SIFF’s French Film Festival Est En Train De Se Dérouler

French Cinema Now actually began at SIFF on October 24, but we were hyper-pressé. Also, it seems European to stroll in a day late on this. Here is your explication of the spectacle:

Du Cinéma Français Maintenant est le nouveau festival de cinéma présenté par SIFF, célébrant le travail extraordinaire de réalisateurs internationaux, en langue française. Proposant un large éventail de sujets et de genres, le festival permettra de mieux comprendre le cinéma francophone contemporain. Magnifique!

Translation! “We are showing lots of different films in French, though they are not necessarily from France. Magnificent!”

Today we have (“Loman!”) The Salesman, Jane-Fonda-starring, seniors’-commune-living All Together, and comedy-of-trailerpark-errors Mobile Home, which last repeats Friday. Friday also has neglected-kid-brother-but-called Sister and ’60s-Paris-to-Montreal-today Café de Flore.

Saturday, drink down that mimosa and head to the Woody Allen homage Paris-Manhattan and moody man-on-the-run Aliyah, which screened opening night; also there’s the shadow-puppet-peopled fables of Tales of the Night and “boorish Belgian construction worker” comedy My Worst Nightmare. The new film on Sunday is arthouse-biopic Renoir, with rescreenings of All Together, My Worst Nightmare, and The Salesman.

Special festival guests include actor Kevin Parent (Café de Flore), director Francois Pirot (Mobile Home), and director Gilles Bourdos (Renoir). Admission to each film is $10 ($5 for SIFF members), or if you plan to see six or more, there’s a $60 pass.

What’s a French film festival without food? SIFF has you covered, and we’re even able to give you a full day’s advance notice:

Dinner & A Movie
A limited number of tickets are available for a special pre-film three course dinner at Portage restaurant. Includes starter, entree, dessert, and gratuity; wine available for purchase.

Sister – Friday, October 26 – Dinner at 5:00pm, film at 6:30 p.m.
Café de Flore – Friday, October 26 – Dinner at 6:30 p.m., film at 8:30 p.m.
Aliyah – Saturday, October 27 – Dinner at 6:30 p.m., film at 8:30 p.m.