American Fringe Film Festival

An Arts Arena Production Created by Richard Peña

17 November 2017 | 00:00 – 00:00

Location: Cinémathèque Française, 51 rue de Bercy, Paris 12e

An Official Entry of the Festival d’Automne

No one knows how many feature films are made in the United States; hundreds are shown only in small, regional festivals, or in local film programs, or receive their sole public exposure through the new “micro-cinemas” currently sprouting up in the US. Often the makers of these “below-the-radar” films are at best part-time filmmakers – musicians, visual artists or playwrights with an idea for a film – who, with the extraordinary access afforded by digital technology, transform that idea into an actual work of art, the truest independent filmmaking in America today.

Curated by Richard Peña, Director Emeritus of the New York Film Festival and for 25 years Programming Director of The Film Society of Lincoln Center, this second edition of “American Fringe” will follow on the success of last year’s inaugural festival and bring this fascinating corner of contemporary American cinema to Parisian audiences for the first time. Eight new works will be screened in the presence of their filmmakers; all will be in V.O. with French subtitles.

This Arts Arena-produced film festival will be held in partnership with and at the national Cinémathèque Française.

For tickets: www.cinematheque.fr

Film Synopses

DONALD CRIED
Kris Avedisian
USA/ Etats-Unis / 2016 / 85 min.
With/Avec Kris Avedisian, Jesse Wakeman, Louisa Krause.

When city-slicker banker Peter (Wakeman) reluctantly returns to his small hometown, he must reckon with Donald (director Avedisian, in a star-turning performance), an idiosyncratic childhood friend he had hoped to leave behind.

Quand Peter (Wakeman), un banquier bourgeois, rentre à contrecoeur dans sa petite ville natale, il croise par hasard Donald (réalisateur Avedisian, dans une performance inspirée), un ami d’enfance à la personnalité très particulière.

HUNTER GATHERER
Joshua Locy
USA/Etats-Unis / 2016 / 90 min.
With/Avec Andre Royo, George Sample III, Kellee Stewart, Ashley Wilkerson.

Fresh out of jail, fast-talking grifter Ashley (Royo) enlists unsuspecting young Jeremy (Sample) in a hare-brained scheme to win back his ex-girlfriend (Wilkerson) in this funny, timely and beautifully-directed film.

Frappé hors de la prison, le grifter Ashley (Royo) recrute le jeune Jeremy (Sample) dans un régime fou pour gagner à nouveau son ex-petite amie (Wilkerson) dans ce film drôle, opportun et magnifiquement dirigé.

MA
Celia Rowlson-Hall
USA/Etats-Unis / 2015 / 80 min.
With/Avec Celia Rowlson-Hall, Andrew Pastides.

Modern dance choreography and arresting visuals take the place of dialogue in this loose, mysterious adaptation of the Virgin Mary’s story, which stars its director (Rowlson-Hall) and is set in the seedy motels and dusty deserts of the American Southwest.

Mouvements de danse et visuels élégants tiennent lieu de dialogue dans cette adaptation énigmatique de l’histoire de la Vierge. Cette Madonne peu banale, interprétée par la réalisatrice, Celia Rowlson-Hall, évolue dans des motels miteux et les déserts poussiéreux du sud-ouest américain.

NEIGHBORHOOD FOOD DRIVE
Jerzy Rose
USA/Etats-Unis / 2017 / 85 min.
With/Avec Lyra Hill, Bruce Bundy, Ruby McCollister, Marcos Barnes, Ted Tremper.

In this hilarious black comedy, scheming Chicago restaurateurs Madeline (Hill) and Naomi (Bundy) and their unpaid interns throw the world’s most disastrous community fundraisers.

Dans cette hilarante comédie noire, deux restaurateurs de Chicago, Madeline (Hill) et Naomi (Bundy), et leurs stagiaires bénévoles organisent la fête de charité la plus désastreuse du monde.

THE NINE
Katy Grannan
USA/Etats-Unis/ 2016/ 98 min.

Noted photographer Katy Grannan creates a touching, insightful portrait of the inhabitants of “the Nine,” a collecting ground for all those rejected or forgotten by society.

La photographe remarquée Katy Grannan crée un portrait émouvant et perspicace des habitants de «The Nine», un terrain de refuge pour tous ceux qui ont été rejetés ou oubliés par la société.

RAT FILM
Theo Anthony
USA/Etats-Unis/ 2016/ 82 min.

Balancing a cultural history of rats in Baltimore with portraits of the city’s present-day rat catchers, Theo Anthony presents a damning account of entrenched racism, class warfare and (sometimes questionable) scientific research.

Équilibrant une histoire culturelle de rats avec des portraits de capteurs de rats actuels de la ville, Theo Anthony présente un récit de racisme raconté, de guerre de classe et de recherches scientifiques (parfois douteuses).

NO MAN’S LAND
David Byars
USA/Etats-Unis/ 2017/ 81 min.

The January, 2016 takeover of a wildlife refuge by armed protesters in Oregon provides a chilling anticipatory snapshot of the current polarization of US politics.

La prise en charge en janvier 2016 d’un refuge faunique par manifestants armés en Oregon fournit un instantané anticipant de la polarisation actuelle de la politique américaine.

SPOTLIGHT: FILMS OF TERENCE NANCE

USA/Etats-Unis/ 70 min.

A selection of short works ranging from mystic fictions to political agit-prop by one of the freshest talents in current American cinema.

Une sélection de travaux courts allant des fictions mystiques à l’agitation politique par l’un des plus fraîche talents du cinéma américain actuel.

Still Shot from Frenel: A Milliner, director Terence Nance