Date & Time: Thursday September 1st / 7.30pm

Location & Tickets: The Gate Cinema

Details: Eric Besnard / France, Belgium / 2021 / 112 mins

Starring: Grégory Gadebois, Isabelle Carré, Benjamin Lavernhe

Synopsis: France, 18th Century. The prestige of a noble house depends above all on the quality of its table.

At the dawn of the French Revolution, gastronomy still is the prerogative of the aristocrats. When talented chef Manceron is dismissed by the Duke of Chamfort, he loses his taste for cooking. Back in his country house, his meeting with the mysterious Louise gets him back on his feet. While they both feed a desire of revenge against the Duke, they decide to create the very first restaurant in France.

“A delightful, sensory treat, Délicieux is a lush, bright, inventive take on class divides and one of the imagined birthplaces of fine dining in this lovely and engaging story of a 18th century French cook right before the French revolution.” – Spectrum Culture

“Delicious is beautiful, entertaining, and achieves greatness by radicalising eating out” – Film Threat

The screening of ‘Délicieux’ will include bite-sized French appetisers.

Date & Time: Friday Sept 2nd / 6:15pm

Location & Tickets: The Gate Cinema

Details: Laura Wandel / Belgium / 2021 / 72 mins

Starring: Maya Vanderbeque, Gunter Duret, Lena Girard Voss

Synopsis: This highly acclaimed first feature brings us into the world of two siblings as they begin school together. A portrait of schoolyard politics and of how easily a child can be targeted, despite an empathetic teacher, and a willing parent. When his sister Nora witnesses Abel being bullied by other kids, she rushes to protect him. But Abel forces her to remain silent. Caught in a conflict of loyalty, Nora tries to find her place, torn between children’s and adults’ worlds.

“A powerful, emotionally compelling film, Playground captures with enormous force the very velocity with which children lose empathy when thrown into the jungle of the playground.” – The Financial Times.

“A remarkable achievement” – The Observer.

Date & Time: Friday September 2nd / 8:30pm

Location & Tickets: The Gate Cinema

Details: Eric Gravel / 87 mins / France / 2021

Starring: Laure Calamy, Anne Suarez, Geneviéve Mnich

Synopsis: Julie (Laure Calamy) goes to great lengths to raise her two children in the countryside while keeping her job in a Parisian luxury hotel. When she finally gets an interview for a job that would move her up the ladder, a national strike breaks out, paralysing the public transport system. The fragile balance that Julie has established is jeopardised. Julie then sets off on a frantic race against time, at the risk of faltering. A portrait of a very contemporary struggle, superbly realised.

“Hitchcock and a train strike make for a superb French drama. Laure Calamy has an extraordinary ability to project warmth, as well as strength. Her character here is down but never out. Her emotions are clear, her face an open book. That gives her performance a superb intimacy and credibility.” – Sydney Morning Herald.

Date & Time: Saturday Sept 3rd / 1.30pm

Location & Tickets: The Gate Cinema

Details: Costa-Gavras/ France / 1965 / 105 mins

Starring: Yves Montand, Simone Signoret, Michel Piccoli, Jean-Louis Trintignant

Synopsis: Six people travel by train overnight from Marseilles to Paris. When the train arrives at its destination, one of the passengers, a girl, is found dead in a sleeping berth. The police led by Inspector Grazzi investigate the other five passengers, suspecting that one of them was responsible. However, as the investigation is stepped up, the other passengers start turning up dead. It is then up to the last remaining two to solve the case, before they become the next victims.

“A powerful, emotionally compelling film, Playground captures with enormous force the very velocity with which children lose empathy when thrown into the jungle of the playground.” – The Financial Times.

“A remarkable achievement” – The Observer.

Date & Time: Saturday Sept 3rd / 4pm

Location & Tickets: The Gate Cinema

Details: Audrey Estrougo / France / 2021 / 102 mins

Starring: Théo Christine, Sandor Funtek, Félix Lefevbre

Synopsis: France, early nineties. As the violence escalates between police and youth in the city projects, hip-hop culture spreads as the best means to express revolt. Two boys, JoeyStarr and Kool Shen, become the voice of a generation and the biggest French rap group ever: Suprême NTM.

