A date to mark on your calendar, first weekend of June. This is when the Armidale French Film Festival will kick off, hosted by the Alliance Francaise Armidale, and showcasing five unique French films. You do not have to speak French to appreciate the art we are screening, nor to appreciate the French themed food that will be on offer.
We also encourage you to follow this link HERE to the Alliance Francaise website where you can keep up-to-date with all their events and activities.You can also keep your eyes posted to the this page or join our mailing list HERE to receive weekly updates of sessions and events.
This years movies are in, and they look like a lot of fun.
Session Times (approx)
Friday 1st June 7:30pm - Back to Burgundy
Saturday 2nd June 2:30pm - Aurora (I Got Life)
Saturday 2nd June 7:30pm - Two is Family
Sunday 3rd June 2:30pm - Return of the Hero
Sunday 3rd June 7:30pm - Normandy Nude
Please note all films are rated M.
Price: Single Tickets Adults $17.50 Concession $15.50 Children $13.50.
Season Ticket $70 Concession $60. No further child reductions.
ALL FILMS HAVE ENGLISH SUB-TITLES - French food and wine available
For a downloadable and fully printable movie guide for the French Film Festival, follow this link
Friday 1st June
7:30 pm Back to Burgundy "Ce qui nous lie" DRAMA • 113 MINS • 2017 • M
Directed by: CÉDRIC KLAPISCH
Starring: Pio Marmaï, Ana Girardot, François Civil, Jean-Marc Roulot
In his latest work, screenwriter Cédric Klapisch (My Piece of the Pie, AF FFF2012; and best known for The Spanish Apartment, 2002) perfectly captures the transfixing beauty of seasonal change across one of France’s most famous winemaking regions.
With the death of his father looming, Jean (Pio Marmaï) returns from his Australian winery to his childhood 'domaine' in Burgundy after a 10-year absence. He takes over the family’s vineyard along with his siblings Juliette (Ana Girardot, A Perfect Man, AF FFF2016; and Dr. Knock in this year’s AF FFF) and Jérémie (François Civil, Bus Palladium, AF FFF2011). Over the course of a year, Jean, Juliette and Jérémie put aside their lingering resentments about the past as they seek to maintain their father’s legacy and defy expectations – financial, emotional and professional – of those around them.
A heart felt love letter to what could be argued are France’s greatest passions – 'cinéma et vin' – Back to Burgundyis a nuanced parable of sibling camaraderie and imploding familial tension but ultimately one that arrives at the inevitable conclusion that love is like wine... it needs time.
Saturday 2nd June
2:30 pm Aurora "Aurore" COMEDY • 89 MINS • 2017 • CTC
Directed by: BLANDINE LENOIR
Starring: Agnès Jaoui, Thibault de Montalembert, Philippe Rebbot, Pascale Arbillot
A hugely entertaining blend of humour, truthfulness and sensitivity, Blandine Lenoir’s warm-hearted romantic comedy Aurore centres on a middle-aged woman in the midst of major personal and professional life changes.
Fifty-year-old Aurore Tabort (the truly marvellous Agnès Jaoui), separated from her husband and newly unemployed, discovers she is to become a grandmother. She feels as if her own life has come to a standstill, and is slowly being pushed to the fringes of society. But after bumping into the great love of her youth, Totoche, (Thibault de Montalembert, Call My Agent, AF FFF2016) something changes... Aurore wonders if it might still be possible to embark on something new.
On screen from start to finish, actress and co-writer Jaoui (The Taste of Others, AF FFF2002, Look at Me, 2004) is the heart and soul of this witty, feel-great film. She brings a touching, truer-than-life poignancy to an endearing portrait of the resilience of womanhood, as an everyday heroine on the road to (re)discovery. You will cheer for Aurore.
