Toward Tenderness by Alice Diop, documentary, 40 min, Les Films du Worso
Synopsis
"Toward Tenderness" is an intimate exploration of a masculine territory in a French suburb. Following a group of men’s vagrancy, we stride a universe where female bodies are nothing more than ghostly and virtual silhouettes.
Awards
Brive Cinema Festival (France); US Premiere at Lincoln Center May 2016; Public Award - Creteil International
Women’s Films Festival 2016 (France); INA Prize - Creteil International Women’s Films Festival 2016 (France)
Biography
Born in Vincennes (France) from Senegalese parents, Alice Diop follows History Studies at La Sorbonne then a
Master Degree Image & Society in Evry. Her first documentary, The World Tour, was broadcasted on Voyages TV then Clichy pour l’exemple (2006) on France 5. In 2011, her feature documentary Danton’s Death wins the Library Award at the Cinéma du Réel Festival as well as the Etoile de la Scam 2012 Award. Shot in 2015, Toward Tenderness does its World Premiere.
Le retour by Yohann Kouam, fiction, 22 min, Mezzanine Films
Synopsis
It's been a year since his big brother left, and Willy, 15, can't wait for him to return. Willy thought he knew everything about Theo, but when he arrives back in the block, Willy discovers a secret about him.
Awards
UniFrance Award - Festival Off Court de Trouville 2013 (France); Alternative Spirit Award - Rhode Island Film Festival 2014 (USA); Best Short Film for Youth - Festival KUKI 2014 (Germany); Winner - Zubroffka International
Short Film Festival 2014 (Poland), Grand Prize - Festival Chéries-Chéris 2014 (France); City Award - Festival Saint-Paul-Trois-Châteaux 2014 (France); Best Foreign Movie Award - Reel It Out Virginia 2014 (USA); Best Actor Award Yann Gaël - Festival Cinébanlieue et Festival National de Hyères-les-Palmiers 2014 (France) Broadcasted on France 3 TV
Biography
Born in Lille (France) from Cameroonian parents, Yohann Kouam studied editing at Institut des arts de diffusion (IAD) in Brussels then Translation Studies in France. After his shorts Fragments de vie (2007) et Les dimanches
de Léa (2010), he directs in 2013 the short Le Retour, internationally acclaimed.
Le sens du toucher by Jean-Charles Mbotti Malolo, animation, 15min, Folimage Studio
Synopsis
Chloe and Louis are deaf and mute. They are secretly in love but they don’t admit it. Their gestures substitute for words. They dance, each word is a choreography.
Awards
Talents en Court Award - Urban Film Festival 2014 (France); 1st National Prize, Festival international du court-métrage de Lille 2014 (France); Best Swiss Made Award - Festival Schnitt 2014 (Switzerland); Audience Award - Annual Sweaty Eyeballs Animation Invitational Festival 2014 (USA); Audience Award - International Weekend of
Animation 2014 (Germany); Broadcasted on Arte TV; 3rd Audience Award - Big Cartoon Festival 2014 (Russia)
Special Jury Mention - Festival du flm d’animation de Séoul 2014 (Korea) Prize - Festival Animatou de Genève 2014 (Switzerland); Promotion Award - Festival Cinanima 2014 (Portugal); Excellence Award - Animation division of 18th Japan Media Arts Festival 2014 (Japan); Grand Prize - Trickflm Festival 2015 (Germany)
Biography
Born in Vaulx-en-Velin (France) from a Cameroonian father and a mother from Burgundy, Jean-Charles Mbotti Malolo is a popping dancer who studied animation at the Emile Cohl School of Lyon. After his frst short success, The Heart is a Metronome and a collaboration with the Karambolage program on ARTE TV, JC Mbotti Malolo directs The Sense of Touch, internationally awarded. His next short Please, please, please, will focus on James Brown.
Destino by Zangro, fiction, 22 min, Bien ou Bien Productions
Synopsis
Two young guys from the neighborhood (Loïc and Mehdi) have set up a little business filming arabic wedding celebrations and then editing them in their mini van, their ‘audiovisual laboratory’. But when Mehdi starts to film the wedding of Leila, his pretty ex-girlfriend... Destiny happens.
Awards
Jury Grand Prize - Festival Ascona 2014 (Switzerland); Jury Prize, Festival Cinema et Migration 2014 (Morocco); Best Script, Festival International du Film de Tanger 2014 (Morocco); Claude Pinoteau Award - Festival National du Film Hyères les Palmiers 2014 (France); Jury Coup de coeur - Festival International du Film de Vébron 2014
(France); Broadcasted on France 3 TV; Prize of the Fogelsong Family Foundation of the USA - Festival International des Télévisions locales 2014 (Slovakia); Public Award, Festival International de Contis 2014 (France); Best Male Interpretation Salim Kechiouche - Festival Mulhouse tout court 2014 (France); Golden Fifog - Festival International du Film Oriental de Genève 2014 (Switzerland), Jury Award and Audience Award - Festival Européen du court-métrage de Bordeaux 2014 (France)
Biography
Born in Cenon (France) from French and Spanish parents, Zangro grew up in Spain and Morocco before coming back to France. Ater Sociology Studies, he worked as a Video Instructor then directed Waiting for Tomorrow, a TV movie broadcasted in 2006 on Canal +, Islam School Welkoum (2008) a web serie shot in Morocco and Como à la Television (2012), winner of the Urban Film Festival in Paris. Founder of Bien ou Bien Productions, he directed in 2014 the short Destino, internationally acclaimed.
FRENCH LOVE
Through the turmoils of sexuality and a masculine environment in Le Retour by Yohann Kouam, through the dance of bodies and shyness in Le sens du toucher by Jean-Charles Mbotti Malolo, through the complexity of traditional marriages in Destino by Zangro but also through the difficulty of loving that Alice Diop questions in Toward Tenderness, the short films of the 3rd season of Quartiers Lointains shake us, animate us and amaze us by capturing a feeling as French as it is universal.
Our Patron : MELVIN VAN PEEBLES
Melvin Van Peebles is an Afro-American writer, musician, actor, producer, screenwriter and director. After a stay in France, while he collaborated with the satirical magazine Hara Kiri, he directed flms in the US. His best hit, Sweet Sweetback's Baadaasssss Song, opened a door to Blaxploitation. By accompanying Quartiers Lointains’ third Season, Melvin van Peebles reminds us that the passion and perseverance are key drivers for storytelling.
FILMMAKERS
Quartiers * Lointains
France / Quartiers Lointains - Siniman Films 2014-2023 / Sudu Connexion 2018-2022