Claire Wauthion

Maarten, a 34 year old cell biologist, works on cloning. One night he dreams he has only seven days left to live.

A woman suffers a subdued psychological breakdown in the wake of a devastating breakup.

A woman in the fourth month of her first pregnancy fights to save the baby while being treated for breast cancer.

A counterterrorism task force investigates the 1998 Ajaccio assassination of Claude Érignac, the prefect of Corsica. Based on true events.

A passionate affair set against the intense encounter between a film-maker and a novelist. The story begins with young scriptwriter François tracking down the author of a once-scandalous novel. His aim is to adapt the work for the screen but several elements of the novel he finds difficult to comprehend. The author, Jeanne, is initially cautious of relaying information, insisting the presumably autobiographical book in no way relates to her personal life. However, eventually she takes the man into confidence to tell the background of Benvenuta.

In this thriller, a UNESCO translator stumbles across a group which is hiding and supporting Nazis and facilitating their travel around the world. She had been given an assignment to study the work of a writer who recently had died, and the conspiracy is revealed in materials he left behind. She comes upon a young man who is going through the writer's papers, and she immediately assumes he must be one of the conspirators. However, he soon convinces her of his innocence in that regard, and the two together begin a search for the ringleader.

This 1991 production by the Lyon National Opera presents a welcome opportunity to revel in a uniquely Gallic confection rarely seen outside France. It's also a chance to enjoy one of Offenbach's most inventive, melodic scores in which the starring musical role and many of the best tunes go to the orchestra, here conducted by Jean-Yves Ossonce. This is no accident: the operetta was originally created for a company of actors who relied on pastiche and the composer's help to get them through their "numbers". Not so these singers, of course. As Metella, the languorous courtesan who is responsible for the unravelling debacle, Helene Delavault is in meltingly good voice for her show-stopping rondeau, "A minuit sonnant commence la fete". Her sparring suitors Gardefeu (Jean-Francois Sivadier) and, particularly, Bobinet (Jacques Verzier) combine marvellous visual comedy with fluid singing and there is some dazzling vocal work from the supporting cast. It's a long piece, but hugely enjoyable.

Two Birds, One Stone

A loving husband, a mother-in-law who cares, an attractive house, a puppy and the project to have a child. Lena has everything to be happy. But at the end of one year, Lena is still not pregnant and takes refuge in the training of her dog.

A young mother, alone with her daughter, confides in a friend who happens to be the director herself. Chantal Akerman, although she sympathizes with the mother, does not say a word.

Pierre, a young man of Brussels, has lost his job. Unbeknowst to Barbara, the woman he lives with, he has become a pickpocket to survive. He works in partnership with a young Tunisian immigrant he meets every Sunday in an abandoned bus where they share the loot of the week. One day, Pierre finds his accomplice dead in their hiding place. Pierre suddenly realizes that he does not know much about his dead friend. Taking possession of his identity papers, Pierre decides to go to Tunisia to find out who his friend actually was.

This magnificently photographed French film tells the ancient legend of Tristan and Isolde to the accompaniment of an operatic musical score by MAGMA. Tristan is a young warrior who has been sent to Ireland from Cornwall to bring back Isolde, the bride of his king. The two of them drink a love potion, fall in love, and, despite the wrath of their people, persist in their tragic love.

A film by Yvan Lagrange.

One of the first medium-length films directed by Yvan Lagrange. Shot in black and white practically in its entirety, appreciating the influence exerted by Philippe Garrel on the author.

This is a film which was made in Belgium in the early '60s and was never released. However, it somehow got included in the American Oscar category for "Best Foreign Film," and was finally released in its home country in 1971. It explores the issues of prejudice and superstition in the Belgian countryside through the troubles of a middle-aged farmer whose mother has been accused of being a witch. In French, this picture is based on a true story which took place in the late 1920s and early '30s.

Berthe, a pretty young woman, has suffered from a mental disease since she was a child. A doctor has tried for years to understand her behavior and to teach her some basic notions such as those of time and emotional expression. But he also tends to use her as a guinea-pig and does not oppose her parents when they decide to marry her as a way to solve her problems. Unfortunately the cure proves worse than the disease as Berthe's husband, who soon tires of her, abandons her and leaves her more helpless than ever... —Guy Bellinger

Anne lives with her husband in Belgium where she works as a restorer of paintings. When she becomes pregnant, she finds herself remembering a picture she did some time ago and of which she has no memory, no recollection of what happened to it. It becomes her goal to discover and clarify the mystery behind this painting, at the same time she notices that a strange man is following all of her moves.

How couples unite, interact, separate, reunite or find other partners. The links in this chain begin with Christian and Nathalie, who are coworkers and friends. Christian discovers that his lover Francoise is having an affair, and Nathalie advises him to give his feelings some time to heal, about two years. Nathalie is angry that her lover Mark does not want to see her more often, while he is jealous of the men in her past. Meanwhile, Francoise finds out that her new lover is not that interested in her anymore, and after they split, she encounters him with someone else. As romance fluctuates like the lunar tides, the myth of one true love takes a beating.

An American passing through France is hosted one stormy night by a couple who soon use his services shamelessly. A very curious way for the young foreigner to find his roots.

Hedwig, a young wealthy woman growing up in the straight-jacket of bourgeois morality in the Victorian era, descends into madness after years of sexual repression and tragedy.

A doctor from Paris travels to North Africa to investigate the murder of a friend and find a lost boy.

A young woman stands in front of a mirror and submits herself to self-scrutiny, naming body parts, evaluating body parts and making some critical assessment of herself. There is repetition and circularity in the naming and wording.

Les Évasions célèbres