Languages Archives: French

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Sibyl

  Justine Triet

  France      2019    

Synopsis

Sibyl (Virginie Eifira) is struggling. Unsatisfied with her work as a therapist, she decides to curb her caseload and attempt to write a novel. Suffering from writer’s block, she reluctantly agrees to counsel Margot, a mercurial young film actress embroiled in a messy affair with her co-star. Taking a page straight out of Margot’s tumultuous life, the novel practically starts to write itself.

 French with subtitles 
  100 minutes

Screenings & Events

In-person Screening

Wed, Jul 10 @ 6:30pm CDT

at Chicago Cultural Center

Tickets available Monday, July 1.

Media

Sponsors

Logo: Villa Albertine 203x60Logo: France Consolute General - 128x100

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Shorts 2: Animation – Desires

  Various

  Argentina, Belgium, France, Hungary, Israel, Mexico, The Netherlands, United States     76 minutes

Synopsis

These animated shorts create an idiosyncratic mosaic of the difficulties, joys, enigmas, and triumphs of the human experience. Featuring works by Nienke Deutz, Osman Cerfon, Patricio Plaza, Flóra Anna Buda, Tzor Edery, Tom Prezman, Vishavjit Singh, and Ryan Westra.

The Miracle (Belgium, The Netherlands, France) is a hotel where Irma, a 40-year-old woman surrounded by families, tries to find comfort in her solitary life. Children display varied emotions with a singular expression in Aaaah! (France). An ailing priest in the Mexican colonial era is given a medicine that confronts him with his spiritual ailments in Carne de Dios (Argentina, Mexico). On the day that Alice turns 27 (France, Hungary), a drunken accident makes her question the choices she has made in her life thus far. Remembrances of a former drag queen’s experience in one of the first queer bars in Paris are imaginatively told in Maurice’s Bar (France, Israel). Based on true events, American Sikh (U.S.) tells the story of a courageous man in post-9/11 New York City who faced prejudice and racism with humor and heroism.

 Arabic, Dutch, English, French, Hungarian, Spanish with subtitles 

Content Considerations
Violence, gendered violence, and racial violence
Learn about Festival content considerations...

Screenings & Events

Virtual Screening

This program will be available to stream from October 16 at 12:00pm CT to October 22 at 11:59pm CDT.

Sponsors

Accessibility Partner

logo: Periscope Post & Audio 308x100

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Shorts 8: Architecture – Versions of Home

  Various

  France, New Zealand, The Netherlands, Ukraine, United States     77 minutes

Synopsis

In celebration of this year’s Chicago Architecture Biennial, this program tracks how we establish strong connections to a place, and the complications of staying in it. Featuring works by Camille Authouart, Mariia Ponomarova, Lloyd Lee Choi, and Ufuoma Essi.

An artist explores, observes, and draws scenes of La Défense, a neighborhood west of Paris whose large-scale public artworks constitute the largest open-air museum in Europe, in The Great Arc (France). Former residents remember happier times in a beloved apartment in Three Windows on South West (The Netherlands, Ukraine). Closing Dynasty (U.S.) follows a day in the life of a streetwise kid named Queenie as she navigates her own path through New York City. And Is My Living In Vain (U.K., France, New Zealand) explores the Black church as a site of personal and political belonging through portraits of communities across west Philadelphia and southeast London.

 French, Mandarin, Russian, Ukrainian with subtitles 

Screenings & Events

Virtual Screening

This program will be available to stream from October 16 at 12:00pm CT to October 22 at 11:59pm CDT.

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Shorts 6: Comedy – Awkward Laughs

  Various

  Canada, Chile, Iran, United States     96 minutes

Synopsis

The works in this program muck around the dark corners of human experience, bringing forth the darkly comedic, can’t-help-but-laugh moments that arise in difficult times. Featuring works by Daniel Sinclair, Malia Ann, Azadeh Navai, Lou Marino, Peter Collins Campbell, and Éric K. Boulianne.

A surprise interruption during a fruitless therapy session brings a married couple closer than they thought possible in the hilarious The Breakthrough (U.S.). A lonely man is perplexed when his mother passes away and leaves him with her heart in a jar in the beautifully tender The Heart (U.S.). The endlessly charming Rizoo (Iran, U.S.) follows a rebellious 8-year-old who recently moved back to Tehran from the United States as she navigates familial and societal expectations. An intimate and endearing work of docu-fiction, Geranios (Chile) follows best friends whose effortless charisma and fierce dedication carries them through tough times. In the delightfully idiosyncratic Variations on a Theme (U.S.), a couple starts literally splitting into multiple versions of themselves. The ups and downs of a couple’s journey trying to get pregnant are humorously and compassionately explored in Making Babies (Canada).

 English, French, Persian, Spanish with subtitles 

Content Considerations
Violence
Learn about Festival content considerations...

Screenings & Events

Virtual Screening

This program will be available to stream from October 16 at 12:00pm CT to October 22 at 11:59pm CDT.

Sponsors

Comedy Program Sponsor

Logo: The Second City 329x75

Film Supporter

Logo: Canada 313x100

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Shorts 4: Documentary – In Motion

  Various

  Bhutan, Germany, Switzerland, Ukraine, United States     90 minutes

Synopsis

These short documentaries offer singular looks into lives that have been transformed by pivotal events. Featuring works by Mila Zhluktenko, Daniel Asadi Faezi, Sean Wang, Jon Siskel, Kevin Jerome Everson, Claudrena N. Harold, Arun Bhattarai, Francesca Scalisi, and Mark Olexa.

Displaced by war, Ukrainian children make a former military barrack their playground in waking up in silence (Germany, Ukraine). Nǎi Nai & Wài Pó (U.S.) is a moving portrait of an elderly pair, their quirky rituals, and their strong sentiments for life. The community of Highland Park, Illinois, commemorates those who lost their lives in the Independence Day shooting of 2022 in Memorial (U.S.). In Accidental Athlete (U.S.), Paulette Jones Morant recounts her athletic journey at the University of Virginia in the 1970s. Mountain Man (Bhutan) chronicles Phuntsho Tshering and his annual sacred journey to the Himalayas to track the movement of the glaciers. The poetry of the passage of time is seen on the faces of the elderly and in the voices of a youth choir in A reflection (Switzerland).

 Dzongkha, English, French, Mandarin, Russian, Spanish, Ukrainain with subtitles 

Screenings & Events

Virtual Screening

This program will be available to stream from October 16 at 12:00pm CT to October 22 at 11:59pm CDT.

Sponsors

Documentary Program Sponsors

Logo: WTTW (2019)Cynthia Stone Raskin