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Programme announced for the IFI French Film Festival
Ireland’s largest celebration of French cinema culture returns to IFI from November 16th-27th
35 screenings over 12 days
including a tribute to the late Jean-Luc Godard
Today, details of the programme for the 2022 IFI French Film Festival were announced at the Irish Film Institute in Dublin.
Across 35 screenings, this annual celebration of French film at the Irish Film Institute will present works by many renowned and established directors, as well as showcasing exciting new voices in cinema. The festival will feature 22 Irish premieres and, in most cases, this will be the only opportunity for Irish audiences to see these titles on the big screen. The programme comprises an intriguing mix of feature films and documentaries ranging from social and political dramas to comedies.
IFI Director Ross Keane said “We are delighted that the IFI French Film Festival is back once again with a fantastic selection of the finest French films straight from the international festival circuit. The scale of the programme reflects the remarkable quality of French films made in the last year and also the appetite our audience has for this national cinema. While the focus will remain on new features, we are also delighted to be presenting some important classics from some key figures of French cinema who have sadly left us during this past year”.
Festival Director and Programmer Marie-Pierre Richard commented: “Welcome to the 2022 festival! Godard is in so many ways at the heart of French cinema, and so it was with heavy heart we said farewell to JLG this year. We’ve taken this opportunity to celebrate his work with four examples from his glowing 1960s output, including Vivre sa vie (1962); Contempt (Le Mépris, 1963); Two or Three Things I Know About Her (Deux ou trois choses que je sais d’elle, 1967); and Weekend (Week-end, 1967).”
The Festival will open on 16th November with the Gala Night screening of Rise (En Corps) from writer-director Cédric Klapisch, a heart-warming and generous drama which focuses on a young dancer reassessing her life following a potentially career-ending injury. The Festival will close on November 27th with Winter Boy (Le Lycéen) directed by Christophe Honoré, a deeply moving study of grief and teenage self-discovery featuring a remarkable performance by newcomer Paul Kircher (who won Best Performance at the San Sebastian Festival in September) alongside Festival favourite Juliette Binoche.
The 2022 IFI French Film Festival special guest will be writer-director Mikhaël Hers who has directed a number of acclaimed shorts including Charell, Primrose Hill and Montparnasse, and feature films including Memory Lane (Locarno Film Festival 2010), This Summer Feeling (Rotterdam Film Festival 2016), and Amanda (official selection Venice Film Festival, winner of the Grand Prize at Tokyo International Film Festival and two nominations at the César Awards 2018). The Festival is delighted to welcome Mikhaël Hers to present his latest feature The Passengers of the Night (which premiered at the Berlin International Film Festival 2022) starring Charlotte Gainsbourg, and he will participate in a Q&A following the screening on Friday November 25th at 20.20.
New films in the programme this year focus on youth, coming of age and self-discovery including the hypnotic Rodeo by Lola Quivoron (which won the Coup de Coeur prize in Un Certain Regard at Cannes this year); the humorous and poetic The Mountain by Thomas Salvador (winner of the SACD Prize, Official Selection, Cannes Directors’ Fortnight); the beautifully composed and sensitive Petite Solange by Axelle Ropert; and the powerful and poignant debut feature by Emmanuelle Nicot, Love According to Dalva starring the outstanding young actress Zelda Samson (who won the Louis Roederer Foundation Rising Star Award at Cannes this year).
There is a large selection of documentaries including The Super 8 Years by Annie Ernaux (who recently won the Nobel Prize for Literature) which uses Super 8 footage shot by her late ex-husband Philippe Ernaux combined with her own reflective narration as she looks back on a pivotal part of her life, and also Sébastien Lifshitz’s exceptional document on queer identity and life in 1950s-60s Paris, Bambi: A French Woman.
We have our usual mix of works from established directors and Festival favourites including Stéphane Brizé (Another World), Arnaud Desplechin (Brother and Sister), Emmanuel Mouret (Diary of a Fleeting Affair), Philippe Faucon (Harkis), Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne (Tori and Lokita), and Albert Serra with the tropical and elliptical widescreen thriller Pacifiction which screened in official competition at Cannes this year.
