For cinephiles, Francophiles, feminists: ‘Young French Cinema’! 2

If you fit one, or all, of the categories — cinephile, Francophile, feminist — as do I (all three) then Wednesday night, December 16, Théâtre Raymond Kabbaz has something in store for you!

It’s a new documentary, Delphine and Carole, slated to open a new, COVID-averse film festival, “Young French Cinema.”

The friendship between screen icon Delphine Seyrig (known for her work with Chantal Akerman, Luis Buñuel, Marguerite Duras, Jacques Demy, and François Truffaut) and documentary filmmaker Carole Roussopoulos, a pioneer in the use of video to make political films, is the subject of the doc.

Director Callisto McNulty’s sensitive “Delphine” uses present-day interviews and archival interviews with luminaries including Simone de Beauvoir, Jane Fonda, Marguerite Duras, and Chantal Akerman to tell the story of the collaborations between these two women. We are warned that the film depicts undiluted ’70s feminism, the fierce variety that I was “weaned” on.

Our friends at Théâtre Raymond Kabbaz are presenting the doc as the opening night feature of a three-night film extravaganza viewable at home, “Young French Cinema.” It’s a compact, 3- day, festival that presents a selection of today’s best French films and filmmakers with a focus on rising talents

Night 2 of the Festival features short films.

Night 3 of the Festival is a feature film, Stars By the Pound, which looks delicious. It’s a “zany road movie” written by an acclaimed screenwriter, Marie-Sophie Chambon.

Lois, 16, has only one dream: becoming an astronaut. However, although she’s gifted in physics, she has a big problem: Lois weighs over 200 pounds – a family trait she’s stuck with. Then, just when everything seems lost, Lois meets three teenagers shattered, like her, by life’s tough breaks; yet ready for anything in order to leave with her for outer space…

French cinema seems to have outer space on the brain. We just saw Proxima (2019) in which Sarah (Eva Green) struggles to fulfill her duel roles as a mother and an astronaut. Picture a modern-day Mildred Pierce (1946), only Joan Crawford is no longer a restaurateur, but hawking her pies in outer space.

Tickets for “Young French Cinema” are inexpensive, just $25 for the pass, and it looks like a good Frenchy thing to do with the family. Many thanks to the very righteous sponsors who are enabling Theatre Raymond Kabbaz to bring this marvelous new film fest to our eyes, at home.

Young French Cinema | Dec 16, 17, 18 | by single ticket or Festival pass