Thomas Cheysson

The Soviet Revolution Told Through its Cinema

The two decades following the Russian revolution are marked by a gang of young people who profoundly influenced Russian Cinema. This artistic revolution was led by directors, actors, technicians and poets. They are the characters and voices of our film. The Soviet Actress, Ada Voistik, and its camrades tell us the story of this unique period, through the images of soviet fic-tional works produced between 1917 and 1934. We can thus catch a glimpse of their fight for a new society, where creative freedom was of utmost im-portance. A utopia which will be brought down by an authoritarian power impacting cinema as much as the rest of society.

Vincent

Vincent has an extraordinary ability: his strength and reflexes increase tenfold when in contact with water. To make full use of this gift, he settles in a region with many lakes and rivers, which is isolated enough to allow him to live a peaceful life. Then, one day, during an aquatic escapade, he encounters Lucie.

Congo River

Following the great explorers’ footsteps, “Congo River” takes us up one of the world’s greatest river basins, from its mouth to its source. All the way along its 2,716 miles, we pass places that testify to the country’s tumultuous history, and encounter the ghosts of those who shaped its destiny: Stanley, the explorer, Leopold II, the colonizer, Mobutu, the despot. We also cross paths with an entire people – boatmen guiding their dugout canoes, fishermen, traveling salesmen, military personnel and rebels, women and children – searching for light and dignity.

Purely Coincidental

A handful of student revolutionaries from the Seventies meet up 30 years later to plan a robbery. This is not entirely correct, because they are friends, anyway, and always have been. They play cards together and go to each others’ birthday parties, have wives and children and probably mortgages. Romain Goupil’s film appears to be a throwback to the experimental days of cinema verite. Either that or it’s a home movie, shot with a video camera, to an improvised script or no script at all.

Alors voilà,

A trucker, an accountant, a former plumber hospitalised after a suicide attempt... Presided over by the accountant, the three families decide to buy a truck, a trucker's dream. The father, practical joker, and larger-than-life lover, keeps a watchful eye. The children are his accomplices. One is his heroine. His daughter is his other heroine. A puzzle of life's desires in which all veers into the imaginary, into dreams of far-off lands.

Train de nuit

The man is seated in the compartment. Alone, he speaks to Lise through his memory. He goes towards the sea. It’s the goal of the travel. There in this big house with a view on the waves, despite Lise not being there, despite her death, he sees her, he is with her.

Moving In

"A man stands amid unpacked boxes in his new home, delivering an extended monologue on indecision and dislocation. This rarely seen, overlooked gem created by Akerman for television explores the quotidian crises and profound feelings of alienation that run through her work." - BAM