“Authentik, Audrey Estrougo’s crowd-pleasing and galvanizing biopic of rap duo Suprême NTM, offers a dynamic reconstruction of a moment in hip-hop’s global explosion.” – Lincoln Centre, New York French Film Festival.

Date & Time: Saturday Sept 3rd / 6.15pm

Location & Tickets: The Gate Cinema

Details: Emmanuel Carrére / France / 2021 / 107 mins

Starring: Juliette Binoche, Hélène Lambert, Louise Pocieka

Synopsis: Famed journalist Marianne goes undercover to investigate the exploitation of cleaning people in the north of France, eventually landing a job on a ferry. As she learns more about the plight of these workers on the margins, Marianne grows closer to her new female comrades while simultaneously beginning to harbour concerns that she’ll be complicit in their exploitation when she returns to Paris and writes a book about her experiences.

Based on French journalist Florence Aubenas’ bestselling non-fiction work, Le Quai de Ouistreham, investigating rising precarity in French society through her experiences in the northern port city of Caen.

“It’s an incendiary, scene-dominating turn from newcomer Hélène Lambert that gives the picture its jagged, furious energy” – The Observer.

Date & Time: Saturday Sept 3rd / 8.30pm

Location & Tickets: The Gate Cinema

Details: Bruno Dumont / 133 mins

Starring: Léa Seydoux, Blanche Gardin, Benjamin Biolay

Synopsis: Paris, today. France de Meurs is a star journalist running between a television set, a distant war and the hustle and bustle of her busy family life. Her frantic high-profile world is suddenly turned upside down after a traffic accident. This unexpected disruption of reality calls everything into question. As France attempts to slow down and retreat into a simple anonymous life, her fame continues to pursue her until a mystified love affair comes her way. Director Dumont questions the hypocrisy of creating glamorous news and a media circus that walks a thin line between exploitation and information.

“Big ideas – modern media and its manipulations; immigration and income inequality; privacy and voyeurism – bubble around in this tasty and nutritious bouillabaisse of a film” – The Washington Post.

Date & Time: Sunday Sept 4th / 11am

Location & Tickets: The Gate Cinema

Details: Nicolas Vanier / 102 mins / France, Belgium / 2020

Starring: François Cluzet, Julie Gayet, Patrick Timsit

Synopsis: Writer/director Vanier is renowned for creating charming family-friendly films about the relationships between people and nature. Poly is Vanier’s latest triumph. 10-year-old Cécile is holidaying in the countryside with her mother but, feeling alone and bored, she’s not enjoying it. That all changes with the arrival of a circus to town. The star of the show is Poly a Shetland pony. But Poly not treated well by the unscrupulous circus owner, Brancalou. Between the animal and the child an incredible friendship is born. Enlisting the help of the other children from the village, Cécile puts a rescue mission in place and she and Poly head off for an adventure full of peril and excitement.

Date & Time: Sunday Sept 4th / 1.30pm

Location & Tickets: The Gate Cinema

Details: Costa-Gavras / France / 1969 / 125 mins

Starring: Yves Montand, Irene Papas, Jean-Louis Trintignant

Synopsis: In a country ruled by a fragile democracy where the police and the military are set on eradicating all threats from the political left, a member of the parliamentary opposition is murdered in the street right after leading a pacifist meeting. The official inquiry into the case is entrusted to a young judge who becomes aware that this was a political crime committed by two hired killers.

Date & Time: Sunday Sept 4th / 4pm

Location & Tickets: The Gate Cinema

Details: Leyla Bouzid / Tunisia, France / 2021 / 103 mins

Starring: Zbeida Belhajamor, Sami Outalbali, Sofia Lesaffre

Synopsis: Tunisian writer and director Leyla Bouzid brings ancient Arab erotic verse to the centre of this romantic coming-of-age drama. Ahmed is the 18-year-old son of Algerian refugees studying literature at the Sorbonne, unsure of himself and his culture. From Tunisia, Farah arrives to study the same course, full of energy and wholly at ease with her place in the world, curious and open. Ahmed falls deeply in love with Farah, and although literally overwhelmed with desire, he tries to resist it.

“A sensitive and contemplative romance that combines intellect and simmering passion” – Flick Feast.

“Leyla Bouzid’s tour de force is her authentic portrayal of the many meanings of being Arab in France” – Valentine Fabre.