For those who haven't had the chance to sample the 11th annual Providence French Film Festival, there is no need to worry. According to Erika Balsom GS, a student in the Department of Modern Culture and Media and one of the directors of this year's festival, "some of the star films" will be screened this weekend.
The festival, which kicked off Feb. 21 and will run through Sunday, features a wide variety of genres, including three documentaries, a collection of six short films and several comedies and dramas.
So far, the festival has taken audiences from the magical world of "The Red Balloon" - the timeless children's tale of a young boy who "discovers a stray balloon that seems to have a mind of its own" - to the AIDS outbreak in 1984 Paris with "The Witnesses," according to the festival Web site.
The screening of Claude Chabrol's "The Girl Cut in Two" was particularly popular with Providence audiences, said Richard Manning, MCM film archivist and one of the festival's directors. "That didn't surprise us," he said. "(Chabrol) has been a favorite among film festival audiences."
Created in 1956 by Albert Lamorisse, "The Red Balloon" was recently restored and is "available for the first time in almost a decade," according to the festival's Web site.
The festival presented both the original version of the film and an adult remake by Taiwanese director Hou Hsiao-hsien. Hou's film is set in Paris and tells the story of a single mother who takes in a Taiwanese babysitter to help care for her young son. The baby sitter and the boy find themselves being followed by a red balloon as they journey through the streets of the city. Both versions of the film have enjoyed strong turnout, Manning said.
Directed by Andre Techine, "The Witnesses," starring the festival's featured guest, Michel Blanc, is one of Manning's favorite films in this year's festival, he said. Techine, who has directed several films dealing with themes of homosexuality, explores the impact of the unknown virus as it hits the Parisian gay community and follows the responses of a group of friends to the disease.
According to the festival's Web site, the film's strength lies in the cast's ability to portray the complexities of their reactions, so that "no character would be easily reduced to one and only one response." "The Witnesses" will be screened again tomorrow at 2:15 p.m., followed by a 4:30 panel with Blanc, whom Balsom describes as "the Robin Williams of France."
Both Manning and Balsom named "Terror's Advocate," directed by Barbet Schroeder, among their top picks for this year's festival. The documentary takes viewers through the life of politically controversial French attorney Jacques Verges, who has defended figures such as Carlos the Jackal and Yasser Arafat.
"I think it tackles a really fascinating but difficult subject," Balsom said. "It's good at pulling out the contradictions that surround (Verges) without becoming overly judgmental."
However, Balsom predicted that Catherine Breillat's "The Last Mistress," which is set to be screened today at 9:30 p.m. and Sunday at 7:00, will have the largest turnout this weekend. Set in 18th century France, "Mistress" centers on a virginal, aristocratic girl set to marry a libertine whose mistress is "the great love of his life," Balsom said. According to Balsom, Breillat is known as a controversial filmmaker who frequently deals with issues of sexuality.
The films are selected by a committee primarily made up of people from the MCM department and the Department of French Studies, Balsom said. Members present their film selections for the festival and the committee then narrows the list down, she said. However, the final lineup rarely matches the original list of films because distributors and studios often have agreements for release schedules, Manning said.
Manning founded the festival in 1998 along with a former lecturer in French Studies, Sylvie Toux, who proposed the idea. For the first two years, the festival only presented films on Saturdays and Sundays throughout April until the first weekend in May, Manning said. But because audiences waned toward the end of the festival, the scheduling and dates were changed.
"We were losing people who had to study for finals or preferred the good weather to sitting in the Cable Car watching French movies," Manning said.
Tickets are available at the Cable Car Cinema, 204 S. Main St., starting at 11 a.m. on the day of the showing. General admission is $8 and a student ticket costs $6.
