The 5th Annual Films on the Green Festival Arrives in NYC

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Parent Category: Film Festivals

Category: Previews

Published on Monday, 07 May 2012 22:58

Written by Joanne Choi

The 5th Annual Films on the Green Festival returns once again for another round of outdoor film screenings in NYC. This year eight selection of films will be generated from French & American Literature. The festival will run starting June-July 2012 in various New York City parks as well as a special screening at Columbia University in September. Numerous genres will be covered which will include: thriller, comedy, drama, romance and musical, the 2012 line-up includes films adapted from a wide range of literary styles – fairy tale (“Donkey Skin”), poetry (“The Snows of Kilimanjaro”) and graphic novel (“Persepolis”) – and highlights how great French directors like François Truffaut, Jacques Demy or Costa-Gavras have adapted works of literature. Opening night of screening will take place at the well-known Central Park on June 1st with comedy “OSS 117: Cairo, Nest of Spies” by the 2012 Oscar winning director of “The Artist,” Michel Hazanavicius. The film stars the talented Bérénice Bejo and 2012 Oscar winning actor Jean Dujardin who plays a James Bond-type with rather unorthodox methods. The film is based on the series of novels “OSS 117” by French writer Jean Bruce (which were the inspiration for the character of “James Bond”).

Playing next in Washington Square Park, Greenwich Village on Friday June 8 will be a drama “The Snows of Kilimanjaro” by Robert Guédiguan – adapted from Victor Hugo’s poem “How Good are the Poor”– and on Friday June 15th with the family-movie “War of the Buttons” by Yves Robert, an adaptation of Louis Pergaud’s novel. Screenings in Tompkins Square Park in the East Village on June 22 will be mainly thrillers, "The Axe" by acclaimed director Costa-Gavras, adapted from the bestselling novel by Donald Edwin Westlake, and the classic musical “Donkey Skin” by Jacques Demy based on Charles Perrault’s fairy tale on Friday 28th.

The festival continues in River Side Park – Pier I, Upper West Side, on Friday July 6th with the thriller “Tell No One” by Guillaume Canet starring François Cluzet, also known for his lead role in this year’s hit, “Intouchables” (Eric Toledano and Olivier Nakache) and on Friday July 13th with the animation movie “Persepolis” by Marjane Satrapi and Vincent Paronnaud, which tells the story of Satrapi’s childhood in Iran and Austria.

Closing night will be celebrated at Columbia University on September 6th with a special screening of the classic "Jules And Jim" by François Truffaut based on the novel Jules et Jim by Henri-Pierre Roché, presented in partnership with the Maison Française of Columbia University.

The youngest of the outdoor film festivals, Films on the Green is already a much-loved event of New York summers. The festival reached over 3,000 viewers in 2011 and, with the support of its official sponsors, Air France, BNP Paribas and TV5 Monde, the 2012 series features 8 classic and contemporary French films in 5 different locations. DJs from New York University’s radio, WNYU 89.1 FM, will spin tunes before screenings.

All films are in French with English Subtitles and are free of charge. A full film description is available below.

2012 line-up is as follows:

OSS 117: CAIRO, NEST OF SPIES | OSS 117, LE CAIRE NID D’ESPIONS
Directed by Michel Hazanavicius, 2006, France, Comedy/Adventure, in French with English Subtitles, Not rated, 99m
Starring Jean Dujardin, Bérénice Bejo, Aure Atika, Philippe Lefebvre, Constantin Alexandrov, Saïd Amadis, Claude Brosset

Based on OSS 117, a series of novels by Jean Bruce, Fleuve Noir, 1949-1963, France.

In 1955, following the death of agent OSS 283, Hubert Bonisseur de la Bath, agent OSS 117, is sent to Cairo to investigate and "secure the Middle East." The deposed King Farouk wants to reclaim his throne while a group of religious fanatics called the "Eagles of Kheops” are on the verge of a holy war. Then, a Soviet ship loaded with weapons mysteriously disappears...

