2018 COLCOA DOCUMENTARY SERIES - at DGA on Sunset Blvd.
Every year, about 100 documentaries are released in French theaters. COLCOA is proud to introduce in Hollywood four high-profile new French films, which will compete for the 2018 COLCOA Best Documentary Award chosen by the audience. This line-up reflects the dynamism and the diversity of current documentary production in France.
All films are in French with English subtitles.
Tuesday, April 24 – 5:45PM – Truffaut Theater
All films are in French with English subtitles.
Tuesday, April 24 – 5:45PM – Truffaut Theater
MAKALA
Los Angeles Premiere • 96 min • France, 2017
“Makala” means charcoal in Swahili. But this solemn, restrained documentary is not about words. It is almost silent. It is the simple story of Kasongo, a 28-year-old man who dreams of building a home for his wife and daughters. To do so, he fells a colossal tree, turns it into charcoal, stuff it into colossal bags, precariously loads them onto a rickety bicycle, then — Sisyphus-like — pushes his load up a colossal hill, through clouds of dust and exhaust fumes, to market. Emmanuel Gras’ exquisitely photographed, existential film, a loving ode to one man’s resolve and backbreaking labor, is said to be the first documentary ever selected by International Critics Week in Cannes, where the film was honored with the 2017 Grand Prize and a Golden Eye Special Mention for Best Documentary. Presented in Association with Kino Lorber.
Thursday April 26 – 5:45PM – Truffaut Theater
Los Angeles Premiere • 96 min • France, 2017
“Makala” means charcoal in Swahili. But this solemn, restrained documentary is not about words. It is almost silent. It is the simple story of Kasongo, a 28-year-old man who dreams of building a home for his wife and daughters. To do so, he fells a colossal tree, turns it into charcoal, stuff it into colossal bags, precariously loads them onto a rickety bicycle, then — Sisyphus-like — pushes his load up a colossal hill, through clouds of dust and exhaust fumes, to market. Emmanuel Gras’ exquisitely photographed, existential film, a loving ode to one man’s resolve and backbreaking labor, is said to be the first documentary ever selected by International Critics Week in Cannes, where the film was honored with the 2017 Grand Prize and a Golden Eye Special Mention for Best Documentary. Presented in Association with Kino Lorber.
Thursday April 26 – 5:45PM – Truffaut Theater
PLOT 35 (Carré 35)
West Coast Premiere • 67 min • France, 2017
“I lived… we all lived with a ghost,” says director Éric Caravaca in the voiceover narration of his deeply moving, poetic film, Plot 35. The “ghost” is that of the sister he never knew. He never even knew she existed. Christine, who died at three, before he and his brother were born. Stranger still, his mother burned every photograph and home movie the child appeared in. Reeling from that discovery, Caravaca sets out to investigate the truth and try to find out why Christine’s death was so shameful that his parents chose to methodically erase her entire existence. The resulting film is a fascinating, fearless look — not into the grave at plot 35, but into the heartbreaking, dysfunctional nature of family secrets and lies. It is also a rousing, heartfelt affirmation of the unconscious information we carry within us… and of the very act of remembering.
Saturday April 28 – 10:15PM – Truffaut Theater
West Coast Premiere • 67 min • France, 2017
“I lived… we all lived with a ghost,” says director Éric Caravaca in the voiceover narration of his deeply moving, poetic film, Plot 35. The “ghost” is that of the sister he never knew. He never even knew she existed. Christine, who died at three, before he and his brother were born. Stranger still, his mother burned every photograph and home movie the child appeared in. Reeling from that discovery, Caravaca sets out to investigate the truth and try to find out why Christine’s death was so shameful that his parents chose to methodically erase her entire existence. The resulting film is a fascinating, fearless look — not into the grave at plot 35, but into the heartbreaking, dysfunctional nature of family secrets and lies. It is also a rousing, heartfelt affirmation of the unconscious information we carry within us… and of the very act of remembering.
Saturday April 28 – 10:15PM – Truffaut Theater
THE PRINCE OF NOTHINGWOOD (Nothingwood)
Los Angeles Premiere • 85 min • France, Germany 2017
At the age of 8, Hélène Nicolas was diagnosed with severe autism and placed in an institution. But this 2017 Best Documentary César-nominated film is not about disability, but rather the discovery of a special ability. Dissatisfied with Hélène’s progress, her mother Véronique quits her job so that she can devote herself full time to Hélène’s care. Up to this point Hélène had been completely unable to communicate, but Véronique is astonished to discover that Hélène is able to place letters in a sequence, like a scrabble game, in order to make words. Not only that, but Hélène has a gift for language, creating surreal and playful poems with wit and insight. In the decade since Véronique made the discovery, Hélène has fashioned an alter ego for herself, called Babouillec and published several books of poetry. These works, adapted to the stage for the prestigious Avignon International Theater Festival, are a window into a mischievous mind reveling in a liberated inner world, yet capable of striking observations about the outer world. While Hélène’s creative process is explored, it’s the glimpses of her relationship with her patient and dedicated mother that touch us most.
Sunday April 30 – 1:30 pm – Truffaut Theater
Los Angeles Premiere • 85 min • France, Germany 2017
At the age of 8, Hélène Nicolas was diagnosed with severe autism and placed in an institution. But this 2017 Best Documentary César-nominated film is not about disability, but rather the discovery of a special ability. Dissatisfied with Hélène’s progress, her mother Véronique quits her job so that she can devote herself full time to Hélène’s care. Up to this point Hélène had been completely unable to communicate, but Véronique is astonished to discover that Hélène is able to place letters in a sequence, like a scrabble game, in order to make words. Not only that, but Hélène has a gift for language, creating surreal and playful poems with wit and insight. In the decade since Véronique made the discovery, Hélène has fashioned an alter ego for herself, called Babouillec and published several books of poetry. These works, adapted to the stage for the prestigious Avignon International Theater Festival, are a window into a mischievous mind reveling in a liberated inner world, yet capable of striking observations about the outer world. While Hélène’s creative process is explored, it’s the glimpses of her relationship with her patient and dedicated mother that touch us most.
Sunday April 30 – 1:30 pm – Truffaut Theater
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