Dec 24, 2024
Nov 09,2024
Festival Director & Programme Curator Marie-Pierre Richard introduces this year's installment of the IFI French Film Festival, the Irish Film Institute's annual celebration of le cinéma français, which returns to Dublin this November.
The IFI French Film Festival sees its 25th edition this November, and we continue bringing you films we are passionate about and that we find to be vital and close to life.
What stands out this year for me is the variety and experimentation of the new film releases fresh from the Berlin, Cannes and Venice film festivals, and we welcome some wonderful festival guests in-cluding: Stéphane Brizé, Cannes winner and acclaimed director who will take part in a Masterclass/In Conversation event and brings us his latest film Out of Season, a romantic, and very moving drama. Quebecois director Philippe Lesage, who won in Berlin will attend with Who By Fire, a modern day coming-of-age ensemble drama, with carefully observed filmmaking and instinctive cinematography. Director Stéphane Demoustier accompanies his brilliant Borgo, about a woman prison guard who moves to Corsica; and luminous actress Céline Sallette will present her directorial feature debut Niki, a vibrant portrait of sculptor, painter, and filmmaker Niki de Saint Phalle.
We maintain an evolving relationship with filmmakers who have been regulars at the festival for many years and who continue to innovate within a more 'classical' framework: Alain Guiraudie’s fabulous Misericordia, ‘a mix of tragedy and comedy with religion in the middle’; Olivier Assayas’ Suspended Time, a spirited auto-fiction chronicling Covid confinement; the late Sophie Fillières’ This Life of Mine starring previous festival guest Agnès Jaoui; and our closing film, Christophe Honoré’s delightful meta comedy Marcello Mio, with Chiara Mastroianni.
Other gems include the fresh, vibrant voices of first-time women directors: Wild Diamond, a bold and sharp portrait of a 19-year-old who dreams of becoming a reality TV star; Being Maria on actress Maria Schneider; and Holy Cow which has just won the prestigious Prix Jean Vigo 2024.
My personal favourites are Across the Sea, a soulful journey from exile to freedom, set in Marseille and swayed by the sound of Raï music; Claire Burger’s tender teen drama, Langue Étrangère; the Larrieu brothers' gripping portrait on love and fatherhood, Jim’s Story; a beautiful documentary on writer Édouard Louis; and two virtuosic films, Souleymane’s Story and Ghost Trail, both of which remind us that cinema remains a vital means of remembering.
If this year has been an exciting one for new films, we have some amazing classics, beautifully restored and (we believe) never before been seen on the big screen in Ireland: A Woman of Paris by Charles Chaplin, acclaimed by filmmakers from Lubitsch and Scorsese and one of his greatest directorial achievements.
Influential and much adored, both Marguerite Duras and Agnès Varda are celebrated with a selection of some of their films in restored versions. Energy, modern ideas and radical inventions define these two remarkable, poetic filmmakers.
Cinema and films are always about past, present and future and it is with great honour we present Godard’s two ‘last films’, a beautiful and poignant gift to cinema, thank you JLG!
I hope the richness of the programme will reveal itself to the audiences. We love it when the cinemas are packed and have people talking after the screenings in the IFI foyer and café!
The IFI French Film Festival runs at the Irish Film Institute, Dublin from 13th -24th November - find out more here.
