Lumières Françaises Archives - MSP Film

Join us at The Main Cinema July 11-17 for the 9th Lumières Françaises.

MSP Film Society’s annual French series presents some of the hottest new films and talent from France and beyond. This year, Juliette Binoche takes center stage as we revisit some of her finest performances in a trio of films that are “Certified Binoche!”

The Ballad of Suzanne Césaire

2025

Lumières Françaises

The Ballad of Suzanne Césaire

Wednesday, Jul 16th

Lumières Françaises ABOUT THE FILM The Ballad of Suzanne Césaire is a post-biopic about Caribbean surrealist Suzanne Césaire, deconstructing the process of bringing an actually-lived life to film. The film examines her relationship with her husband, French politician Aimé Césaire, and famed surrealist André Breton. Filmed on the grounds of a tree archive in South […]

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Certified Binoche! Three Colors: Blue

2025

Lumières Françaises

Certified Binoche! Three Colors: Blue

Thursday, Jul 17th

Lumières Françaises Certified Binoche ABOUT THE FILM In the devastating first film of the Three Colors trilogy, Juliette Binoche gives a tour de force performance as Julie, a woman reeling from the tragic death of her husband and young daughter. But Blue is more than just a blistering study of grief; it’s also a tale […]

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Lumières Françaises Archive

Red Island (L’île rouge)

2024

Images of Africa

Lumières Françaises

Red Island (L’île rouge)

Friday, Jul 12th

Lumières Françaises • Images of Africa ABOUT THE FILM Living on one of the last remaining military bases amidst a hedonistic group of French armed forces in 1970’s Madagascar, 10-year old Thomas begins to find cracks in the surface of his family’s blissful existence on the idyllic island. Taking inspiration from his comic book hero […]

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Sisterhood (HLM Pussy)

2024

Images of Africa

Lumières Françaises

Sisterhood (HLM Pussy)

Friday, Jul 12th

Lumières Françaises • Images of Africa ABOUT THE FILM Despite their different social backgrounds, Amina, Djeneba, and Zineb have been friends for as long as they can remember. When Zineb experiences harassment from her brother’s best friend, Amina decides to post a compromising video of him on social media, hoping he will stop. Little does […]

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Black Girl + Borom Sarret

2024

Cinema Club

Images of Africa

Lumières Françaises

Black Girl + Borom Sarret

Saturday, Jul 13th

Lumières Françaises • Images of Africa July Cinema Club Screening: Saturday, July 13 at 11:00am Cinema Club Moderator Megan Feeney will be in conversation with Patricia Lorcin, Professor Emerita of History, U of MN, with expertise in race and gender in France and its colonies; and in western imperialism, colonialism, and post-colonial studies. Cinema Club […]

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Sembene!

2024

Images of Africa

Lumières Françaises

Sembene!

Saturday, Jul 13th

Lumières Françaises • Images of Africa ABOUT THE FILM In 1952, Ousmane Sembène, a dockworker and fifth-grade dropout from Senegal, began dreaming an impossible dream: to become the storyteller for a new Africa. Sembene! tells the unbelievable true story of the father of African cinema, the self-taught novelist and filmmaker who fought, against enormous odds, […]

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Marguerite’s Theorem

2024

Lumières Françaises

Marguerite’s Theorem

Saturday, Jul 13th

Lumières Françaises ABOUT THE FILM The trajectory of Marguerite’s future, a brilliant Mathematics student at the esteemed Ecole Normale Supérieure, appears meticulously charted. As the sole woman in her cohort, she nears completion of her thesis, anticipating the culmination of years of dedicated effort with an audience of researchers. However, on the crucial day, an […]

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Widow Clicquot

2024

Lumières Françaises

Widow Clicquot

Saturday, Jul 13th

Lumières Françaises ABOUT THE FILM Widow Clicquot is based on the true story of the “Grande Dame of Champagne,” Barbe-Nicole Ponsardin (1777–1866) who, at the age of 20, became Madame Clicquot after marrying the scion of a winemaking family. Though their marriage was arranged, a timeless love blossomed between Barbe-Nicole (Haley Bennett) and her unconventional, […]

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The Rapture (Le Ravissement)

2024

Lumières Françaises

The Rapture (Le Ravissement)

Saturday, Jul 13th

Lumières Françaises ABOUT THE FILM Lydia, a midwife highly invested in her career, has completely lost control of her life. Was it due to heartbreak, her best friend Salomé’s pregnancy, or meeting Milos, with whom she could have a potential new relationship? Lydia gets stuck in a spiral of lies where everyone’s life is turned […]

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A Real Job (Un métier sérieux)

2024

Lumières Françaises

A Real Job (Un métier sérieux)

Sunday, Jul 14th

Lumières Françaises ABOUT THE FILM In A Real Job, Thomas Lilti brings his humanistic lens to the lives of school teachers, offering a glimpse into both their professional and personal worlds. Following his successful portrayal of the medical field in films like Hippocrates, Irreplaceable, and The Freshmen, Lilti employs his signature cinematic style blending realism […]