7:30 pm Two is a Family "Demain tout commence" COMEDY, DRAMA • 118 MINS • 2016 • M
Directed by: HUGO GÉLIN
Starring: Omar Sy, Clémence Poésy, Antoine Bertrand, Gloria Colston
Hugo Gélin’s bona fide crowd-pleaser not only stormed France’s Christmas holiday season (achieving a phenomenal 3 million + admissions), it also charmed audiences internationally, becoming the most popular French-language film of 2017 worldwide.
Samuel (the irrepressible Omar Sy, The Intouchables) enjoys an A-list, hedonistic lifestyle on the sun-drenched beaches of the Côte d’Azur. Life is good, until the day former lover Kristin (Clémence Poésy) arrives out of nowhere and deposits the fruits of their tryst – an infant daughter, Gloria - in his care.
Incapable of looking after a baby, Samuel rushes to the UK in an attempt to return the child to her mother, without any luck. He decides to stay in London and, after finding work as a television stuntman, their relationship slowly begins to bloom. When Kristin eventually reappears, Gloria has grown into a bright and effervescent eight year old… and the inseparable father-daughter team finds their connections tested.
Filled with colour, humour and emotion and great performances, Two Is a Family is a lavishly-produced slice of entertainment that will leave you with a smile (and perhaps a few tears too).
Sunday 3rd June
2:30 pm Return of the Hero " Le retour du heros" HISTORIC, COMEDY • 91 MINS • 2018 • M
Directed by: LAURENT TIRARD
Starring: Jean Dujardin, Mélanie Laurent, Noémie Merlant, Féodor Atkine
The dashing and debonair Academy Award-winning actor from The Artist, Jean Dujardin, lights up the screen as a swashbuckling lothario-turned-faux-hero in a bawdy new comedy from writer-director Laurent Tirard (Little Nicholas,2009); the brand new “OSS at Napoleon's time”.
It is 1809 in France and the great seducer, Captain Neuville (Jean Dujardin, also in Möbius, AF FFF2015; Un Plus Une, AFFFF2016), comes to ask for the hand of the young Pauline (Noémie Merlant) in marriage. But Pauline’s sister, Elisabeth (Mélanie Laurent, Boomerang, AF FFF2016; director ofTomorrow AF FFF2017; and possibly best-known to English language audiences as Shosanna in Quentin Tarantino’s Inglorious Bastards, 2009) proves impervious to Neuville’s charms.
When Neuville is called to the front and Pauline sits anxiously waiting for news, Elisabeth takes to the pen and, through her valiant prose, makes him a real hero of war when the reality is decidedly different. Then Neuville returns for his bride... Part Casanova, part Cyrano de Bergerac and many parts funny, The Return of the Hero comes together through the chemistry of its enigmatic leads, particularly Dujardin and Laurent, who are unimpeachable in their comic abilities.
7:30 pm Normandy Nude "Normandie nue" COMEDY, DRAMA • 107 MINS • 2018 • M
Directed by: PHILIPPE LE GUAY
Starring: François Cluzet, François-Xavier Demaison, Arthur Dupont, Grégory Gadebois
The eagerly-awaited new comedy from Philippe Le Guay, director of 2011 Festival favourite The Women on the 6th Floor, Normandy Nude is a warm and wise tale of a proud farming community who must put their grievances aside in order to save their village.
The charming town of Mêle-sur-Sarthe, Normandy, is in crisis. Dairy and livestock prices have plummeted due to a flood of imports, and farmers are threatened with foreclosure. Mayor Georges Balbuzard (the irrepressible François Cluzet, beloved from The Intouchables and The Country Doctor AF FFF2017) does his best to fight and raise awareness of their plight, but the situation isn’t deemed newsworthy for national media.
Things seem hopeless... until the day famous American photographer Newman (Toby Jones) passes through the village, inadvertently discovering the perfect backdrop for his next shoot. Balbuzard sees a rare opportunity, and sets about convincing the townsfolk - the farmers, the butcher, the pharmacist, some 200 in all - to participate. The catch? They all have to pose naked!
Le Guay’s wonderful ensemble delivers a memorable portrait of community, resilience and 'fraternité'. Leave your inhibitions at home; you’re assured of returning with a smile.
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