Albertine Cinémathèque French Film Festival Returns to MSU 

Albertine Cinémathèque French Film Festival Returns to MSU 

Assistant Professors Elizabeth Tuttle and Jena Whitaker in the Department of Romance and Classical Studies at Michigan State University are excited to announce the return of the MSU Albertine Cinémathèque French Film Festival. The 2024 festival is slated to bring one classic and five contemporary French films to MSU’s campus during the month of October.   

This year’s festival highlights ultra-contemporary, award-winning French films to showcase new and exciting developments in current French cinema. Graduate student film fellows Laetitia Kokx and Vanessa Weller helped organize and promote the on-campus events.   

Supported by the Albertine Cinémathèque French Film Festival grant, the festival is open to the public and will be held on select dates Oct. 8-16. All films will be shown free of charge starting at 6 p.m. in either South Kedzie Hall 105 or Wells Hall B-119. 

A collection of six film posters arranged in two rows. From left to right in the top row: "La Nuit du 12" (a woman in a red coat at night), "The Beast" (a close-up of a woman's face), and "Retour à Séoul" (a woman in a black coat in front of neon lgihts). Bottom row: "Other People's Children" (a smiling woman and man with a child), "Le Mépris" (a woman lounging in a room above the ocean), and "Banel & Adama" (a woman in a red dress laying on cracked earth).

Since the first iteration of the Albertine Cinémathèque French Film Festival in Spring 2023, Drs. Tuttle and Whitaker have succeeded in making the festival a biennial event to complement the Romance and Classical Studies Department’s Latinx and Italian Film Festivals. Last fall, Associate Professors Valentina Denzel and Anne Violin-Wigent hosted the Anna Norris French Film Festival in the interim.  

Albertine Cinémathèque is a program of FACE Foundation and Villa Albertine, which aim to promote French-American cultural exchange in education and the arts on American college and university campuses. MSU’s Albertine Cinémathèque French Film Festival also is supported by the Centre National du Cinema (CNC) and Fonds Culturel Franco-Americain (SACEM) and co-sponsored by the Department of Romance and Classical Studies; College of Arts & Letters; Graduate Student Association-TROPOS; Center for European, Russian, and Eurasian Studies; Alliance Française de Lansing; and the Film Studies Program at Michigan State University.  

Below is the festival schedule. For more information, please visit the MSU Albertine Cinémathèque French Film Festival website, curated by Laetitia Kokx. 

A film poster featuring a woman in a red coat walking at night under streetlights. The title "La Nuit du 12" is displayed in bold white letters, with film festival awards, including Cannes, listed above.

The Night of the Twelfth (2022) 

*Tuesday, Oct. 8, at 6 p.m. in South Kedzie Hall 105 
*Presented by Vanessa Weller, Ph.D. Student in French and Francophone Studies

Recently promoted Captain Yohan Vivès (Bastien Bouillon) faces an elusive case investigating the gruesome murder of a young woman named Clara in a small town near Grenoble. It is clear that the attack was premeditated, and the violent nature of the crime suggests revenge. All the evidence points towards a scorned ex-lover, but which one? This film was awarded six Césars in 2023. 

A stylized poster for Jean-Luc Godard’s film "Le Mépris," showcasing a bright, open room overlooking a ocean. A woman reclines on a couch on the left, and a man stands looking out of the window toward the sea above her. The title and cast names are displayed at the top.

Contempt (1963) 

*Wednesday, Oct. 9, at 6 p.m. in Wells Hall B119 
*Presented by Kaveh Askari, Associate Professor and Director of Film Studies  

This Godard classic portrays scenes from a marital breakdown between screenwriter (Michel Piccoli) and his wife (Brigitte Bardot) as both become enmeshed in the behind-the-camera struggles of a director (Fritz Lang) and producer (Jack Palance) as they film an adaptation of Homer’s The Odyssey. 

A film poster featuring a close-up of a woman hugging a young child, with a man smiling in the background and hugging her. The title "Other People's Children" is displayed prominently, along with film festival awards like TIFF and Sundance.

Other People’s Children (2022) 

*Thursday, Oct. 10, at 6 p.m. in Wells Hall B119 
*Presented by Jaden Loy, Undergraduate French Major 

When high school teacher Rachel (Virginie Efira) falls in love with Ali (Roschdy Zem), it’s not long before she forms a bond with his daughter Leila. Although she feels like a mother, Rachel is not allowed to forget that Lelia is another woman’s daughter. She begins to long for a child of her own, but as a forty-something woman, she is abundantly aware that she has limited time to begin a family.  

A film poster featuring a woman in a black jacket walking through a busy, neon-lit street at night, glancing back over her shoulder. The title "Retour à Séoul" appears boldly, with festival awards including Cannes.

Return to Seoul (2022) 

*Friday, Oct. 11, at 6 p.m. in Wells Hall B119   
*Presented by Timothée Valentin, Assistant Professor of French and Francophone Studies

After an impulsive travel decision to visit friends, 25-year-old Freddie (Park Ji-min) returns to South Korea, where she was born, for the first time since being adopted and raised in France. Freddie suddenly finds herself embarking on an unexpected journey in a country she knows so little about, taking her life in new and unexpected directions. 

A film poster showing a close-up of a woman with short blonde hair.The background is a soft green, and the title "The Beast" is written below her, with festival logos including TIFF and Venice.

The Beast (2024)  

*Tuesday, Oct. 15, at 6 p.m. in South Kedzie 105 
*Presented by Jena Whitaker, Assistant Professor of French and Francophone Studies 

The year is 2044 and artificial intelligence controls all facets of a stoic society as humans routinely “erase” their feelings. Hoping to eliminate pain caused by past-life romances, Gabrielle (Léa Seydoux) continually falls in love with different incarnations of Louis (George MacKay). Set first in Belle Époque-era Paris, Louis is a British man who woos her away from a cold husband, then in early 21st Century Los Angeles, he is a disturbed American bent on delivering violent “retribution.” Will the process allow Gabrielle to fully connect with Louis in the present, or are the two doomed to repeat their previous fates? Based on a novella by Henry James. 

A film poster featuring a woman in a red dress lying on cracked, dry ground with her eyes closed and her hand resting on her head. The title "Banel & Adama" is displayed above her, along with festival awards, including Cannes and TIFF.

Banel & Adama (2023) 

*Wednesday, Oct. 16, at 6 p.m. in Wells Hall B119  
*Presented by Safoi Babana-Hampton, Professor of French and Francophone Studies

Set against the terrestrial majesty of the Sahel, Banel & Adama is a tragic romance following two young lovers as they strive for independence and self-possession in the face of imperious tradition. Neither Senegal nor the rest of the world has known a love like Banel (Khady Mane) and Adama’s (Mamadou Diallo), each eager to begin their adult lives away from the stifling demands of their families and community. Premiering in competition at this year’s Cannes Film Festival — the sole debut granted the honor — Banel & Adama is a lyrical odyssey that takes a hypnotic descent into mythic fabulism with the profundity of a timeless fable.  

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