The Wave Film Festival – France

THE WAVE FILM FESTIVAL RETURNS JULY 15-19, 2015 FEATURING FRENCH CINEMA

DIVERSE SCREENING LINEUP INCLUDES; A PERFECT MAN, THE TOURNAMENT, CAPRICE & ONCE IN A LIFETIME AMONG OTHERS

SANTA BARBARA, CA – The Santa Barbara International Film Festival (SBIFF) announced today the official lineup for their third annual Wave Film Festival. The festival runs from July 15th through July 19th and will highlight eleven brand new French films at the historic Riviera Theatre.

Roger Durling, Executive Director of SBIFF, said The Wave Festival is one of our favorite new traditions and allows us to introduce engaging and dynamic films to audiences as part of SBIFF’s year round commitment to cinema. This year we are so excited to bring a bit of the French Riviera to Santa Barbara.”

Mickey Duzdevich, The Wave Director, said, “From auteurs to newcomers, this year’s wave series has something for everyone. This strong lineup focuses on the creativity and magic of French storytelling, crafted to keep you on the edge of your seats, leave you in stitches, and tug at your heartstrings. Audiences will be treated to a fun and exciting roller coaster of emotions, in a way that only French cinema can provide.”

2015 WAVE FILM FESTIVAL

A PERFECT MAN (UN HOMME IDEAL) / (Director: Yann Gozlan, Screenwriters: Yann Gozlan, Guillaume Lemans, Grégoire Vigneron) – Mathieu Vasseur is an aspiring writer. But as the refusal letters pile up, he takes a part-time job as a mover. Going through the contents of a recently deceased old soldier’s home, Mathieu discovers a dusty, hand-written diary. Intrigued, he takes the manuscript home to read. And he can’t put it down! Indeed the soldier’s story is captivating. Mathieu submits the book as its own to a publishing house. And he gets his first publishing deal. And the book is a huge success. Mathieu finally seems to have it all. But he will soon realize that his lie comes with a price. Cast: Pierre Niney, Ana Girardot, Valeria Cavalli, Marc Barbé.

THE TOURNAMENT (LE TOURNOI) / (Director/Screenwriter: Élodie Namer) – In this coming-of-age drama set in the world of chess, Cal Fournier is competing in the Grand International Chess Open in Budapest. At twenty-two, Cal is an old hand at this – he and his coach Viktor have their methods down to a routine. To compete at this level requires fanatical single-mindedness. Not a problem for Cal, who has always lived in his head. In fact, Cal hardly ever leaves the hotels in which the tournaments are staged, and he has the social skills one might expect from such a cloistered life. Even his clothes are tourist merch from airport boutiques. By day, Cal competes, sometimes playing ten opponents at once. By night, he and his girlfriend Lou (Jappeloup’s Lou de Laâge) join his entourage for gambling in the hotel’s casino. Though it’s a brutal tournament, Cal is expected to win as usual. But his system is about to be put in check by an unorthodox 11 year-old Hungarian boy named Max. To defeat this impudent little prodigy, Cal will be forced to re-evaluate more than his game strategy. Cast: Michelangelo Passaniti, Lou de Laâge, Magne-Håvard Brekke, Adam Corbier.

CAPRICE / (Director/Screenwriter: Emmanuel Mouret) – Effortlessly shifting from moments of tenderness to burlesque, this wily romantic comedy poses the question, is love merely a form of mutual self-deception? The idiosyncratic Emmanuel Mouret plays Clément, a humble high school teacher quite at home in a classroom, but uncertain and awkward in matters of romance. Luck is on his side when it comes to the woman he has long loved and admired, Alicia, a sublime and revered actress, played by Virginia Efira. Alicia believes that the love of her life is destined to be a modest man from outside the world of entertainment and celebrity – and Clément fits that bill perfectly. Lightning strikes twice, however, when Caprice, a vivacious but penniless unknown played by Anaïs Desmoustier, gets it into her head that destiny also has a plan for her and Clément. Seeing Caprice as a threat to his newfound happiness, Clément rebuffs her, but the rebellious minx is not above a little treachery to get what she wants. Cast: Anaïs Desmoustier, Virginie Efira, Emmanuel Mouret, Laurent Stocker.

ONCE IN A LIFETIME (LES HÉRITIERS) / (Director: Marie-Castille Mention Schaar, Screenwriters: Marie-Castille Mention Schaar, Ahmed Dramé) – Anne Gueguen is more than just a high school history teacher: she actually cares about the troubled, inner-city students she’s supposed to educate. And this year, as always, Anne’s got a tough class. Frustrated by their materialism and lack of ambition, Anne challenges them, despite their unlikelihood of winning, to take part in a national High school Competition around what it meant to be a teen in a Nazi concentration camp… Cast: Ariane Ascaride, Geneviève Mnich, Ahmed Dramé, Stéphane Bak.

Please visit The Wave Film Festival – France for further information.

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