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Games of Love and Chance (L'Esquive)
by Abdellatif Kechiche. France 2004, 117 min, 35 mm |
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| Synopsis: | |||||||||||||
| Many media portraits of Paris’ racially mixed suburban (banlieue) outskirts, inhabited mostly by disadvantaged North Africans, have predictably tended to focus on crime and violence in this environment. But Games of Love and Chance, the second film from Tunisian-born, French-educated director Abdellatif Kechiche, adopts a rewardingly different approach: a sensitive observational portrait of young love that focuses on the decency and humanity of characters who are too often reduced to cliché in other films. Restless 15-year-old Krimo develops a crush on lovely and diva-esque classmate Lydia and manages to get himself cast opposite her in a school play in order to win her affection. The 18th century French comedy they rehearse highlights the stark contrasts between the lives of the immigrant kids and the counterparts outside the ghetto. This film recently swept the Césars (the French equivalent to the Oscars), winning awards for Best French Film, Best Director, Best Original Screenplay and Best Upcoming Actress. In French with English subtitles. | |||||||||||||
| Filmmaker’s Biography: | |||||||||||||
| Abdellatif Kechiche was born in Tunisia in 1960 and grew up in Nizza, France. He began his career in the 1980s as an actor in films by André Techiné and Abdelkrim Bahloul, among others. His debut film, La Faute à Voltaire (2000), won the Youth Audience Prize at the Venice Film Festival. Games of Love and Chance is his second long film. | |||||||||||||
| Festivals and Awards: | |||||||||||||
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French Film at Entrevues Film Festival, France 2003: Grand Prix • Cesar Awards France 2005: Best director, Best Film, Best Writing and Most Promising Actress • Berlin International Film festival, 2004 • Athens French Film Festival, 2004 • Karlovy Vary International Film Festival, 2004 • London Film Festival, 2004vMontreal Festival of New Cinema, 2004 • San Francisco Film Festival, 2004 • Stockholm Film Festival, 2004 • Sidney Film Festival, 2004 • Turin Film Festival, 2004 • Viennale Film Festival, 2004 • 7th Festival of Asian Cinema, 2005 • Philadelphia Film Festival, 2005 • Seattle International Film Festival, 2005 • Boston French Film Festival, 2005 • International Independent Film Festival, Buenos Aires, 2005 • French Film Festival, Indonesia, 2005 • New Directors, New Films, New York, 2005 • Singapore French Film Festival, 2005 • Taipei Golden Horse Film Festival, 2005 |
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| Print Source: | |||||||||||||
| New Yorker
Films 85 Fifth Avenue, 11th Floor New York, NY 10003 Tel: 212 645 4600 Fax: 212 645 3232 Email: info@newyorkerfilms.com |
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