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Metamorphosis – Short Films

2024

Images of Africa

Lumières Françaises

Metamorphosis – Short Films

Sunday, Jul 14th

Lumières Françaises • Images of Africa Quartiers Lointains • 4 Short Films How can we best exist in societies that are both ours and yet other? How to best navigate institutions that are not always equipped to deal with the issues we face? How to find mystical or rational remedies to heal our wounds? These […]

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Marinette

2024

Lumières Françaises

Marinette

Sunday, Jul 14th

Lumières Françaises ABOUT THE FILM Marinette Pichon is one of the world’s greatest stars of football, having held for almost two decades the record for the number of goals and caps for the French team (men/women combined), before becoming a FIFA Legend by being the first French player to have a career in the US. […]

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The Art of Nothing (L’art d’etre heureux)

2025

Lumières Françaises

The Art of Nothing (L’art d’etre heureux)

Friday, Jul 11th

Lumières Françaises ABOUT THE FILM Jean-Yves Machond (Benoît Poelvoorde), a conceptual painter whose career came to an abrupt halt following a series of setbacks, decides to leave Brussels and his job as a teacher to settle in Étretat (in French Normandy), the ultimate embodiment of Impressionism. Here he is seeking inspiration to create his major […]

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Wild Diamond

2025

Lumières Françaises

Wild Diamond

Friday, Jul 11th

Lumières Françaises ABOUT THE FILM Liane, 19, lives with her mother and sister in Fréjus in the south of France. Consumed by aspirations of beauty and stardom, she auditions for a reality show called ‘Miracle Island.” The debut feature from writer / director Agathe Riedinger premiered in competition at the 2024 Cannes Film Festival. DIRECTOR’S […]

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Certified Binoche! Clouds of Sils Maria

2025

Cinema Club

Lumières Françaises

Certified Binoche! Clouds of Sils Maria

Saturday, Jul 12th

Lumières Françaises Certified Binoche! Cinema Club: Saturday, July 12 at 11:00am Cinema Club Moderator Megan Feeney will be in conversation with Nicole Hinrichs-Bideau, filmmaker and Humanities and Film Studies instructor at Century College instructor. Cinema Club screenings are FREE for MSP Film Society Members. Not a Member? Join here. More info on Cinema Club here. […]

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The Ties That Bind Us (L’Attachement)

2025

Lumières Françaises

The Ties That Bind Us (L’Attachement)

Saturday, Jul 12th

Lumières Françaises ABOUT THE FILM A young single father trying to find the strength to love. A feminist librarian, single by conviction, who’s decided that she won’t be a mother. A six-year-old child trying to find a place in a new family structure. By revealing their aspirations, their fears, their choices, writer/director Carine Tardieu depicts […]

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Niki

2025

Lumières Françaises

Niki

Saturday, Jul 12th

Lumières Françaises ABOUT THE FILM Actor-turned-director Céline Sallette makes an impressive debut with this vibrant portrait of French-American artist Niki de Saint Phalle, brought to life by Charlotte Le Bon (The White Lotus). Paris, 1952. Niki has recently moved from the US with her husband and daughter. Despite this newfound distance from a family and […]

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Animale

2025

Lumières Françaises

Animale

Saturday, Jul 12th

Lumières Françaises ABOUT THE FILM In the Camargue region of the South of France, famous for its traditional bull race, an exhilarating and graceful challenge of agility and respect between man and beast. Surrounded by men, 22-year-old Nejma trains hard to fulfill her dream of winning the upcoming annual competition – but news of a […]

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The Ballad of Suzanne Césaire

2025

Lumières Françaises

The Ballad of Suzanne Césaire

Sunday, Jul 13th

Lumières Françaises ABOUT THE FILM The Ballad of Suzanne Césaire is a post-biopic about Caribbean surrealist Suzanne Césaire, deconstructing the process of bringing an actually-lived life to film. The film examines her relationship with her husband, French politician Aimé Césaire, and famed surrealist André Breton. Filmed on the grounds of a tree archive in South […]

More Information

Certified Binoche! Three Colors: Blue

2025

Lumières Françaises

Certified Binoche! Three Colors: Blue

Sunday, Jul 13th

Lumières Françaises Certified Binoche ABOUT THE FILM In the devastating first film of the Three Colors trilogy, Juliette Binoche gives a tour de force performance as Julie, a woman reeling from the tragic death of her husband and young daughter. But Blue is more than just a blistering study of grief; it’s also a tale […]

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Certified Binoche! Code Unknown

2025

Lumières Françaises

Certified Binoche! Code Unknown

Sunday, Jul 13th

Lumières Françaises Certified Binoche ABOUT THE FILM One of the world’s most influential and provocative filmmakers, the Oscar–winning Austrian director Michael Haneke diagnoses the social maladies of contemporary Europe with devastating precision and artistry. His drama Code Unknown, the first of his many films made in France, may be his most inspired work. Composed almost […]

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