Burning Brighter:
New Voices in French Cinema 2021
In-Person Weekend in NYC
Friday, October 1–Sunday, October 3
FIAF Florence Gould Hall
Online Nationwide
Sunday, October 3–Sunday, October 10
On Eventive
FIAF is proud to present a new festival celebrating the remarkable diversity of emerging voices in French cinema. The festival showcases recent prize-winning films by new French filmmakers.
The new generation of French cinema promises to be more inclusive and reflective of today’s society. It introduces new narratives and turns its lens on faces and places that are rarely seen on screen. The films featured at Burning Brighter—13 of them US or NY premieres—include stories of daily struggles, hard-won redemption, sexual oppression, identity, and belonging. Tracing their heritage from Ivory Coast, Sri Lanka, Cameroon, Morocco, Guadeloupe, Lebanon, and France, these filmmakers bring a burst of new energy to FIAF’s fall reopening.
A full weekend in New York from Friday, October 1 to Sunday, October 3 at FIAF’s Florence Gould Hall will feature six feature films, six shorts, one blockbuster TV series, exclusive director Q&As, and a roundtable discussion. The festival will continue online from Sunday, October 3 to Sunday, October 10 with five additional films and a program of shorts available to stream nationwide.
Conceived with The Edmond de Rothschild Foundations, this festival highlights the critical importance of the arts in exploring the perspectives of different communities. The festival is co-curated by Claire Diao, member of the Directors’ Fortnight Selection Committee at the Cannes Film Festival, and Delphine Selles-Alvarez, FIAF’s Film Curator.
Curator’s Note
“Born in the 1970s, 1980s, and 1990s, the filmmakers of Burning Brighter come from multicultural families of diverse origins. They were brought up watching American films in which they saw their cultures and backgrounds represented. They haven’t necessarily studied cinema, and can’t rely on personal connections within the industry. They have important things to say, but cannot relate to the way that French cinema has historically portrayed their experiences.
These filmmakers, who represent a Double Vague, or “Double Wave” in French cinema, write screenplays, wield cameras, and create films that reflect the multicultural nature of contemporary French society.”
— Claire Diao
Video: Festival Highlights
In Person at FIAF: Friday, October 1
Feature Film
Skies of Lebanon
7pm
Festival Opening Night Party at 8:30pm
Dir. Chloé Mazlo, 2020
In French, Arabic and Italian with English subtitles
Chloé Mazlo’s first feature is a strikingly original film set in the 1950s and inspired by her family’s life in the years leading into the Lebanese Civil War.
TV Series
All the Way Up
9:30pm
Festival Opening Night Party at 8:30pm
Dir. Franck Gastambide, Charles Van Tieghem, Xavier Lacaille, 2020
In French with English subtitles
All the Way Up takes us into the world of French hip-hop through the journey of Clément (played by French musician Hatik), a talented young rapper with a difficult personal history.
In Person at FIAF: Saturday, October 2
Feature Film
Simply Black
2pm
Dir. Jean-Pascal Zadi and John Wax, 2020
In French with English subtitles
This corrosive comedy tackles the timely topics of racism and coalition building with a good dose of self-deprecation.
Talk
Roundtable: Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion in French and American Cinema
4pm
In this roundtable discussion, a panel of French and American filmmakers, producers, and talent managers will discuss diversity, equity, and inclusion in the film industries of both countries.
Shorts
Shorts Program 1
5:30pm
Introduction by Holy Fatma
This program offers a selection of shorts from a variety of cinematographic genres. We start with a thought-provoking drama that brings to light the harsh reality of violence in prison (Freed), then continue onto a mysterious and thrilling science-fiction film (So What If the Goats Die), before concluding with a light comedy about a forgotten reality-TV star (Blooming Dalia).
Feature Film
A Brighter Tomorrow
7:30pm
Video introduction by Yassine Qnia
Dir. Yassine Qnia, 2021
In French with English subtitles
Mehdi (Soufiane Guerrab of Lupin), is a small-time safe cracker who’s finding robberies aren’t paying like they used to.
Feature Film
Blind Spot
9:45pm
Dir. Patrick-Mario Bernard and Pierre Trividic, 2019
In French with English subtitles
Dominick Brassan has the power to turn invisible but rarely uses it. Instead, he keeps it a shameful secret, even from his fiancée, Viveka.
In Person at FIAF: Sunday, October 3
Feature Film
School Life
2pm
Dir. Grand Corps Malade and Mehdi Idir, 2019
In French with English subtitles
Idealistic young educator Samia has taken a new assignment in a difficult middle school in the Paris suburbs.
Shorts
Shorts Program 2
5pm
Video introduction by Romuald Rodrigues Andrade and Lawrence Valin
Closing Night Party at 6:15pm
The films in this program reflect the difficulty of choosing one’s life path—until a plan imposes itself. This might come in the form of an unexpected transition to fatherhood (Timoun Aw), a dreamed-of professional opportunity (Get Lost), or a cryptic chance meeting (The Loyal Man).
Feature Film
Red Soil
7pm
Closing Night Party at 6:15pm
Dir. Farid Bentoumi, 2020
In French with English subtitles
After losing her job at a hospital emergency room, Nour Hamadi (Zita Hanrot) returns to her hometown, taking a position as a nurse at the chemical plant where her father Slimane (Sami Bouajila) has worked for 30 years.
Online: Sunday, October 3–Sunday, October 10
Feature Film
Arab Blues
Dir. Manele Labidi, 2019
In French and Arabic with English subtitles
Selma (Golshifteh Farahani), a 35-year-old psychoanalyst, decides to return from France to her native Tunisia to improve the mental health of her compatriots.
Feature Film
Night Ride
Dir. Frédéric Farrucci, 2019
In French with English subtitles
Jin drives an illegal taxi for the Chinese Triads, with dreams of becoming a DJ. He meets Naomi (played by French pop singer Camélia Jordana), a troubled sex worker who makes him her private chauffeur.
Documentary Feature
Leave?
Dir. Mary-Noël Niba, 2019
In French, English, and Pidjin with English subtitles
In this documentary film, director Mary-Noël Niba paints a sobering and poignant picture of the reality facing migrants who hope to build a better future for themselves and their families.
Feature Film
Should the Wind Drop
Q&A with Nora Martirosyan and Julie Paratian
Dir. Nora Martirosyan, 2020
In French, Armenian, English, Russian with English subtitles
French auditor Alain Delage (Grégoire Colin, in tour-de-force performance) arrives in the war-torn South Caucasus region of Nagorno-Karabakh to study the feasibility of a new airport.
Feature Film
Simply Black
Dir. Jean-Pascal Zadi and John Wax, 2020
In French with English subtitles
This corrosive comedy tackles the timely topics of racism and coalition building with a good dose of self-deprecation.
Shorts
Shorts Program 3
Video introduction by Vincent Fontano and Jeff Taver
The shorts in this online program provide unexpected plot twists and stylistic turns. Mama Lova portrays a grieving mother managing a devastating loss; So What If the Goats Die mixes genres as it builds toward a surprise finale; and the experimental Blaké turns the mundane (an overnight shift of two security guards) into visual poetry.
Burning Brighter: New Voices in French Cinema 2021 is made possible by the generous support of The Edmond de Rothschild Foundations.
Skies of Lebanon, Should the Wind Drop, and Red Soil are part of Young French Cinema, a program of UniFrance and the Cultural Services of the French Embassy.