Jose Alberto Hermosillo,
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| COLCOA 2015 at the DGA. Photo by: Jose Alberto Hermosillo. |
Los Angeles becomes a French city for the next 9 days with
the French Film Festival also known as COLCOA.
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| COLCOA LOBBY Photo by: Jose Alberto Hermosillo. |
COLCOA (City of Lights – City of Angels) is one of
the most prestigious and well organized film festivals in town, this year has a terrific line-up of films,
documentaries, animation features, French classics, shorts, and this year's new secton:TV productions.
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| COLCOA'S program presentation at the French Consulate. Photo: Jose A. Hermosillo |
The festival is recognized for being the second largest French festival outside of France. Knowing this, tickets sold out fast for all the screenings four days in advance, but there still is a chance to catch some of those amazing French
movies by buying tickets at the festival's box office. For more information, visit: www.colcoa.org
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| COLCOA 2015 at the DGA. Photo by: Jose Alberto Hermosillo. |
Festival in LA has selected the hottest French
films showing at COLCOA 2015:
1. NUMBER ONE FAN/Elle L’adore.
Directed
by: Jeanne Herry. This amazing dark
comedy is about self-love vs. Selfless adoration, with the wonderful Sandrine
Kiberlain (“9-Month Stretch”) as Muriel, the middle age, divorced cosmetologist
who is “fan” of the great pop star Vincent Lacroix (Laurent Lafitte).
The
performance of Sandrine Kiberlain is subtle, magnificent, one of the best
performances of the year. It makes you really care for the poor fan than will
do anything for the admired star. A great thriller with a French twist!
2. THE CONNECTION / La French.
Directed
by: Cédric Jimenez. Cast: Jean Dujardin (Academy Award Winner for best actor
“The Artist”) as the magistrate Pierre Michel, whose goal is to dismantle the
most notorious drug smuggling operation in history also known as “The French
Connection.”
Inspired by true events, this stylish and larger-than-life crime is
set in Marseille during the late 70’s. “The Connection” is an epic, intense true-crime
novel translated wonderfully to the big screen.
3. THE SEARCH
Directed
by: Oscar winner director Michel Hazanavicious ("The Artist")."The Search"focuses on the human rights during the
second Chechen war of 1999.
Oscar nominee Bérenice Bejo as Carole is working for the NGO, she is in charge of writing a report for the UN on the humanitarian crisis and gets involved with a lost kid, presumably orphan. The
sister is searching for her family, or what is left. The Red Cross
official (Annette Bening) is overwhelmed with the crisis. The three stories
will meet together with an ingenious twist of fate. Marvelous!
4. IN THE NAME OF MY DAUGHTER/
L'Homme qu'on aimait trop.
This monumental true story is
directed by: André Téchiné had the wonderful performances of Catherine
Denueve as the matriarch Renée, Guillaume Canet as the handsome young lawyer,
and the gorgeous Adèle Haenel as the heiress.
The drama unfolds as the exalted
mother want to keep control of the family’s casino. The lawyer manipulates. The
neglected daughter feels. One of the best Téchiné’s time period movies.
5. A PERFECT MAN/ Un homme ideal.
Directed by: Yann Gozlan. Cast: Pierre Niney (Mathieu), Ana Girardot (Alice), Valeria
Cavalli (Hélène).
An
intense thriller about an innocent looking young writer who finds a dead man’s
diary that he turns it into a novel of his own - soon his actions will hunt it
down in this unpredictable and gripping story.
6. LOVE AT FIRST FIGHT/ Les Combattants
A romantic “girl meets boy” kind of movie on the line of “The Blue Lagoon,”
where she wants to take control in a pre-military training camp, he’s crazy
about her. The "guerrilla" lovers will find out that the “wildlife” is not as
easy as they thought. Sexy, fresh, and compelling.
7. SK1/L'Affaire SK1.
This court-thriller is directed by: Fréderic Tellier and starts with a trial where we meet the players, the presumed murderer, lawyers and the homicide
squad inspector who back in the days, when he was “the rookie,” he was in charge of
collecting all the evidence of a series of women being killed in
the same strange way. During the trial,
the evidence and the people want the murderer to confess, but we want his
innocence to be probed.
“SK1” is a complex a grabbing thriller that everyone
should see.
8. THE GATE/ Les Tempes des Aveux.
A French ethnologist in Cambodia meets with a former Khmer
Rouge official after two decades of the conflict.
In that place all human rights were
violated. His captor, for four months, is accused of killing thousands of innocent people.
A historic film than embraces human endurance. Directed by: Régis Wargnier.
9. Hippocrates, DIARY OF A FRENCH DOCTOR / Hippocrate.
Director
Thomas Lilti bring us a story of a great young doctor trying to impress his father,
Professor Barois, but thing won’t turn out so simple. A heartrending drama that
everyone loves.
10. Brooklyn
An “8
Mille,” “Filly Brown” type of film where a young and talented Swiss rapper-girl is daydreaming
about fame and fortune, something hard to find in the streets of Paris. Soon, she
finds herself immersed in the hip-hop subculture and with the support of
a social worker, that will get her into the poetry-slam events. The question is if she will succeed in the competitive world of the starving artist?
This is part of the COLCOA’S French
NeWave series, not to be missed.
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