Les Méduses

Alfred lives with his mother in a small village keeping chickens and selling eggs at the local market. He doesn't speak, except to his mother and to children. He has a girlfriend of sorts, although she shies away from any physical contact with her. But more than anything, Alfred wants a child. As natural fatherhood is out of the question he takes the next best option, and makes an application to adopt. With a very un-French lack of bureaucracy Alfred's adoptive son arrives, but turns out not to be the bouncing baby he was hoping for. [taken from London Film Festival 2006 catalogue]

A young high school student marked by the recent death of her mother, Gwen, spends her time with her group of friends, including her lover Thomas, an apprentice baker. When Jean-Luc, a Parisian student who looks like an artist, moves into the area, Gwen does not hide her trouble, as if a decisive life choice was before her. One day, she discovers a film at the cinema that seems inexplicably inspired by her own life. Will she find the answers she is looking for?

Like every year, Inès takes the train to Mont-de-Marsan to spend a week's holiday with her grandmother. But this time around, things do not happen as usual. First, Granny is late to the appointment outside the station. And when she finally arrives, she looks strange, seems to have difficulty in finding her way back home and mostly seems to be hiding something for her granddaughter...

Sardine, ten, lives with her family in a village in Picardy. On the day of her sister's wedding, she fights with her family to allow her big brother, Ben-Hur, twenty-five, mentally and physically handicapped, to take his natural place for the ceremony : that of the head of the family who gives the bride away.

The Aviron Bayonnais is a rugby team having a streak of bad luck. Even though they fight relentlessly, they keep losing. One day, though, things change. Everything seems to be possible again. But will the team be able to keep up the momentum? Delphine Gleize films this sports odyssey with humour and passion. She is the only woman in the locker room and the men talk to her as if she were one of them. Through her camera, getting close while keeping an observational distance, the filmmaker manages to capture elements that define and clarify male bonds and relationships.

David, a professor of dermatology, has been treating 13-year-old Romain since he was a baby. Afflicted with a rare skin condition, Romain must avoid sunlight and is condemned to live in the shade. David and Romain have become the closest of friends and nothing can separate them. But then David learns that he is about to be transferred to another clinic in another town. How will he be able to break the news to Romain? And how will Romain cope with this new crisis in his life?

Avril, an idealistic lawyer dedicated to lost causes, agrees to defend Cosmos, a dog that has bitten three people, leading to the first canine trial. She has no choice but to win the case, as otherwise, her unusual client will be put down.

Vincent, still of tender age, has already tattooed most of his body and hoarsened his voice with his post-hardcore band – his way of venting his frustrations and desires. Ever since his mother died, he shares his time between Porte de Clignancourt and Bastille, between a piercer job he is unhappy with and his fishmonger father, Hervé, who is trying to start a new life with a younger woman named Julia. Vincent is initially appalled by the woman, with whom his father has ‘betrayed’ his mother, but the more they get to know each other, the more he becomes intrigued by the beautiful and empathetic woman. Unlike his father, she shows interest in him, even attending one of his gigs. What starts out as a potential way of reconciling with his father soon implodes.

Alma, alone in her big townhouse, and Mina, a single mother from a housing project in another city, have organized their lives around the prison visits they make to their respective partners. When the two women meet in the room outside the visiting area, an unlikely friendship begins...

Stéphane lives a quiet life as an eminent French Chef but when he decides to visit Soo, a mysterious Korean lady he fell in love with on Instagram, he'll embark on an adventurous journey full of discoveries.

After a bull is killed in a bullfight, its body parts are transported across Spain, France, Italy and Belgium. The bull's parts fall into the wide variety of people, including: an Italian actress selling the bones in a supermarket promotion, a Spanish woman who dines on its steaks, a little girl in France who imagines a world where animals are much larger than humans, and a taxidermist whose wife is simultaneously giving birth to quintuplets.

Every summer, 10-year-old Dune goes with her parents to the south-west coast of France, where she meets her best friend Mathilde. Together, they explore pine forests, contemplate the shape of clouds, follow teenagers and crash their parties, and secretly watch horror films. But this one summer is special for Dune – last year, the family skipped their usual holiday without her knowing why. She feels that something has changed. As childhood becomes a little more distant, she begins to see adults and teenagers differently and understand their secrets.

Eve, 35 years old, has just lost her grandmother. She had promised to accompany her to the island of Lanzarote to celebrate the Burial of the Sardine, a pagan rite that celebrates chaos. Eve lands alone on the volcanic island. As soon as she arrives, her retreat is disrupted by her two best friends, Bonnie and Rita, who have come to surprise her.

Arthur and Maxime are a couple who dream of becoming parents. Facing societal judgment and legal barriers, they contemplate breaking the law to build their family. Their loved ones quickly step in to help—each bringing their own distinct convictions and ideas, though not all of them turn out to be helpful.

Marie, 22, works in her parent’s hotel-restaurant, a place of hard-work where three generations mix but barely speak to each other. Suzanne, 42, shows up for the night. She ends up staying two nights, then three and finally settles for a moment. To Marie, she’s a simple customer. Yet Suzanne did not choose this hotel by accident.