Go see “Saint Omer”, a great film
jjust the sound of the ocean and the silhouette of a black woman, seen from behind, with a child in her arms. So it begins Saint-Omer, the first fiction film by documentary filmmaker Alice Diop, inspired by the Fabienne Kabou case: in 2013, this young Senegalese girl had abandoned her 15-month-old daughter at sea. This act fascinates Rama (Kayije Kagame), a university teacher and writer, who wants to make it the subject of his new book and follow the process of the famous here Laurence Coly. Here she is, Guslagie Malanda, in the role of the defendant, uttering the same sentences as in reality. What will happen between the stories of Rama and Laurence, these two black women? The relationship with motherhood, with African origins, with exile, immigration, with madness, many themes cross this ascetic, intense film, precision and power at the same time, and of every beauty, light, sound, everything contributes: decorum of the carpentry of the court in which the defendant seems to blend in, the yellow robes of Rama, the ardent gazes, the heavy silences, without forgetting the breaths that echo the music, as if everyone, everyone, held their breath before to the incomprehensible, to the inadmissible. And what also happens in the interrogation: how do you speak French so well, how can you study Wittgenstein when you come from Africa? The witnesses’ words shed light on how much the figure of the other, different, has more or less conscious prejudices. How did Laurence Coly, once pregnant, come to commit the worst? How did it all come to a conclusion? What is this maraboutage business? Why all these lies? Emotions follow one another, under the presidency of the judge (Valérie Dréville as convincing as the actresses and actors as a whole). Saint-Omer at all times think, feel, open wide within oneself the spectrum of the most fundamental questions. It’s a great movie. An event. The jurors of Venice understood that, even those of the award Jean Vigo, is selected to represent France at the Oscars, if it is selected in the category of best international film on March 12, 2023 in Hollywood.
“Saint Omer”, indoors.
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Go behind the scenes of Spotify with The playlist (Netflix)
Rightly described as a Social network In Swedish style, this series co-written by Christian Spurrier and Luke Franklin delves into the heart of Spotify’s origins. Founded in 2006 by Daniel Ek and Martin Lorentzon, the popular music streaming site quickly established itself as a global market leader and essential platform for artists and their labels. Entering our lives in the same way as Amazon or Netflix, Spotify is also the subject of recurring controversies due to the low level of remuneration paid to artists who agree to give their catalog to this vast supermarket of free online music. Inspired by the book Spotify untold de Sven Carlsson and Jonas Leijonhufvud, the authors of The playlist don’t evade the thorny issue or the human dimension of this extraordinary adventure, many aspects of which evoke David Fincher’s classic.
Each episode adopts the point of view of a respective character, such as a Rashmon 2.0. Credit to the credit: the first segment follows the path of the young Daniel Ek, a brilliant programmer who first had the idea of a site that would offer internet users the possibility to listen to all the artists of their choice in streaming, but legally. Uplifting and alert, the series depicts his many reversals of fortune before glory and then legal setbacks. The following episodes tell the story of Spotify from the perspectives of five other key players in the epic, including fictional singer Bobbi Thomason (played by real-life singer: Janice Kamya Kavander), the system’s iniquity incarnate Spotify. the record companies still remain. In short: an essential miniseries and witness of an era.
« The playlist » (6 x 52 minutes). Available on Netflix.
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Vibrant in the colors of Joan Mitchell and Claude Monet
Even before face-to-face that the Vuitton Foundation offers, Joan Mitchell-Claude Monet, we must start on the ground floor, with the first retrospective in France of the American artist (1925-1992) who lived almost 25 years in Vétheuil, in a house opposite that of the impressionist master at Giverny. “For me, painting is French,” said the man whose pantheon of masters was, in order, Van Gogh, Cézanne and Matisse. Born in Chicago, recognized as one of the leading figures of American Abstract Expressionism, Joan Mitchell settled permanently in France in 1959, where she had the constant support of the gallery owner Jean Fournier and the philosopher and art critic Yves Michaud. However, she remains too little known and we must not miss this exceptional encounter in which her canvases explode in fireworks on the walls of the Vuitton Foundation, and on three levels in this artistic dialogue with Monet in 35 works each, colours, reflections, landscapes , interior/exterior. The exhibition establishes a continuum in the fusional relationship with nature, the feeling dear to Monet, and echoing what Mitchell said these paintings are “about feelings”, the two eventually come together in monumental formats: The Great Valley since 1983 in twenty-one paintings, ten of which are exceptionally assembled here. where the triptych of The Agapanthe it is exhibited for the first time since 1956 in Paris in its entirety. We add that throughout the retrospective, Mitchell’s inexhaustible connection with poetry unfolds. In short, it is unmissable and suffocatingly beautiful!
« Monet Mitchell. » Joan Mitchell Retrospective. Vuitton Foundation until February 27 See also Joan Mitchell, “The Fury of Painting”, by Florence Ben Sadoun, Flammarion, 265 pages, €19
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Spend some time with Chéries Chéris
The Paris LGBTQI+ Film Festival celebrates its 28th anniversary this yearAnd editing. Working to give visibility to all the freedom struggles of the LGBTQI+ communities, it highlights through a dense and varied programming the richness and multiplicity of these struggles, but also the variety and vitality of queers, French and foreign. In addition to French filmmakers, essential for some – Christophe Honoré in the lead – the festival screens works, all unpublished, from Ireland, Poland, Finland, Argentina, Brazil, Australia, Morocco, Lebanon, Egypt, Colombia, Turkey, Taiwan, Japan, Iran and also Sudan, Pakistan, Rwanda, Indonesia… “By confirming its openness to the world, the festival gives voice to filmmakers who sometimes risk their lives to create. At Chéries-Chéris the word is free, raw, without filters and without concessions. No barriers, censorship or taboos. We have struggled too much here and they are still struggling too much there to get in line or settle down”, writes Grégory Tilhac, artistic director of the Festival, in his presentation. And there will be enough to amaze: 70 features and 64 shorts will be presented between November 19 and 29 in three Parisian MK2s.
In MK2 cinemas Beaubourg, Quais de Seine and Bibliothèque. More information here
Put yourself in the background with “The Friends Experience”
After Boston, Chicago, Atlanta, Toronto or New York, The experience of friends finally arrives in Paris for its European premiere. He meets at Porte de Versailles to discover an engaging and entertaining exhibition. An opportunity for fans, but not only, given that the series has influenced pop culture since its first broadcast in 1994, to discover the costumes and accessories worn by the six friends, but above all the legendary sets. Everything is there down to the smallest detail: the emblematic Central Perk, the two iconic New York apartments, the mythical landing stage and even the famous sofa that refused to rotate… Here we are not content to look wisely, but they are invited to enter all the settings and also to take a big picture. A nostalgic walk through the 90s to take a few moments for Phoebe, Rachel or Joey… Oh my God!
« The experience of friends », Pavilion 2.1, Paris Expo, Porte de Versailles, 1 Pl. de la Porte de Versailles, 75015 Paris, France. From 21 November to 22 January 2023. Monday and Tuesday: 10am to 6pm. And from Wednesday to Sunday: from 10:00 to 21:00 (last admission). Price: 25 euros for an adult.
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