RENDEZ-VOUS WITH FRENCH CINEMA, March 6-16, 2025

[Chris Knipp]

From a Film at Lincoln Center press release:

UniFrance and Film at Lincoln Center Present
30th Rendez-Vous with French Cinema
March 6–16, 2025

FILMLEAF FESTIVAL COVERAGE THREAD

SOURCE

Opening Night—Emmanuel Mouret's Three Friends with Mouret and actress India Hair in person
Scheduled to appear at the festival for select Q&As and special introductions are: Elizabeth Becker, Ludovic and Zoran Boukherma, Gilles Bourdos, Claire Burger, Delphine and Muriel Coulin, Louise Courvoisier, Matt Dillon, Judith Godrèche, Vincent Lindon, Thibaut de Longeville, Patricia Mazuy, Jonathan Millet, Rithy Panh, Thierry de Peretti, Camille Perton, Michel Petrossian, Agathe Riedinger, and Anamaria Vartolomei

The Second Act, Souleymane’s Story, Three Friends, Cross Away, and Being Maria

New York, NY (January 30, 2025) – Unifrance and Film at Lincoln Center announce the lineup for the 30th edition of Rendez-Vous with French Cinema, running from March 6 to March 16. This celebrated festival offers a dynamic showcase of contemporary French filmmaking, featuring an array of 23 films by both emerging voices—some selected as part of Unifrance’s 10 to Watch 2025 Program*, a yearly initiative honoring a new generation of directors and actors who contribute to the vitality of French creation—and seasoned directors that tackle relevant and enduring themes. This selection of North American, U.S., and New York premieres celebrates the energy, innovation, and range of French cinema.

Opening the festival is Emmanuel Mouret’s romantic drama Three Friends; Mouret and actress India Hair* will introduce the screening. Co-written by Mouret and Carmen Leroi, the film explores the complexities of friendship and romance through the perspectives of three close friends (played by Hair, Camille Cottin, and Sara Forestier), each with contrasting views on love and relationships. It premiered in competition at the 81st Venice Film Festival.

Rendez-Vous returning favorites include the U.S. premiere of In His Own Image by Thierry de Peretti, in which a photographer’s love affair with an activist intersects with Corsica’s fight for independence; When Fall Is Coming, François Ozon’s darkly emotional thriller about a retiree whose country life masks her more complicated past; Visiting Hours by Patricia Mazuy and starring Isabelle Huppert, the story of the unlikely friendship between two women; and Suspended Time, a disarmingly personal work of autofiction from the great Olivier Assayas, capturing two brothers and their romantic partners trying to maintain their sanity amid the extended isolation of the 2020 pandemic lockdown while cohabiting in their provincial family house.

Three films in the festival feature the acclaimed actor Vincent Lindon. He stars in the 77th Cannes Film Festival opener The Second Act by Quentin Dupieux, a meta-comedy taking place on a film set and featuring a star-studded cast; the North American premiere of the dramatic thriller Cross Away by Gilles Bourdos; and The Quiet Son by Delphine Coulin and Muriel Coulin, about the complex relationship between a father and son who becomes active in far-right extremist groups, for which Lindon won Best Actor at the 81st Venice Film Festival.

Coming of age films include the North American premiere of Camille Perton’s Arenas, starring Édgar Ramírez (Emilia Pérez, NYFF62) set in the world of professional youth soccer; the U.S. premiere of And Their Children After Them by twin brothers Ludovic Boukherma and Zoran Boukherma*, based on the best-selling book by French author Nicolas Mathieu, which tracks the lasting impact of the actions of three teenage boys over the course of four summers in 1990s France, and was top winner at the Seville European Film Festival after premiering in Venice; and Claire Burger’s 74th Berlin Film Festival selection Foreign Tongue, which delves into intergenerational and cross-cultural themes through the relationship of two young exchange students. Two remarkable feature debuts that premiered at the 77th Cannes Film Festival are Agathe Riedinger’s* Wild Diamond, a gripping exploration of 19-year-old Liane’s (Malou Khebizi) fierce pursuit of fame as a reality TV contestant; and Louise Courvoisier’s* Holy Cow, which follows 18-year-old Totone’s (Clément Faveau) unlikely drive to produce the best Comté cheese in his region.

Political and social issues feature in Aude Léa Rapin’s dystopian science-fiction thriller Planet B; Jonathan Millet’s* harrowing Ghost Trail, in which a former prisoner pursuing Syria’s fugitive leaders is determined to confront his torturer; Rithy Panh’s Meeting with Pol Pot, based on the true story of the deadly journey of three French journalists invited to interview Pol Pot in 1978 Cambodia; Boris Lojkine’s Souleymane’s Story, winner of the Jury Prize and Best Actor in Un Certain Regard at Cannes, following Guinean immigrant Souleymane (Abou Sangaré) as he struggles to stay afloat; and Jessica Palud’s Being Maria, which premiered at Cannes, an unsparing exploration of Maria Schneider’s (Anamaria Vartolomei) trauma stemming from her experience on the set of Bernardo Bertolucci’s Last Tango in Paris.

Other festival highlights include the U.S. premiere of the six-episode documentary miniseries DJ Mehdi: Made in France, an in-depth celebration of the legacy and enduring influence of the generational talent directed by one of Mehdi’s closest friends, Thibaut de Longeville. Emmanuel Courcol’s The Marching Band, which premiered at Cannes, traces the touching reunion of two brothers, now both musicians, after being separated at birth; and the U.S. premiere of Koya Kamura’s deeply touching Winter in Sokcho, which follows Son-ha (Bella Kim) as she forms a tentative bond with artist Yan Kerrand (Roschdy Zem) when he arrives to stay in her Korean seaside town.

Tickets go on sale Thursday, February 6.