The Boston Women's Film Festival is proud to be co-presenting the following films as part of the Boston French Film Festival at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston!
July 27th @ 6 PM & July 28th @ 2 PM, 2018. Museum of Fine Arts, Boston
Directed by Claire Denis (France, 2017, 94 min.). Digital. French with English subtitles.
Juliette Binoche delivers a luminous performance in this sensuous drama from acclaimed director Claire Denis (White Material, 35 Shots of Rum). Isabelle (Binoche) is a divorced Parisian painter searching for another shot at love but refusing to settle for the parade of all-too-flawed men who drift in and out of her life. There’s a caddish banker (Xavier Beauvois) who, like many of her lovers, happens to be married; a handsome actor (Nicolas Duvauchelle); and a sensitive fellow artist (Alex Descas) who’s terrified of commitment. What reads like a standard romantic comedy premise is transformed, in the hands of master filmmaker Denis, into something altogether deeper, more poignant, and perceptive about the profound mysteries of love.
July 28th @ 11:30 AM. Museum of Fine Arts, Boston
Directed by Ladj Ly and Stéphane de Freitas (France, 2016, 99 min.). Digital. French with English subtitles.
Every year, hundreds of students from all over the department of Seine-Saint-Denis face off in Eloquentia, a contest to crown the best orator in this diverse, sprawling suburb of Paris. Speak Up follows a group of college students preparing for Eloquentia through an intensive six weeks of workshops in classical rhetoric, acting, slam poetry, and breathing techniques, then takes us into the tournament itself. Directors Stéphane de Freitas and Ladj Ly create an inspiring portrait, by turns riotous and poignant, of a young generation of all creeds and cultures brought together by a shared commitment to the French art of rhetoric. Viewers will not soon forget Elhadj, formerly homeless; Leïla, a shy Syrian-French Muslim feminist; or Eddy, a fledgling actor who has to walk six miles every day to commute to class.
The Boston Women's Film Festival is proud to be co-presenting the following films as part of the Boston Jewish Film Festival Summer Cinematheque.
July 25th @ 7:00 PM. West Newton Cinema.
Directed by Laura Fairrie (France, 2018, 79 min). English, French and Hebrew with English subtitles
Over the past two decades, physical attacks and verbal assaults on Jews have been recorded in countries across Europe, especially in France, home to Europe's largest Jewish population. Spiral looks at the resurgence of anti-Semitism in France and in the wider world through the stories of individuals, who must wrestle with the question of whether to stay to fight the growing hatred or leave their home country as the only way to keep their families safe.
Followed by a conversation with Anne Miller, Former Cultural Attaché to the Consulate General of France in Boston.
August 1st. 7:00 PM The Brattle Theatre.
Directed by Mor Loushy and Daniel Sivan (Israel/Canada, 2018, 97 min). English, Arabic, and Hebrew with English subtitles
1992. Israeli-Palestinian relations are at all time low. In an attempt to stop the bloodshed, a small group of Israelis & Palestinians meet in Oslo – secretly and illegally. In their remarkable documentary, Mor Loushy (Censored Voices, BJFF 2015) and Daniel Sivan reveal the meetings that changed the Middle East forever.
Followed by a conversation with Dov Waxman, co-director of Northeastern University's Middle East Center and professor of Political Science, International Affairs, and Israel Studies, and the Stotsky Professor of Jewish Historical and Cultural Studies at Northeastern University.