Doc & Film International official selections @ CANNES 2016

HISSEIN HABRE, A CHADIAN TRAGEDY

by Mahamat-Saleh Haroun

In 2013, former Chadian dictator Hissein Habré’s arrest in Senegal marked the end of a long combat for the survivors of his regime. Accompanied by the Chairman of the Association of the Victims of the Hissein Habré Regime, Mahamat Saleh Haroun goes to meet those who survived this tragedy and who still bear the scars of the horror in their flesh and in their souls. Through their courage and determination, the victims accomplish an unprecedented feat in the history of Africa: that of bringing a Head of State to trial.

Production: Pilifilms - Goï-Goï Productions - ARTE France

France - Chad / 82' / HD / 2016 / Documentary

CHOUF

by Karim Dridi

With: Sofian Khammes, Foued Nabba, Oussama Abdul Aal, Zine Darar, Nailia Harzoune, Foziwa Mohamed

Chouf: Means “look” in Arabic, but it is also the name and role of the watchmen in the drug cartels of Marseille. Sofiane is 20. Brilliant student, he comes back to spend his holiday in the Marseille ghetto where he was born. His brother, a dealer, gets shot before his eyes. Sofiane gives up on his studies and gets involved in the drug network, ready to avenge him. He quickly rises to the top and becomes, the boss’s right hand, Réda. Trapped by the system, Sofiane is dragged into a spiral of violence...

Production: Tessalit Productions & Mirak Films

France / 106' /  HD / 2016 / Feature Film

THE LIVES OF THERESE

by Sébastien Lifshitz

Thérèse Clerc is one of France’s fiercest activists. From abortion rights to sexual equality to homosexual rights, she has fought every battle. With the knowledge that she is dying from an incurable illness, she decides to give a tender and lucid last look at what was her life, her battles and her loves.

Production: Agat Films & Cie

France / 55' / HD / 2016 / Documentary

HOSPITAL by Frederick Wiseman

Hospital shows the daily activities of a large urban hospital with the emphasis on the emergency ward and outpatient clinics. The cases depicted illustrate how medical expertise, availability of resources, organizational considerations, and the nature of communication among the staff and patients affect the delivery of appropriate health care.

Presented by Zipporah Films and Blaq Out in partnership with Doc & Film and UniversCiné, Hospital was restored in a 35 mm copy by the Library of Congress Audiovisual Conservation Center from original camera negatives in the Zipporah Films Collection. Upon this occasion Frederick Wiseman will be present at Cannes and be awarded the Prix Consécration by France Culture radio station.

Production: Zipporah Films Inc.

USA / 84' / HD / 1969 / Documentary

BERNADETTE LAFONT,

AND GOD CREATED THE FREE WOMAN 

by Esther Hoffenberg

A journey in the company of Bernadette Lafont, French Cinema’s most atypical actress.  Tracing her career from pin-up girl, to New Wave model of sexual freedom, to drug-dealing granny in the film Paulette, by way of La Fiancée du Pirate and Les Stances à Sophie, this film pays tribute to her extraordinary life and artistic odyssey. Her grand-daughters, Anna, Juliette and Solène, revisit the dreams of Bernadette, in the family home in the Cevennes region where they, like her, grew up. Her close friends, Bulle Ogier and Jean-Pierre Kalfon, reminisce on their artistic and human complicity. Throughout the film, Bernadette Lafont in person, with her inimitable character actress voice, re-evokes a life in cinema marked with insolence, courage and freedom.

Production: ARTE France - Lapsus - Inthemood - INA

France / 65' / HD / 2016 / Documentary

MRS B. A NORTH-KOREAN WOMAN

by Jero Yun

While illegally leaving North Korea, Mrs. B. is sold by her smugglers to a Chinese farmer. She becomes a smuggler herself and engages in a struggle to reunite with her sons. But the Intelligence Service gets involved…

Production: Zorba Productions & SU:M

France - South Korea / 70' / HD / 2016 / Documentary

MISS IMPOSSIBLE

by Emilie Deleuze

BERLINALE 2016 - GENERATION

With: Léna Magnien, Patricia Mazuy, Philippe Duquesne, Catherine Hiegel

Some would say Aurore lives a boring life. But when you are a 13 year-old girl, and just like her have an uncompromising way of looking at boys, school, family or friends, life takes on the appearance of a merry psychodrama. Especially with a new French teacher, the threat of being sent to boarding school, repeatedly falling in love and the crazy idea of going on stage with a band...

Production: Agat Films & Cie

France / 90' / HD / 2016 / Feature Film

FRENCH WAVES

by Julian Starke

French Waves gives life back to the French Touch’s greatest moments, from the 90s until now. It is the story of artists who created a music style which has achieved tremendous success around the world: Laurent Garnier, Bob Sinclar, Dimitri from Paris, Cassius, Modjo, Justice, David Guetta and of course Daft Punk. The French Touch has thus been instrumental in the public recognition of electronic music in general and continues to inspire new artists worldwide. French Touch is the symbol of a handover between the X, Y and Z generations, between those who were in their twenties during the 90s and the “Digital Natives”.

Production: Zorba Production

France / 52' & Webseries / HD / 2016 / Documentary