24th Edition of Rendez-Vous with French Cinema Festival Highlights Social Message of French Directors at Lincoln Center in New York

From February 29 to March 10, the famous Lincoln Center in New York hosted the 24th edition of the Rendez-Vous with French Cinema festival, with more than 40 film screenings and the participation of numerous personalities, such as Marion Cotillard, Léa Seydoux, but also Ramata-Toulaye Sy, Ladj Ly and Nora El Hourch. Considered one of the essential events for the promotion of French cinema across the Atlantic, the festival also allowed these three directors to highlight their films, and to echo the social message of their work. Reporting.

Published on: 03/12/2024 – 5:45 p.m.

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From our correspondent in New York,

« I really like coming here to New York, because the United States experiences the same kind of situations as what we experience in France. : the standard of living is falling and society is under constant tension », explains Ladj Ly, who came to present Building 5 at the Rendez-Vous with French cinema festival.

While the eyes of world cinema were largely on the country’s West Coast with intense promotional campaigns for Oscar-nominated actors and directors, the East Coast was not left out with an intense festival season, including the very followed Rendez-vous with French cinemawhose 24th edition just ended Sunday evening in New York.

“This essential place for cinema”

For twelve days, around 2,000 people came to take a closer look at a wide selection of recent French and French-speaking productions and to delve a little deeper into the world of the seventh art from the other side of the Atlantic. “ Every year, our main goal is to bring to the United States and to this essential place of cinema productions which are contemporary works and which speak of important subjects for France, but not only », Specifies Florence Almozini, head of cinema programming at Lincoln Center. “ By Thomas Cailley (The Animal Kingdom), via Ladj Ly (Building 5) and Nora El Hourch (HLM Pussy), we wanted to encompass as many themes as possible, and also shed light on fundamental social subjects, which are very important to talk about in the current context. »

Florence Almozini, head of film programming at Lincoln Center in New York during the opening night of the Rendez-Vous with French Cinema festival. © Michael Oliveira Da Costa / RFI

Also on the program, discussions and workshops with guests, and the possibility of discussing the subjects mentioned in the films, and their echoes in American society. “ I think it’s very important to have people like Ladj Ly, Ramata-Toulaye Sy and Nora El Hourch for several reasons », underlines John Thibodeaux, great aficionado of French cinema and researcher in sociology at the University of Pittsburgh. “ The first is that it allows the American public to see productions by directors from diverse backgrounds, which is something very important and which attracts the curiosity of the country’s public. Then, the social subjects covered in these films speak to people here, because the issues raised are also present in the United States, and talking about the reality of these outside our country helps fuel discussions and debates to try to resolve these social issues, such as sexual harassment, gentrification and the impoverishment of part of the population “, he specifies.

Ladj Ly follows the same logic, and validates these points, while highlighting the importance of the social commitment of his work: “ Here, we see it in neighborhoods like Harlem and Brooklyn, where gentrification has pushed thousands of people into greater precariousness. Coming here to talk with those who are also experiencing this kind of situation is very important, it is very constructive in trying to find solutions to this profound housing problem. I always have great exchanges with people here, who experience what we talk about in my films ».

American inspiration and the importance of presenting their films in the United States

For the director nominated for an Oscar in 2020 for Wretched, coming to Uncle Sam’s land is therefore less of a pilgrimage in the land of cinema than a constructive passage to try to talk about substantive issues. “ I’m not really a movie buff, but American culture influenced my childhood, through music, certain artists. Being able to come here and observe closely and compare the social situations of the two countries is very enriching. “, he emphasizes, before adding that “ American cinema is very “spectacle”, but I do things which are very real and which speak to social problems. I always get very good feedback from my trips to the United States. From Wretchedthere is a curiosity about what I do, and it’s interesting to try to send a social message to this side of the planet ».

For Nora El Hourch, who presented HLM Pussy in New York after having done it recently at the Chicago festival, the experience is unique. It’s a dream come true. “ It’s my American dream in a way, that’s clear » she smiled. “ I grew up watching American series, but also a lot of films like those of Quentin Tarantino who is one of my idols. This country inspires me a lot, because it is the nerve center, the country that weighs and produces the most in the world of cinema. I have always drawn from American cinema culture for my inspiration, such as scenes in my film where the actresses are disguised as in Kill Bill For example ».

“The theme speaks to the American public”

Thrilled to be able to present her film in New York, El Hourch, who has not yet found a distributor for the American market, thinks that it is important to export her art, her works, in order to share and show that a large part of social issues are experienced in most countries in the world. « We are in the country where the #MeToo movement started, THE place that allowed the issue of sexual harassment to be brought into the public debate, so it’s huge for me to be able to show my film here. It’s true that the contexts are different, but the theme speaks to the American public, it allows them to see that this problem is also present among us, and also among young people in the neighborhoods, about whom we talk far too little. ».

Coming in large numbers, the spectators, some connoisseurs of French cinema, but a large part still new to the field, appreciated the exchanges with the directors, including Ly and El Hourch, praised for their realistic and unfiltered views. “ I think it’s this type of cinema that deserves more echo, visibility, because they tackle subjects that speak to people » specifies Tanya Smith, a fifty-year-old from Harlem who came with her student daughter, “ cinema makes people dream, but we must also use it to show our commitment, to talk about things that anger or touch people. Life is not always a fairy tale, it is also and above all troubles for part of the world. And Ladj Ly and Nora El Hourch arrive with their films and shed additional light on these realities which speak to us even if their stories occur thousands of kilometers from here ».

2024-03-12 16:45:31
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