Salve Regina’s French Film Festival is back with six award-winning films

Once a dearly-beloved tradition at Salve Regina, the French Film Festival was put on hold for three years due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The University is proud to announce that the French Film Festival is back with six award-winning French films for viewers to enjoy from Sunday, March 19, through Thursday, March 30.

The festival is open to the general public, as well as the Salve Regina community.

This year, the French Film Festival will offer a little bit of everything for its audience. There is a quirky comedy, an animated movie on refugees from the Spanish Civil War, and a lavish adaptation of one of French novelist Honoré de Balzac’s greatest novels. Films will focus on contemporary issues of diversity, inequality and gender identity, while also relishing a classic of French cinema’s legacy.

All six films will be screened on campus in the O’Hare Academic Building’s Bazarsky Lecture Hall. On opening night, a wine and cheese reception will be held after the first film, “Gagarine,” while the Sunday matinee, “Les Illusions Perdues,” will be preceded by a reception with pastries and coffee.

For the general public, admission is $15 for Sunday films and receptions, $10 for weeknight films and $40 for a festival pass. Tickets for individual screenings will be available at the door for cash or check only. To avoid lines at the door, patrons are encouraged to buy a festival pass online. Salve Regina’s students, faculty and staff receive free admission with valid Salve Regina ID.

For general festival information, email frenchfilmfestival@salve.edu.

French Film Festival lineup

Drama: “Gagarine”
Sunday, March 19, at 5 p.m.
Bazarsky Lecture Hall in the O’Hare Academic Building

Youri, 16, has lived all his life in Gagarine Cité, a vast housing project on the outskirts of Paris. From the heights of his apartment, he dreams of becoming an astronaut. But when plans to demolish his community’s home are leaked, Youri joins with friends on a mission to save Gagarine. The film was selected for the 2020 Cannes Film Festival and has won multiple awards.

Running time is 97 minutes.

Wine and cheese reception to follow film.

Drama: “Les 400 Coups/The 400 Blows”
Tuesday, March 21, at 7 p.m.
Bazarsky Lecture Hall in the O’Hare Academic Building

Neglected by his derelict parents, young Parisian boy Antoine Doinel skips school, sneaks into movies, runs away from home, steals things and tries to return them in a Paris of dingy flats, seedy arcades, abandoned factories and workaday streets. This was famed director François Truffaut’s debut, and he won the best director award at the 1959 Cannes Film Festival.

Running time is 99 minutes.

Comedy: “Mandibules/Mandibles”
Thursday, March 23, at 7 p.m.
Bazarsky Lecture Hall in the O’Hare Academic Building

When simple-minded friends Jean-Gab and Manu find a giant fly trapped in the trunk of a car, they decide to train it in the hope of making a ton of cash in this surreal comedy from director Quentin Dupieux. The quirky yet lovable film was nominated for and won several awards, and it was an audience favorite in France when released.

Running time is 78 minutes.

“Les Illusions Perdues/Lost Illusions”
Sunday, March 26, at 3 p.m.
Bazarsky Lecture Hall in the O’Hare Academic Building

This film is a sumptuous adaptation of Honoré de Balzac’s epic tale of a young provincial poet’s introduction to 19th-century Paris, where everything is bought and sold: literature as well as the press, politics as well as feelings, reputations as well as souls. This film premiered at the Venice Film Festival in 2021 and won seven César Awards in 2022, the equivalent of the Academy Awards in France.

A coffee and pastry reception will begin at 2 p.m., and the film will follow at 3 p.m.

Running time is 149 minutes

Documentary: “Petite Fille /Little Girl”
Tuesday, March 28, at 7 p.m.
Bazarsky Lecture Hall in the O’Hare Academic Building

“Little Girl” is the moving portrait of 7-year-old Sasha, who was assigned being a male at birth but has always known that she is a girl. Realized with delicacy and intimacy, Sébastien Lifshitz’s documentary poetically explores the emotional challenges, everyday feats and small moments in a transgender child’s life. The film won a Silver Hugo for Best Documentary film at the 2020 Chicago International Film Festival, among other awards. 

Running time: 80 minutes

Animated Film: “Josep”
Thursday, March 30, at 7 p.m.
Bazarsky Lecture Hall in the O’Hare Academic Building

Click on image to go watch a trailer on YouTube.

In February 1939, Spanish Republicans are fleeing Franco’s dictatorship to France. In one French-built concentration camp separated by barbed wire, two men will become friends. One is a guard; the other is Josep Bartoli, an illustrator fighting against Franco’s regime. The film was selected for the 2020 Cannes Film Festival and won Best Animated Film at the European Film Awards in 2021, along with other awards.

Running time is 74 minutes.

To buy tickets for any of the individual films in advance, visit the French Film Festival’s webpage, or they can buy a festival pass. Tickets for individual screenings will be available at the door for cash or check only.

For general festival information, email frenchfilmfestival@salve.edu.