wary of the village on the other side. Bucolic life is disturbed when a young maiden, Dita Parlo, is stolen from her side of the mountain.Read More »

George, a shipyard owner, is dumped by the bank and forced to lay off many of his workers, which immediately begin a strike and occupy the factory. He will have to fight to the end to try to save the company he spent his life building.Read More »

Summaries
A poor miller gets tricked by the Devil and accidentally sells his daughter for a bit of gold. But Satan can’t take her because she’s too pure and has wept on her hands. So Satan orders the miller to cut her hands off. It’s the beginning of the young girl’s journey towards freedom.Read More »

Summertime. A cruising spot for men, tucked away on the shores of a lake. Franck falls in love with Michel. An attractive, potent and lethally dangerous man. Franck knows this, but wants to live out his passion anyway.Read More »

Synopsis:
Etienne Alexis, a candidate for president of the new Europe, is a scientist promoting artificial insemination for social betterment and therapy to eliminate passion. His wealthy household (his family owns chemical corporations that will profit from his ideas) is stiff, intellectual, and sterile. To celebrate his engagement to a German cousin, he hosts an aseptic picnic, where mother nature asserts herself. A shepherd’s flute conjures a windstorm that throws Alexis together with the luscious Nénette, a farm lass who wants to have a baby but is unimpressed with men.Read More »

Quote:
The sixth feature by Belgian director Fabrice du Welz, Adoration, has screened in a world premiere to the passionate Piazza Grande audience of the Locarno Film Festival. The film follows in the footsteps of Paul, a boy who lives with his mother on the edge of a mysterious forest, in a small house by the entrance of a rather strange hospital. One day, he’s snapped out of his lethargy by a young girl who appears unexpectedly before him, as if an epiphany. Yet the ray of light that is Gloria will gradually reveal a far darker side of her life.Read More »

Edmond Dantes is falsely accused by those jealous of his good fortune, and is sentenced to spend the rest of his life in the notorious island prison, Chateau d’If. While imprisoned, he meets the Abbe Faria, a fellow prisoner whom everyone believes to be mad. The Abbe tells Edmond of a fantastic treasure hidden away on a tiny island, that only he knows the location of. After many years in prison, the old Abbe dies, and Edmond escapes disguised as the dead body. Now free, Edmond must find the treasure the Abbe told him of, so he can use the new-found wealth to exact revenge on those who have wronged him.Read More »

A short documentary about the life and craft of a French cooper. The main focus is on the two-day process of creating a wine barrel, from nada to completion. Interspersed throughout are little snippets concerning the life of the cooper whose work we follow, like mentioning his daughter’s marriage and his being involved in WWI.Read More »