’
Alice), by writer/director Chloé Mazlo, is a semi-autobiographical blending of the personal and political, centered on the impact of the Lebanese Civil War (1975-1990) on one family. It is a poetic, imaginative and colorful work that uses stop-motion animation and surrealistic drama to make its point about the irrationality of war and internecine, ethnic conflict.
In the 1950s, a young Swiss woman disconnects from her tight-knit family dramatized in claymation to move to Beirut. Once in Lebanon, Alice (Alba Rohrwacher), now turned into a human, falls in love with Joseph (Wajdi Mouawad author of the play
Incendies, the source material for Denis Villeneuve’s 2010 film of the same title), an eccentric astrophysicist who dreams of sending one of his fellow citizens into space.
The Alliance Française French Film Festival, now in its 32nd year, might be constrained by COVID-19. But the event, under new artistic director Karine Mauris, still offers a schedule of over 35 features, a mixture of festival-only screenings and previews of films that will be released in cinemas later this year. Here is a rundown of films to select from.
In
Final Set, a veteran tennis player gives his all for one last chance to appear at Roland Garros; in
Mandibles, two clueless friends think their fortunes are made when they find a giant fly in the boot of a car.