Students: Recommended from Second Year

Time, Location & Tickets: For schools only, 6th, 7th and 8th March, 10.30 am. Please contact thegatecork@corkcinemas.com for booking.

Details: Antoine Blossier / France / 2018 / 109 mins

Starring: Daniel Auteuil, Maleaume Paquin, Virginie Ledoyen

Buy Tickets

Synopsis: Based on French author Hector Malot’s novel Sans Famille (1878), this adventure drama tells the story of Rémi, a boy who lives in the French countryside with a kind peasant woman, Mrs Barberin.

Everything changes when Mrs Barberin’s husband comes home after working in Paris for years and reveals to Rémi that he was actually abandoned at a church as a baby. As Mr Barberin tries to take him to an orphanage, Rémi meets Vitalis, a mysterious itinerant musician.

Rémi sets off on a long journey through France with Vitalis. From adventures to misadventures, Rémi learns the ropes of street performing while meeting new people and making new friends, one of whom manages to locate his real family.

School screenings with the support of the AIPLF (Irish Association of French-Language Teachers).

Please see AIPLF Ireland to download a teaching resource for this film.

Date & Time: Thursday 9th at 8:30pm

Location & Tickets: The Gate Cinema

Details: Louis Garrel / France / 2022 / 99 mins

Starring: Roschdy Zem, Anouk Grinberg, Noémie Merlant, Louis Garrel

Buy Tickets

Synopsis: When Abel (played by Garrel) learns that his mother is about to marry a man in prison he panics. Paranoid and lost, with the help of his friend Clémence, Abel does everything he can to try to protect his mother. However, an encounter with his new stepfather will change the course of events.

Through this story about characters who, for different reasons, are trying to rebuild their lives, Garrel creates a story that, above all, is a story about the search for love and the price of that love. How far are we willing to go for love?

“Actor/director Louis Garrel’s heist film The Innocent is flat out entertaining. It hits all of the familiar beats of a romantic dark comedy, but it’s the witty, sarcastic dialogue that carries the entire establishing arc all the way to the end.” – Deadline.

“An entertaining yet moving film, told with simplicity and grace” – Cineuropa.

Nominated for eleven César Awards, 2023 including Best Film, Best Director, Best Actor.

Date & Time: Friday 10th at 8:30pm

Location & Tickets: The Gate Cinema

Details: Christian Carion / France / 2022 / 91 mins

Starring: Dany Boon, Line Renaud, Alice Isaaz, Jérémie Laheurte

Buy Tickets

Synopsis: Charles (Dany Boon) is a taxi driver in Paris, and he’s having a very bad day. Pressing personal debts are due, he’s in danger of losing his driver’s licence and his marriage is falling apart.

Enter Madeleine (Line Renaud), an immaculately groomed 92-year-old woman, who informs Charles that the trip today will not be a direct one. She’s moving into a care home and would like to make some stops along the way, as this might be her last car ride through the city.

Charles grumbles but is slowly charmed by Madeleine’s warmth and fascinated by her tales as she slowly reveals the dramatic and shocking story of her life. She reminds us that inside every seemingly benign elderly woman we might pass on the street is a warrior, a nurturer, and a spirited adventurer.

“Driving Madeleine works perfectly with its double-mirrored narrative simplicity, carried by two actors who enjoy wonderful natural chemistry.” – Cineuropa.

Date & Time: Friday 10th at 6:15pm

Location & Tickets: The Gate Cinema

Details: Olivier Peyon / France / 2022 / 98 mins

Starring: Guillaume de Tonquédec, Victor Belmondo, Guilaine Londez

Buy Tickets

Synopsis: Olivier Peyon’s graceful romantic drama stars highly acclaimed actors Guillaume de Tonquébec and Victor Belmondo and is adapted from Philippe Besson’s book Arrête avec tes Mensonges, which won the 2017 Maison de la Presse award and the 2017 Psychologies Award for inspiring novels.

Upon agreeing to be the brand ambassador for a famous cognac celebrating their bicentennial, novelist Stéphane Belcourt returns to his hometown for the first time in many years. Memories come rushing back to him: irrepressible attraction and a passion that can never be revealed as he remembers Thomas, his first love.

Fate intervenes, when he meets his first love’s son, Lucas.

Date & Time: Saturday 11th at 3:30pm

Location & Tickets: The Gate Cinema

Details: Emily Atef / France, Luxembourg, Norway / 2022 / 123 mins

Starring: Vicky Krieps, Gaspar Ulliel, Bjorn Flober

Buy Tickets

Synopsis: Hélène and Mathieu have been happy together for many years. The bond between them is deep. In this intimate and intense romantic drama, relationships are put to the test as Hélène takes the unusual step of departing for Norway when her health reaches crisis point, in search of peace and tranquillity. Unable to continue their normal sociable and happy life, she is determined to retain her sense of self, and find meaning.

“Krieps and Ulliel deliver their performances with unflinching conviction and intelligence, and it is deeply sad to think of Ulliel leaving us far too early.” – The Guardian.

Cannes Film Festival, 2022.

Winner Visages de la Francophonie Best Film Award: Cinemania Festival 2022.

The screening is dedicated to the great actor Gaspar Ulliel who died last year in a skiing accident. A number of Ulliel’s films, including A Very Long Engagement / Un long dimanche de fiançailles, have been screened at Cork French Film Festival. More Than Ever is his last film.