Awards: 2006 Seattle International Film Festival – Audience Award

“This inspired piece of silliness boasts gorgeous period design, deftly tweaks French colonial smugness and, in Jean Dujardin's self-mocking playfulness as Agent 117, offers a charging comic turn, closer in spirit to Cary Grant than Mike Myers.” –Vogue

DATE: Friday June 1ST – 8:30PM (at dusk) – OPENING NIGHT
LOCATION: Central Park, Cedar Hill at 79th Street and 5th Avenue

THE SNOWS OF KILIMANJARO | LES NEIGES DU KILIMANDJARO
Directed by Robert Guédiguian, 2011, France, Drama/Romance, in French with English Subtitles, Not rated, 107m
Starring Jean-Pierre Darroussin, Ariane Ascaride, Gérard Meylan, Grégoire Leprince-Ringuet, Anais Demoustier, Julie-Marie Parmentier

Based on the poem Les Pauvres Gens from La Légende des Siècles by Victor Hugo, Lévy et Hetzel, 1859, France. How Good are the Poor from The Legend of the Ages, published in the United States by Oxford University Press, 2004.

Despite losing his job, Michel lives happily with his wife Marie-Claire and their loving family and friends in Marseille. His happiness is shattered when he and his wife are robbed at gunpoint of their life savings by two mask-wearing thieves. The shock is even more devastating when they discover who the perpetuators are….

“[A] richly textured and hearty yet fable-like view of domestic intimacy and social conflict” –New Yorker

DATE: Friday June 8th – 8:30PM (at dusk)
LOCATION: Washington Square Park

WAR OF THE BUTTONS | LA GUERRE DES BOUTONS
Directed by Yves Robert, 1962, France, Comedy, in French with English Subtitles, Not Rated, 90m
Starring André Treton, Jacques Dufilho, Jean Richard

Based on the novel La Guerre des Boutons by Louis Pergaut, Editeur Mornay, 1912, France. War of the Buttons, published in the United Kingdom by Walker Publishing House, 1968.

With every new school year, children from the village of Longeverne quarrel with those from Velrans. One year, Braque and his friends come up with the idea of pulling the buttons off from their rivals’ clothes so that they will get punished by their parents. Inevitably, war breaks out between the two groups of kids...

“It is too bad that all the hostilities in this world cannot be as harmless and droll as those represented in "The War of the Buttons." –New York Times

DATE: Friday June 15th – 8:30PM (at dusk)
LOCATION: Washington Square Park

THE AXE | LE COUPERET
Directed by Costa-Gavras, 2005, France-Belgium-Spain, Drama/Thriller, in French and Dutch with English Subtitles, Not Rated, 122m
Starring José Garcia, Karin Viard, Olivier Gourmet, Yolande Moreau

Based on the novel The Ax by Donald Edwin Westlake, Mysterious Press, 1997, United States.

Bruno Davert, a business executive in a paper company, is fired when his company downsizes. Still jobless two years later, he is willing to do anything to get a job - even if it means killing his more qualified rivals…

“A jet-black social comedy marbled with delectably handled close calls, "The Ax" puts the merciless world of downsizing, outsourcing and other capitalist trends on the chopping block.” –Variety

DATE: Friday June 22nd – 8:30PM (at dusk)
LOCATION: Tompkins Square Park

DONKEY SKIN | PEAU D’ANE
Directed by Jacques Demy, 1970, France, Fantasy/Musical, in French with English Subtitles, Not Rated, 90m
Starring Catherine Deneuve, Jean Marais, Jacques Perrin, Delphine Seyrig, Micheline Presle

Based on the fairy tale Peau d’Ane by Charles Perrault, Les Coignard, 1694, France. Donkeyskin, published in the United States by Echo Library, 2006.

The queen dies. Before her last breath, she makes her husband promise that he will only marry a woman more beautiful than herself. The king finds only one person that meets these conditions: the princess, his own daughter.

“Donkey Skin” is told with the simplicity and beauty of a child's fairy tale, but with emotional undertones and a surrealistic style that adults are more likely to appreciate.” –Chicago SunTimes

DATE: Friday June 29th – 8:30PM (at dusk)
LOCATION: Tompkins Square Park

TELL NO ONE | NE LE DIS A PERSONNE
Directed by Guillaume Canet, 2006, France, Drama/Thriller, in French with English Subtitles, Not Rated, 131m
Starring François Cluzet, Marie-Josée Croze, André Dussollier, Kristin Scott-Thomas, Nathalie Baye, Jean Rochefort, François Berléand

Based on the novel Tell No One by Harlan Coben, Dell Publishing, 2002, United States.