While looking forward to welcoming audiences in person to the IFI on Eustace Street, some titles will also be available to stream on IFI@HOME.
To mark the passing last month of the legendary Jean Luc Godard, the Festival will present a four-film programme from Godard’s 1960s period alongside a new documentary, Godard Cinema – Godard seul le cinéma (Official Selection, Venice International Film Festival 2022) which tries to grasp the essence of Godard who came to embody the ‘auteur’ figure more than any other director.
There will be two additional unique screenings: Krzysztof Kieślowski’s widely popular arthouse classic Three Colours: Red (1994) will be presented in new 4K restoration as a tribute to the late, wonderful actor Jean-Louis Trintignant; while the breathtaking seven-hour-long restored version of The Wheel by Abel Gance (restored as closely as possible to the original released in 1923) will be presented across two days.
Booking is open now via the IFI box office 01 679 3477 or ifi.ie/frenchfest
Download the programme HERE
The Festival schedule:
Wednesday 16th November:
RISE (EN CORPS) (20.20)
Writer-director Cédric Klapisch follows 26-year-old Elise (Marion Barbeau), a ballet dancer who suffers career-threatening injuries on-stage. During recovery, she gets a job at an artists’ residency in Brittany where she finds herself, by chance, catering for a contemporary dance company. Klapisch is familiar with the world of dance and Rise is a heart-warming and generous comedy drama.
Thursday 17th November:
PACIFICTION (TOURMENT SUR LES ÎLES) (20.00)
[Official Competition, Cannes International Film Festival 2022]
Inspired by Tarita Tériipaia’s memoires, writer-director Albert Serra (The Death of Louis XIV) mesmerises us with this elliptical, political, tropical widescreen thriller.
Friday 18th November:
RODEO (RODÉO) (18.30)
[Winner Coup de Coeur prize, Un Certain Regard, Cannes International Film Festival 2022]
Writer-director Lola Quivoron’s fast-paced debut follows teenage Julia (brilliant first-time actress Julie Ledru), an atypical heroine in search of herself and looking for her own tribe.
TORI AND LOKITA (TORI ET LOKITA) (20.40)
Urgent, propulsive and dynamic, Tori and Lokita from Jean-Pierre Dardenne & Luc Dardenne, simmers with a quiet rage at the plight of its titular pair, representative figures for all of Europe’s at-risk migrants.
Saturday 19th November:
*THE WHEEL: PART ONE (LA ROUE) (10.00)
Momentous and visionary The Wheel by Abel Gance is one of the first great epic works in the history of the cinema, restored in a reconstructed seven hour version as close as possible to the original released in 1923
*[ The Wheel (La Roue) – Abel Gance © 1923 – Films Abel Gance – Pathé Consortium Cinéma – Fondation Jérôme Seydoux-Pathé. A restoration made possible thanks to the Jérôme Seydoux-Pathé Foundation in partnership with the French Cinémathèque and the Swiss Cinémathèque with the support of the CNC. Reconstruction of the film: François Ede. Musical reconstruction: Bernd Thewes. An event supported by Arte and the ZDF. The soundtrack was recorded at the world premiere at the Konzerthaus in Berlin, during a film concert by the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Frank Strobel, on September 14, 2019]
DE HUMANI CORPORIS FABRICA (13.10)
[Official Selection, Directors’ Fortnight, Cannes International Film Festival 2022]
A disorienting, shocking, at times perversely beautiful, and ultimately unforgettable tour into the very essence of our corporeality, from Lucien Castaing-Taylor & Véréna Paravel.
VIVRE SA VIE (14.00)
Jean-Luc Godard Tribute
ANOTHER WORLD (UN AUTRE MONDE) (16.00)
[Official Selection, Venice International Film Festival 2021]
Writer-director Stéphane Brizé teams up again with Vincent Lindon to deliver a captivating drama of class struggle and personal dilemmas.