Date & Time: Saturday 11th at 6:15pm

Location & Tickets: The Gate Cinema

Details: Marc Fitoussi / France / 2022 / 110 mins

Starring: Laure Calamy, Kristin Scott Thomas, Olivia Côte

Buy Tickets

Synopsis: Three fabulous femmes – Laure Calamy, Olivia Côte and Kristin Scott Thomas – star in the wildly entertaining new comedy from writer/director Marc Fitoussi (Folies Bergère, Call My Agent!) about estranged childhood friends who tentatively reunite for a trip to the Greek Islands.

Recently divorced, Blandine is struggling to get back to her life. Her former best friend Magalie, loud and fearless, resurfaces and imposes herself on a trip they’ve always dreamed of as teenagers: Amorgos, the amazing location where The Big Blue was shot.

When they reach their destination, they realise the dreamy holidays don’t go as they had planned since they have now a very different approach to holidays, and to life.

Starring three of the finest actresses working in the French language: who reflect all the warmth, intensity and contradictions of female friendship – the film is a humorous joy from start to finish.

Date & Time: Saturday 11th at 8:30pm

Location & Tickets: The Gate Cinema

Details: Lukas Dhont / Belgium, Netherlands / 2022 / 105 mins

Starring: Eden Dambrine, Gustav De Waele, Émilie Dequenne

Buy Tickets

Synopsis: Winner of the Grand Prix award at Cannes 2022 and nominated for Best International Feature Film at this year’s Academy Awards, Close is an elegant, poetic and empathetic study of youth. Thirteen-year-olds Léo and Rémi are inseparable; they spend every waking moment together, racing each other on their bikes, staying at each other’s houses and playing in the surrounding fields. The older they get, the closer their bond becomes. However as they start a new school year, the pressures of burgeoning adolescence challenge their relationship with unexpected and far-reaching consequences.

With incredibly authentic and emotional performances from newcomers Eden Dambrine and Gustav De Waele, Close is as evocative as it is visually stunning. A powerful coming-of-age story, this profoundly moving portrait of male friendship offers a depiction of intimacy and masculinity that has an enduring impact.

“An exceptional film of empathy and vision” – BBC.

“A quiet gem of a film… Sensitive, graceful and impeccably restrained” – Total Film.

Oscar Nominee, Best Foreign Language Film

Grand Prix, Cannes 2022

Close is screened with the kind support of the Embassy of Belgium in Ireland.

Date & Time: Sunday 12th at 11:00am

Location & Tickets: The Gate Cinema

Details: Michel Ocelot / France / 2018 / 97 mins / Animation

Buy Tickets

Synopsis: Dilili arrives in turn-of-the-century Paris as a stowaway on a ship. She is immediately taken under the wings of Orel, a kind-hearted delivery boy who seems to know every major figure in French science, art, music, and literature. Among those they visit are Marie Curie, Louis Pasteur, Emma Calvé, Sarah Bernhart, Toulouse-Lautrec, Claude Debussy, Auguste Renoir, Claude Monet, Colette, and others.

With the help of her friend, she investigates a spate of mysterious happening that is plaguing Belle Époque Paris. In the course of her investigation she encounters a series of extraordinary characters, each of which provides her with clues that will help her in her quest… After Kirikou and Azur & Asmar, Michel Ocelot returns with an enchanting new tale of brave young heroes, mysteries and discoveries, extraordinary places and magical encounters, in which good must challenge dark forces and triumph.

“An adventure tale with an empowering message, this delightful family film is also an ode to The City of Light and to French culture and history.” – Alliance of Women Film Journalists.

César Award for Best Animated Film (2018).

Date & Time: Sunday 12th at 1:30pm

Location & Tickets: The Gate Cinema

Details: Stéphane Lafleur / Canada / 2022 / 104 mins

Starring: Steve Laplante, Larissa Corriveau, Fabiola N. Aladin, Hamza Haq

Buy Tickets

Synopsis: The Viking Society is recruiting volunteers for the first crewed mission to Mars. The goal is to form a B-team that will mirror the mission here on Earth to find solutions to the interpersonal problems that the Mars-bound crew is experiencing. David is a high school gym teacher who seizes this opportunity to revive his dream of becoming an astronaut and making a difference. Viking balances deadpan humour with profound poignancy in its story about a longing for a sense of purpose. It’s that rare kind of science fiction where gadgets and fantasy are overshadowed by the mysteries of the human psyche.

“Lafleur tries his hand at the unusual category of science-fiction comedy, pulling off an insightful, hilarious film that is part science spoof, part character study.” – Far Out Magazine.

Best French Language Film, Cinéfest Sudbury International Film Festival, 2022.

Date & Time: Sunday 12th at 3:30pm

Location & Tickets: The Gate Cinema

Details: Martin Bourboulon / France / 2021 / 108 mins

Starring: Romain Duris, Emma Mackey, Pierre Deladonchamps

Buy Tickets

Synopsis: Eiffel is a handsomely mounted drama of Gustave Eiffel’s quest to build the iconic tower that bears his name. The film shows how Eiffel was an unpopular figure in late 19th century Paris when his plans for the 10,100-tonne iron tower, intended to be a symbol of French industrial savoir-faire for the 1889 Universal Exhibition, were unveiled.

As Eiffel combats negative public opinion and surmounts adverse building conditions with his genius for steelwork, the film gives equal weight to a doomed love affair, set over the course of 20 years, as Gustave and Adrienne (Emma Mackey in her French debut), now married to a prominent journalist, rekindle their youthful flame.

Eiffel isn’t so much a biopic of Gustave Eiffel but a story “freely inspired” by the historical facts. It posits why Eiffel had a sudden change of heart in becoming involved with the metal tower project after initially declining.

The stunning production won César nominations for Costume Design, Production Design and Visual Effects.