On the other hand, Andre Masson (Alex Lutz), the central character of Pascal Bontizer’s “Auction” (March 1, 10) seems perfectly content with his lot in life as a high-powered art appraiser who regards the works that he looks at purely as commodities to be bought or sold. That changes when he gets a call regarding an ordinary factory worker who claims to have an Egon Schiele painting that thought to have been lost after being seized from its owner by Nazi officials in 1939. At first, he assumes that it is a fake but when he and his ex-wife colleague (Lea Drucker) take a look for themselves, they realize that it is indeed the genuine article, and things quickly get complicated for all involved. As an exploration of the age-old conflict between art and commerce, it doesn’t have much new to say and I wish that it had gone into a little more detail about efforts to reunite artworks with Jewish owners who had them seized during the war. However, as a standard-issue drama about a once-arrogant man who gradually learns that there are some things more important than money, it gets the job done and even manages to end things on a quietly touching note.
Perhaps the closest thing to a straightforward genre film in this year’s lineup is Rabat Ameur-Zaimeche’s “The Temple Woods Gang” (March 6, 7) a crime drama inspired by an actual incident from 2014. Here, a group of six guys, all of whom live in the titular housing development on the outskirts of Paris, band together to pull off a daring robbery that sees them waylaying and stealing the contents of an SUV owned by an enormously wealthy Saudi prince. Needless to say, the prince is not happy with this—among the items taken were a number of important classified documents—and before it dawns on them that they are in way over their heads, the hapless thieves are taken out one by one. Instead of trying to amp things up with quick cutting and flashy camerawork, Ameur-Zaimeche utilizes an approach that is more Michael Mann than Michael Bay—methodically paced, detail-oriented and filled with the kind of quiet character moments that might have hit the cutting room floor in another movie. While it may ultimately prove to be perhaps a little too dour and slow for some moviegoers, I suspect that many others will be as riveted with what Ameur-Zaimeche has created here as I was.
Finally, there are a handful of films that I was unable to view in time to cover in this article. “Banel & Adama” (March 3, 6), the debut feature from Ramata-Toulaye Sy, is a Senegal-based drama with supernatural overtones about a married couple whose relationship is tested by their refusal to follow traditional roles and responsibilities. Vanessa Filho’s “Consent” (March 5, 9) is an adaptation of the controversial memoir from writer Vanessa Springora chronicling how she was groomed into a sexual relationship with celebrated author Gabriel Matzneff when she was only 14. Victoria Musiedlak’s debut feature “First Case” (March 3, 8) is a drama that finds a fledgling lawyer (Noree Anita) supervising the interrogation of her teenaged client, a suspect in a murder case, while dealing with her troubling attraction to the cop in charge of the investigation. Nicolas Philbert’s “On the Adamant” (March 4, 8), the only pure documentary in the lineup, takes viewers to meet the workers and patients aboard the Adamant, a barge located in central Paris that, as part of an ambitious program, is being used as a day care facility for neurodivergent adults. Lastly, “The Rapture” (March 3, 5), the debut feature from Iris Kaltenback, observes a midwife (Hafsia Herzi) who deals with the aftermath of an unexpected breakup by channeling her entire emotional life into the pregnancy of her best friend.
For more information on screening times, tickets and scheduled guest appearances, go to https://www.filmlinc.org/festi… The Rendez-Vous with French Cinema program runs at New York’s Walter Reade Theater from February 29 through March 10.
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