For this annual round-up of our favourite DVDs-releases, we have broadened our scope slightly, trying to find the latest films that helped set aside all the bad stuff and take a moment to consider the many amazing, hilarious films which, in spite of everything, have made the past 12 months a little more bearable.
Ovni(s) - TV series, dir. by A. Cordier
When comedy meets Sci Fi.
1978. The dreams of Didier Mathure (Melvil Poupaud), a brilliant space engineer, literally go up in smoke when his rocket explodes on take-off. Just when he thinks he has hit rock-bottom, he is transferred to head GEPAN, a unit specialising in UFOs, run by a team whose members do seem to be living on another planet. He finds his rationalist convictions unsettled when an extraordinary event happens, opening the doors to a world where anything is possible.
Tout simplement noir, dir. by J-P Zadi
In this politically incorrect comedy for which Zadi was awarded the Most Promising Actor’s César, JP, a wannabe actor, decides to organise the first large Black-Lives-Matter protest in France to fight what he perceives as bigotry and racism. As he struggles to put together his march, which is set to take place in Paris’ Place de la République, he makes various encounters, often burlesque, sometimes tragic, with members of the community, activists, the police…
📀 Borrow from the library
Petite Fille, dir. by S. Lifshitz
7-year-old Sasha has always known she was a little girl, even though she was born a boy.As society fails to treat her like the other children her age – in her daily life at school, dance lessons or birthday parties – her supportive family leads a constant battle to make her difference understood and accepted. Two-time winner of the Berlin Film Festival’s LGBT+ ‘Teddy Award’ and the Queer Palm at Cannes in 2016, Lifschitz has positioned himself as one of the most tactful documenters of LGBT+ lives.
📀 Borrow from the library
Calamity, dir. by R. Chayé
1863, United States of America. 12-year-old Martha Jane and her family are headed West in search of a better life. After her father is hurt in a serious accident, Martha Jane takes charge of her siblings and learns to drive the family wagon. She has never felt so free. In the wild, she discovers herself and a world which shapes her… revealing the mythical and mysterious Calamity Jane. Chayé’s film won the Award for Best Feature Film at the Annecy International Festival 2020.
📀 Borrow from the library
Petit Vampire, dir. by J. Sfar
Little Vampire lives in a haunted house with a merry band of monsters, but he's terribly bored... He's been ten years old for 300 years, so pirate ships and the movie club long ago ceased to be much fun for him. His dream? To go to school and make friends. But his parents don't see things that way; the outside world is far too dangerous. Accompanied by Fantomate, his faithful bulldog, Little Vampire escapes from the manor in secret, determined to meet other children.
📀 Borrow from the library
Petite Maman, dir. by C. Sciamma
8-year-old Nelly has just lost her beloved grandmother and is helping her parents clean out her mother’s childhood home. She explores the house and the surrounding woods where her mom, used to play and built the treehouse she’s heard so much about. One day her mother abruptly leaves. That’s when Nelly meets a girl her own age in the woods building a treehouse. Her name is Marion. This is a time travel movie, but not like any you’ve seen before. Céline Sciamma's tale is about the experience of sharing a fleeting moment with someone you are intrinsically and inextricably connected to. It’s an understated yet transportive film that beautifully articulates the way children perceive and process loss and grief.
📀 Watch on MUBI
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