A Day in the Country
Dir. Jean Renoir, 1936, France, 40min, DCP, Black & White
Starring Sylvia Bataille, Georges D’Arnoux, Jane Marken
In French and English subtitles
French director Jean Renoir puts his humanist, nature-drenched spin on the tender, comedic Guy de Maupassant story, which follows the unexpected romantic fallout of an urban family’s French countryside day trip. The lyrical 1946 featurette explores the Seine-side love affair between local man Henri (Georges D’Arnoux) and the family daughter Henriette (Sylvia Bataille), which takes place over the course of a summer afternoon in 1860. The bittersweet experience affects both admirers long after they part.
Winner, Best Foreign Language Film, 1950 New York Film Critics Circle Awards
Nominee, 1946 Cannes Film Festival
Sunshine for the Poor
Dir. Alain Guiraudie, 2001, France, 55min, DCP, Color
Starring Isabelle Girardet, Alain Guiraudie, Jean-Paul Jourdàa, Michel Turquin
In French with English subtitles
A young woman (Isabelle Girardet) makes a pilgrimage to the Causses plateau in search of a mysterious animal she remembers from childhood. Soon she meets an older shepherd (played by Alain Guiraudie), and the pair set out on an existential pilgrimage searching for his lost flock, talking about life, work and love while encountering a cast of characters.
“With a minimalist approach that gives pride of place to space and nature, Alain Guiraudie rediscovers the raw magic of primitive stories, somewhere between Greek mythology and the western.” –L’Humanité
“This unique universe makes Alain Guiraudie the champion of a cinema with a fresh and joyful tone, which, as soon as it is relieved of its comic-book rhetoric (like ‘Le Génie des alpages’), will find the true tone.” –Le Monde