Stress

Paulina 1880

In 1880's Italy, young Paulina must join a monastery to escape a doomed relationship with a married count. However, neither she, nor the count can just move on and all elements for a tragedy are there.

Dis maman, tu m'aimes ?

We Were Mistaken About a Love Story

Anne and Pierre work in the same company, they date but do not consider a long-term relationship until Anne learns that she is expecting a child. Having already had an abortion, she fears repeating the experience, so Pierre proposes to marry her.

Ramparts of Clay

In a village on the edge of the Sahara, Rima, a 19-year-old orphan, dreams of learning, of discovering, of living free while the men of the salt mine go on strike. The authorities react by sending the army, Rima decides to help the strikers by trapping the soldiers. Co-produced with the Office des Actualités Algériens and shot in the region of Téhouda, 50 kilometers from Biskra, this Franco-Algerian film is fully part of the cinematographic heritage of both shores of the Mediterranean. Bertuccelli adopts the technique of cinema verite, with non-professional actors from the village itself, giving the film a striking documentary texture and a rare force of authenticity. Carried by the moving interpretation of Leila Shenna in the role of Rima, the actor Krikèche and lulled by the music of Taos Amrouche, the film questions female emancipation, social resistance and the relationship with the territory.

Lucie sur Seine

Louis works for a dry cleaner in the Parisian suburbs. He lives in a council flat with his wife, Chantal, who works as a cashier in a local supermarket. Their relationship is tumultuous and lackluster; Louis longs to escape his humdrum existence. He wants to find a truck to drive to Lebanon. To carry out his plan, he commits a robbery at the supermarket where his wife Chantal works. His plan goes wrong when he fatally wounds a store employee and a security guard. He manages to leave the supermarket unharmed, his loot in his pockets. However, one person witnessed the gruesome scene: Lucie, another cashier. Why does this woman, who seems to have all the evidence to incriminate him, remain silent? Louis is determined to get to know Lucie to better understand the intentions of this mysterious man.

A Day to Remember

Bertille is an old woman who lives in the countryside. Her relatives reunite there with her as she is about selling the property. They don't take long to out their true intentions which are merely material on her estate. Also, Bertille is afflicted by her youngest son who has been in prison for a decade. Decades of fighting over Einstein's stick of truth has made Bertille very frail and easy to come down on.

Marie's Children

During the German occupation of France, a young woman - Marie - finds a Jewish boy in her room. His parents and other Jewish neighbors have been just been deported, but Maurice (the boy) escaped. Marie decides to hide him, secretly.

The Accuser

In this sardonic comedy, after an executive is killed in a mysterious automobile accident, the French offices of his multinational company is inundated with mysteriously threatening be-ribboned anti-capitalist tracts, delivered overnight to everyone's desks. Later, the executive's body is brought to company offices for an official wake -- only no one at the company has ordered that such a thing be done. A mysterious prankster, who is able to imitate the voice of the company's president, has arranged these things. When Americans from the head office get wind of these developments, they institute a search for the perpetrator which leads to mysterious subterranean passages under the company's skyscraper.

The Big Departure

This is the only feature directed by the famed French painter and sculptor Martial Raysse. In keeping with the revolutionary spirit of the time, the movie has no plot to speak of and appears to have been largely made up on the spot. We follow the cat man into a bizarre fantasy universe presented in negative exposure that reverses color values (black is white and vice versa) and written words. The cat man steals a car and then picks up a young girl he promises to take to “Heaven.” Heaven turns out to be a country chateau inhabited by several more animal mask wearing weirdoes...

Doctor Francoise Gailland

Dr. Françoise Gailland has a hectic schedule, which causes her to have little time to spend with her family, which consists of her husband Gérard, her pregnant teenager daughter Élisabeth, and her sullen son Julien. However, she does manage to find the time to spend with her lover, Daniel Letessier. While her life in such disarray, she learns that she has cancer. Françoise tries to put a brave face on it, and is determined to face the life-threatening disease with courage.

Right to the city

Lefebvre's Le Droit à la Ville as visualised by Jean-Louis Bertucelli

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