GODARD CINEMA (GODARD SEUL LE CINÉMA) (18.20)
Cyril Leuthy’s film covers the ‘auteur’ period of the ’60s; Godard’s ‘political films politically’ of the ’70s, the Dziga Vertov group and creation of Sonimage; the ’80s ‘pivotal’ period with international recognition and reintegration of classical production systems; and Histoire(s) du cinéma (1988–1998): fragments from 495 films, 148 books, newsreels, photographs, paintings in eight episodes… one of the major works of the century.
THE MOUNTAIN (LA MONTAGNE) (20.30)
[Winner SACD Prize, Official Selection, Directors’ Fortnight, Cannes International Film Festival 2022]
Actor-screenwriter-director Thomas Salvador follows his debut feature Vincent returning to the mountains in another hypnotic, humorous and poetic tale of a remarkable hero.
Sunday 20th November:
*THE WHEEL: PART TWO (LA ROUE) (10.00)
RISE (EN CORPS) (13.20)
CONTEMPT (LE MÉPRIS) (13.30)
DIARY OF A FLEETING AFFAIR (CHRONIQUE D’UNE LIAISON PASSAGÈRE) (15.50)
[Cannes Première, Official Selection, Cannes International Film Festival 2022]
Emmanuel Mouret’s delightful, subtle, and witty film follows on from Love Affair(s) in 2020.
EVERYBODY LOVES JEANNE (TOUT LE MONDE AIME JEANNE) (18.00)
Following a professional, and much publicised embarrassment involving a malfunctioning and hugely expensive ocean cleaning device, entrepreneur Jeanne (Blanche Gardin) finds herself facing a mountain of unpayable debt in Céline Devaux’s 2022 film.
UNDERCOVER (ENQUÊTE SUR UN SCANDALE D’ÉTAT) (20.10)
[Winner Jury Prize for Best Cinematography, Official Selection, San Sebastian International Film Festival 2021]
October 2015: French customs seize seven tons of cannabis in the heart of the capital. Striking and fluid photography by Claire Mathon, and a gripping flow of dialogue, information and details unmask the truth to dizzying effect in this film from Thierry de Peretti.
Monday 21st November:
PETITE SOLANGE (18.30)
[Official Selection, Locarno International Film Festival 2021]
A terrific character study of a young girl coming-of-age: cruel, dark but often tender, and humorous. Axelle Ropert’s composed, sensitive rendering carefully captures complex emotions through Solange’s eyes.
THREE COLOURS: RED (TROIS COULEURS: ROUGE) (20.30)
Tribute to Jean-Louis Trintignant
The third part of Krzysztof Kieślowski’s Three Colours trilogy, following Blue (1993) and White (1994) is an extraordinary, triumphant masterpiece.
Tuesday 22nd November:
RODEO (RODÉO) (18.20)
BROTHER AND SISTER (FRÈRE ET SOEUR) (20.30)
Reminiscent of Bergman, and of Arnaud Desplechin’s own A Christmas Tale and Kings and Queen, his new vibrant emotional drama is a tale of hate, rivalry, and reconciliation.
Wednesday 23rd November:
LOVE ACCORDING TO DALVA (DALVA) (18.30)
[Winner Louis Roederer Foundation Rising Star Award, Cannes International Critics’ Week 2022]
In her poignant debut feature, Emmanuelle Nicot explores the ramifications of conditioning and abuse with great sensitivity and grace.
WINTER BOY (LE LYCÉEN) (20.30)
[Paul Kircher winner ex-aequo Best Performance Award, San Sebastian International Film Festival 2022]
Seventeen-year-old Lucas (Paul Kircher) life is suddenly derailed when his father dies in a car accident, casting the boy into a state of shock and confusion – a deeply moving, yet hard-edged study of grief and teenage self-discovery from Christophe Honoré.
