Independent distributor bringing exciting world cinema and alternate screen content to Australia and New Zealand

Category: French Cinema

Divertimento | In NZ cinemas July 18

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Dir. Marie-Castille Mention-Schaar | 2022 | France | 114 mins| Rated PG

Based on the true story of one of the world’s leading renowned female conductors, Zahia Ziouani.

DIVERTIMENTO is the orchestra created by 17 year old Algerian, Zahia Ziouani, unique in it’s diversity and composition, integrated into the elite world of Parisian classical music.

Classical symphonic music is everything for Zahia and her twin sister, Fettouma. Nevertheless, living in underprivileged Parisian suburbs in 1995 with their Algerian background, they struggle arduously to approach their dreams – becoming an orchestra conductor and a cellist. […]

The Night Of The 12th | Cinemas

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THE NIGHT OF THE 12TH.. More Details HERE

WINNER | Best Film | Cesar Awards 2023
WINNER | Best Director| Cesar Awards 2023
WINNER | Best Writing -Adaptation | Cesar Awards 2023
WINNER | Best Sound | Cesar Awards 2023
WINNER | Best Supporting Actor | Cesar Awards 2023
WINNER | Most Promising Actor | Cesar Awards 2023
WINNER | Highschool Students Cesar | Cesar Awards 2023
WINNER | Best Film | Lumiere Awards 2023
WINNER | Best Screenplay | Lumiere Awards 2023

IN CINEMAS OCTOBER 13

VICTORIA
** Cinema Nova, […]

Mother is Wrong – French Mini TV Series

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Dir. by François Velle | France 2018 | French with English subtitles | Thriller

Captain Marianne Aubrais is a detective with the Le Havre Police Department. Should she believe a child who tells her that his mother is not his mother? After all, she is busy investigating a robbery that happened months ago. Stolen goods worth hundreds of thousands of euros have not been recovered and two fugitives are still at large.

But if the kid’s story is not pure fantasy, it would be truly criminal to ignore it. […]

Anatomy of Hell

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(R) Dir. Catherine Breillat, France, 2004. 77 min | Drama

After meeting a man in a gay nightclub, a young woman suggests that she pay the man to meet her over four nights to look at her “where she is unwatchable”. What follows is a series of sequences in which writer and director, Breillat sets out to prove that all men are, at their core, misogynists.

35mm print available.

Sister Smile

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(PG) Dir. Stijn Coninx, France/Belgium 2009. 119 min | Drama, BiographyCécile de France (Orchestra Seats, The Singer) stars in the true story of Belgian nun Jeannine Deckers, international 60s pop icon Soeur Sourire, or The Singing Nun. Her controversial life story largely depicts her painful struggle between the church, her family and her true self.

A Ma Soeur! (For My Sister! a.k.a. Fat Girl)

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(R) Dir. Catherine Breillat, France, 2001. 87 min | Drama

Elena is fifteen and diabolically beautiful. She is neither more futile nor more stupid than her younger sister, but she doesn’t realise that she is no more than an object of desire. And, as an object, all she can do is to be taken. Or be had. Indeed, this is the subject, the loss of girls’ virginity, which opens the door to tragedy during one summer holiday period. From the director of Romance, Anatomy of Hell and An Old Mistress. […]

An Old Mistress

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(R) Dir. Catherine Breillat, France, 2007. 104 min | Drama

A biting, dramatic period feature based on the 19th century novel by Barbey d’Aurevilly sees the young and dashing Ryno de Marigny about to marry the virtuous Hermangarde. But can he give up his mistress of many years, the tempestuous Vellini. Beautifully photographed and full of rich secondary characters, this intimate chamber piece is full of betrayals, confidences and secrets. Starring Asia Argento and Roxane Mesquida.

35mm print available.

Vengo

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(M) Dir. Tony Gatlif, France/Spain, 2000. 97 min | Musical, Drama

Set in the dramatic, arid landscape of Andalusia, Tony Gatlif (Latcho Drom) creates a vivid impression of a region and its culture, in which music, machismo and passion intertwine. The plot centres around a grieving father struggling to protect his family from a rival family, and is underscored by vibrant music with a mix of Andalusian and North African influences.

35mm print available.

Transylvania

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(M) Dir. Tony Gatlif, France, 2006. 103 min | Drama

A young woman, Zingarina, travels to Transylvania, in the heart of Romania, in search of her lover, the father of her unborn child. Searching amongst the Romany Gypsy community where music is a central part of life. Transylvania, starring Asia Argento, Amira Casar and Birol Unel, closed the 2006 Cannes Film Festival.

35mm print available.

Darwin’s Nightmare

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(M) Dir. Hubert Sauper, France/Austria/Belgium, 2004. 111 min | Documentary
Winner Best Documentary, 2004 European Film Awards and Nominee Best Documentary Academy Award

Some time in the 1960’s, in the heart of Africa, a new animal was introduced into Lake Victoria as a little scientific experiment. The Nile Perch, a voracious predator, extinguished almost the entire stock of the native fish species. However, the new fish multiplied so fast, that its white fillets are today exported all around the world. This documentary is captivating with fascinating subject matter. […]