Alexandre Beck hasn’t gotten over the death of his wife, Margot, murdered eight years ago. While the memory of their relationship continues to haunt him, he receives an anonymous email with a link to an image of a crowd. In the image he sees a woman who bears a striking resemblance to Margot… Is she still alive?

Awards: 2007 César Awards, France – including Best Director, Best Actor

“Beautifully written and acted, “Tell No One” is a labyrinth in which to get deliriously lost… pure, nasty fun. I watched it twice. It was even better the second time.” –New York Times

DATE: Friday July 6th – 8:30PM (at dusk)
LOCATION: Riverside Park – Pier I at 70th Street

PERSEPOLIS
Directed by Marjane Satrapi and Vincent Paronnaud, 2007, France-USA, Animation/Drama, in French with English Subtitles, Rated PG-13, 95m
With the voices of Chiara Mastroianni, Catherine Deneuve, Danielle Darrieux, Simon Abkarian, Gabrielle Lopes Benites

Based on the graphic novel Persepolis by Marjane Satrapi, L’Association, 2000, France. Persepolis, published in the United States by Random House, 2005.

A coming-of-age story told through the eyes of Marjane, a young Iranian girl growing up in Tehran and Vienna. She avidly follows the events that lead to the Iranian revolution and the downfall of the Shah's regime. With the establishment of the Islamic Republic, Marjane comes to see herself as a revolutionary…

Awards: 2008 César Awards, France – including First Film, Best adapted Screenplay; 2007 Cannes Festival, France – Jury Prize

“It's striking how much emotion Satrapi is able to convey through these blocky drawings, which are simple but powerfully chosen.” –San Francisco Chronicle

DATE: Friday July 13th – 8:30PM (at dusk)
LOCATION: Riverside Park – Pier I at 70th Street

JULES AND JIM
Directed by François Truffaut, 1962, France, Drama/Romance, in French and German with English Subtitles, Not Rated, 105m
Starring Jeanne Moreau, Oscar Werner, Henri Serre, Vanna Urbino

Based on the novel Jules et Jim by Henri-Pierre Roché, Gallimard, 1979, France. Jules and Jim, published in the United States by Marion Boyars, 2000.

Jules and Jim are inseparable friends who come to meet the free-spirited and capricious Catherine. The three become instant companions, determined to live their lives to the fullest despite the war around them. When Jules declares his love for Catherine, Jim agrees to let Jules pursue her, despite his own feelings…

“With this 1961 film Truffaut comes closest to the spirit and sublimity of his mentor, Jean Renoir, and the result is a masterpiece of the New Wave.” –Chicago Reader

DATE: Thursday September 6th – 7:30PM (at dusk)
LOCATION: Columbia University - Low Library Steps

Schedule

June 1 - 8:30pm  OSS 117: Cairo Nest of Spies,  Central Park – Cedar Hill (79th St. & 5th Ave.)

June 8 - 8:30pm   The Snows of Kilimanjaro,   Washington Square Park

June 15 - 8:30pm   War of the Buttons,  Washington Square Park

June 22 - 8:30pm   The Axe,  Tompkins Square Park

June 29 - 8:30pm    Donkey Skin,  Tompkins Square Park

July 6 - 8:30pm       Tell No One,  Riverside Park – Pier I (at 70th St)

July 13 - 8:30pm      Persepolis,   Riverside Park – Pier I (at 70th St)

Sept 6- 7:30pm        Jules and Jim,  Columbia University – Low Library Steps

ABOUT THE CULTURAL SERVICES OF THE FRENCH EMBASSY
The French Cultural Services provides a platform and resources for cultural exchange between French and American artists, intellectuals, curators, and arts professionals. It is dedicated to creating new models for international dialogue in the arts and education from French and American perspectives. Based in New York City, Washington D.C. and eight other U.S. cities, the Cultural Services’ principal fields of action are the arts, literature, cinema, French language programs, and higher education.

For more information on screenings & event visit: www.frenchculture.org

5th Annual Films On The Green Festival

June 1-September 6

NYC Free Admission

www.frenchculture.org

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