The 17th Annual Boston French Film Festival
Event at MFA showcases contemporary French cinema
A scene from the French film Black Venus (Vénus noire), showing at the MFA tonight at 7 p.m.
If you’re a Francophile and a film buff, head over to the Museum of Fine Arts for the 17th annual Boston French Film Festival, running through July 29. Celebrating the best of contemporary French cinema, the festival includes screenings of 20 feature films and 4 shorts featuring some of France’s best actors and directors.
Two films will be shown today, July 19. The first, billed as a “tragicomedy” is The Screen Illusion (L’Illusion comique). This 2011 film was directed by Mathieu Amalric, the award-winning filmmaker and actor best known to American audiences for his starring role in 2008’s The Diving Bell and the Butterfly. The Screen Illusion tells the story of a hotel concierge on the trail of a missing young man, and will be shown at 5 p.m.
Next up, at 7 p.m. is Black Venus (Vénus noire), directed by Abdellatif Kechiche, the Tunisian-born French filmmaker who has won numerous accolades in France, including six César Awards, the country’s top film prize. The film chronicles the story of a South African slave woman forced to perform onstage by her master who triumphs when she becomes a respected performance artist.
The remainder of the film series will feature an array of acclaimed comedies, dramas, and thrillers.
The Boston French Film Festival, co-presented by the MFA and the Cultural Services Office of the French Embassy, is also sponsored by Edenred, Veolia Energy, bioMérieux, and TV5 Monde. Films are in French with English subtitles unless otherwise noted.
The Museum of Fine Arts, 465 Huntington Ave., Boston, is open Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, and Saturday, 10 a.m. to 4:45 p.m.; Wednesday to Friday, 10 a.m. to 9:45 p.m. The museum is accessible by public transportation by taking the Green Line E trolley or 39 bus to the Museum of Fine Arts stop or the Orange Line train or bus routes 8, 47, or C2 to the Ruggles stop.
Tickets to the Boston French Film Festival are $9 for MFA members, seniors, and students, and $11 for non-members. The Festival runs through July 29. For more information, click here.
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