French Film Festival

Presented by Alliance Française of Armidale Inc. Experience the best of French cinema with a selection of films!

10.00amm – Jean Valjean (M – mature themes and violence), 1hr 39 mins, Drama) – Jean Valjean is released from prison after nineteen years of hard labor, violence, and suffering. Filled with anger and a deep sense of injustice, he has become a dangerous man who trusts no one and nothing. When he arrives in a small village in Provence, he is repeatedly turned away. Desperate, he unknowingly finds refuge at the house of Bishop Bienvenu, who lives simply, with his sister and a single servant. There, he is surprised by their warm welcome, and his inner demons start to waver. But the temptation to be what society sees in him still haunts him, and he steals the Bishop’s silverware. When the police ultimately catches him, the Bishop forgives him and gifts him the candlesticks. This act becomes the starting point of Jean Valjean’ transformation into a new man who reclaims his humanity.

6.30pm – The Rookie Guide (M – coarse language), 1hr 25 mins, Comedy) – Yann can’t find a job he likes or can keep, and dreams of a better life. One day he learns that the famous travel guide Le Routard pays its employees to travel the world. Surely the perfect free holiday! Smooth-talking his way through the door, Yann manages to get himself hired for a trial research trip to Morocco, but he rapidly comes to realise that he’s seriously underestimated the job… Beguiled by Sofia, a feisty tourist guide, Yann gets swept up in an art trafficking operation led by the infamous mobster art dealer Dr Charoux and is plunged into an adventure where nothing will go as planned!