Last year, I touted 2021 as the Best Year Since, Probably, the New Wave for French cinema.
The films released in France, and that premiered in festivals like Cannes and Venice, we’re plentiful. It came to the point that French movies won both the Palme d’Or and Golden Lion.
The 2021 French film slate speaks for itself: “Titane,” “Petite Maman,” “Happening,” “Benedetta,” “Annette,” “Vortex,” “Bergman Island,” “France,” “Onoda,” “Lost Illusions,” “The Restless,” “Paris 13th District,” “Anais in Love,” and “Everything Went Fine.”
This year, it’s a whole other story.
The four competition entries at Cannes (Desplechin, Tedeschi, Seraille, Denis) were all duds. There weren’t really any breakouts in the Un Certain Regard sidebar either.
Directors Fortnight did not turn out any better with Mysius, Wincour, Faucon all delivering mediocre efforts. US-UK critics seemed to like Mia Hansen-Love’s “One Fine Morning,” but the French weren’t as enthusiastic about it.
Now it’s onto Venice, where film that didn’t make it into Cannes might make it into Venezia competition. The contenders right now include Rebecca Zlotowski’s “Other People’s Children,” Patricia Mazuy’s “Bowling Saturne,” Alice Diop’s “Saint Omer, Christophe Honore’s “Le lycéen,” Romain Gavras “Athena,” and Jean-Paul Civeyrac “Une Femme de Notre Temps.”
It is important to check in on the state of French cinema. They produce the third most amount of movies on a yearly basis, right behind the US and UK.