LA’s French film festival City of Lights, City of Angels (COLCOA) has added four documentaries to its growing competition lineup. The full lineup of the fest, which runs April 21-28 at the Directors Guild of America, will be announced April 1. The four docs are:
- “Flore,“ from writer/director Jean-Albert Lievre, is an autobiographical documentary about Lievre’s relationship with his mother, dying from Alzheimer’s. Chronicling his mother Flore’s life over three years, Lievre travels from one facility to the next, ultimately taking her to a house in Corsica where she begins to rehabilitate. This is the west coast premiere.
- “How I Came to Hate Math,“ written by Olivier Peyron and Amandine Escoffier and directed by Peyron, was nominated for the 2014 Best Documentary Cesar. The film examines the lives of mathematicians from around the world including Nobel Prize winner Cedric Villani, Stanford prof George Papanicolaou and more. This is the North American premiere.
- “On the Way to School,” from writers Marie-Claire Javoy and Pascal Plisson, and directed by Plisson, won the 2014 Best Documentary Cesar. Distrib Films plans a September 2014 US release. The touching doc follows four far-flung tweens and their personal, enlightening struggles from around the world, including a Patagonian, a Kenyan and a Bengalese boy, all with unique trials and tribulations.
- Finally, “Stop-Over,“ from writer/director Kaveh Bakhtiari, makes its US premiere at COLCOA in both Documentary and World Cinema Produced by France sections. The film centers on denizens of a modest Athens apartment, among them an influx of Illegal Iranians seeking a better life in the west–false promises and outright swindles leave the individuals stranded and in dire danger. Director Bakhtiari went underground with a digital camera.
Last year’s Best Doc winner at COLCOA was “Becoming Traviata,” written and directed by Philippe Beziat. Trailers for select films from this year’s selection below. More on COLCOA’s lineup here.
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