French Films

The Vuillard family is no stranger to physical/mental illness, loss and familial disagreements. However, when the matriarch becomes in need of a transplant, the whole family is forced to come together, emotional baggage and all, just in time for Christmas. Featured as the Best Film of 2008 on many critics’ top ten lists, A Christmas Tale features incredible performances from Catherine Deneuve, Mathieu Amalric and Emmanuelle Devos.  This film will be presented by film critic Farihah Zaman of The Huffington Post and Reverse Shot magazine.

Rapt observation of Nénette, a 40-year-old orangutan who’s resided at the Jardin des Plantes in Paris since 1972, has the uncanny knack for eliciting astonishing bits of philosophy and whimsy from her human visitors.  The film is the latest effort from Nicolas Philibert, whose 2002 film To Be and To Have is also featured in our Contemporary French Masters Spotlight.

French stalwarts Catherine Deneuve and Gerard Depardieu anchor this wry and vibrant satire from Francois Ozon (also featured in our Contemporary French Masters spotlight with 8 Women).  Deneuve charms as a bourgeois matriarch who takes over the family umbrella business when her husband takes ill, challenging all the 1970s gender role taboos in the process.  Closing Night Film

A contemporary thriller set in the streets and offices of a gritty Paris rarely seen on the big screen, this Jacques Audiard (of last year's Oscar-nominated powerhouse A Prophet) classic centers on Carla (Emmanuelle Devos), the partially-deaf main protagonist and her intense relationship with Paul (Vincent Cassel, Black Swan), an ex-con who she hires to be her assistant but quickly becomes her lover and partner in crime.  The film will be introduced by Dr. Tim Palmer, an Associate Professor of Film Studies at UNC-Wilmington.  Dr.