Thursday 24th November:
TORI AND LOKITA (TORI ET LOKITA) (16.20)
DIARY OF A FLEETING LOVE AFFAIR (CHRONIQUE D’UNE LIAISON PASSAGÈRE) (18.20)
OUR BROTHERS (NOS FRANGINS) (20.30)
Mixing archive footage and fiction, Our Brothers prompts reflection and debate on immigration, integration and police violence from Rachid Bouchareb.
Friday 25th November:
THE MOUNTAIN (LA MONTAGNE) (16.00)
EVERYBODY LOVES JEANNE (TOUT LE MONDE AIME JEANNE) (18.20)
THE PASSENGERS OF THE NIGHT (LES PASSAGERS DE LA NUIT) + Q&A (20.20)
[Official Competition, Berlin International Film Festival 2022]
Mikhaël Hers follows Amanda with another contemplative, delicate film, this time set in 1980s Paris.
Saturday 26th November:
ANOTHER WORLD (UN AUTRE MONDE) (13.20)
WEEKEND (WEEK-END) (13.40)
HARKIS (LES HARKIS) (16.10)
During the Algerian War (1954-1962), many young Algerian men, often from impoverished backgrounds, volunteered to fight with the French army while their nation was struggling for independence; Philippe Faucon’s sensitive portrait follows two of these so-called Harkis.
BROTHER AND SISTER (FRÈRE ET SOEUR) (18.20)
BAMBI: A FRENCH WOMAN (BAMBI: UNE NOUVELLE FEMME) (20.30)
[Winner Teddy Award, Panorama Section, Berlin International Film Festival 2022]
An extended version of Sébastien Lifshitz’s short Bambi (2013), this fascinating documentary chronicles Bambi’s liberation, forming an exceptional document on queer identity and life in 1950s-60s Paris.
Sunday 27th November:
FAMILY FILM: KING (11.00)
David Moreau’s affecting and thrilling story about a trafficked lion cub who escapes the airport and ends up in the home of 12-year-old Inés and her brother, Alex. They set out to repatriate the lion to Africa and embark on a daring road trip, determined to get the lion home.
TWO OR THREE THINGS I KNOW ABOUT HER (DEUX OU TROIS CHOSES QUE DE SAIS D’ELLE) (13.20)
THE PASSENGERS OF THE NIGHT (LES PASSAGERS DE LA NUIT) (15.40)
THE SUPER 8 YEARS (LES ANNÉES SUPER 8) (18.10)
With her son David Ernaux-Briot’s help, Annie Ernaux, winner of the 2022 Nobel Prize for literature, assembles Super 8 footage shot by late ex-husband Philippe Ernaux from 1972 to 1981; through voiceover, the footage becomes an extension of Ernaux’s writing – a new novel in images.
WINTER BOY (20.00)
Booking details:
Box Office 01 679 3477 www.ifi.ie/frenchfest www.ifihome.ie
Cinema tickets cost €11.50 each, except for the opening film which includes a post-screening reception and costs €15.
Packages: €50 for 5 films. €90 for 10 films. Both packages exclude the opening film.
Membership: is required for all in-cinema screenings. Daily membership costs €1.50 and annual membership just €35.
IFI@Home screenings cost €7.50 each for a three-day rental. Please keep an eye on IFI@Home for titles available to view.
Keep in touch:
@IFI_Dub #IFIFrenchFest
facebook.com/irishfilminstitute
@irishfilminstitute
Special thanks to the French Embassy in Ireland for their continued support and involvement. The close cultural ties between Ireland and France have grown stronger since the signing of the Ireland-France Joint Action Plan 2021-2025 to further strengthen our cooperation. Film is an integral part of this cooperation and of our cultural relationship.
The IFI French Film Festival is supported by the Embassy of France in Ireland, DS Automobiles, The Irish Times, RTÉ Supporting the Arts, Alliance Française Dublin, Europa Cinemas, UniFrance and Institut Français.
IFI is principally funded by the Arts Council.
ALL YOU NEED IS DEATH 13:30, 18:30 (Q&A)
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IO CAPITANO 20:30
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PERFECT DAYS 13:00, 18:00
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THE ZONE OF INTEREST 18:10
The IFI is supported by The Arts Council
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