focus on films from France

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100% Arabica Set in a predominantly North African housing project just outside of Paris, this prescient 1997 dramedy from director Mahmoud Zemmouri follows a group of friends who escape the poverty and prejudice of their daily lives by forming a band called Rap Oriental. Their rai music (an infectious fusion of rap and traditional North African tunes)…    more      101 Reykjavik Baltasar Kormakur's 101 REYKJAVIK is a crowd-pleasing comedy that gleefully takes the concept of "family dysfunction" to an outrageous new level. Hlynur (Hilmer Snaer Gudnason), an unmotivated Icelander with no interests other than watching porn and getting drunk, still lives at home with his sympathetic mother. He has a brief fling with…    more      13 Tzameti A clean-faced 20-year-old, Sebastien, leads an impoverished life with his immigrant family, constantly struggling to find the money for their next meal. When hired to repair the roof of the morphine-addicted Godon (Philippe Passon), Sebastien eavesdrops in on a conversation which appears to offer a quick and easy solution to his money…    more      2000 Seen By... Collection Boxed set includes all eight parts of the "2000 Seen By..." collection. THE BOOK OF LIFE (1998, 63 min.) - Hal Hartley, THE FIRST NIGHT OF MY LIFE (1998, 84 min.) - Miguel Albaladejo, THE HOLE (1998, 95 min.) - Tsai Ming-Liang, LIFE ON EARTH (1998, 61 min.) - Abderrahmane Sissako, MIDNIGHT (1998, 72 min.) - Daniela Thomas and Walter Salles…    more      3 Films by Louis Malle Few directors have portrayed the agonies and epiphanies of growing up as poetically – and scandalously – as Louis Malle. Laced with autobiographical details, Murmur of the Heart; Lacombe, Lucien; and Au revoir les enfants tell stories of youth, set against the tumult of World War II and postwar France. Controversial, tragic…    more      36 Fillette While on a camping vacation with her family, 14-year-old Lili sets out to lose her virginity. She pursues for her first lover Maurice, a 40-year-old computer salesman, but "at the moment of truth," she's assailed by lingering doubts. Alternately aggressive and resistant, Lili confuses herself and frustrates Maurice as she tries to make up her mind…    more