DIRECTOR: Philippe Béziat
PRODUCERS: Philippe Martin, David Thion
PRODUCTION CO: Les Films Pelléas
PHOTOGRAPHY: Raphaël O'Byrne, Thomas Rabillon, Arthur Cemin, Balthazar Lab, Julien Ravoux
EDITOR: Henri-Pierre Rosamond
MUSIC: Thomas Dappelo
WITH: Clément Cogitore, Bintou Dembélé, Leonardo García Alarcón
​
FESTIVALS: Sheffield Doc Fest

REVIEWS

“In the fall of 2019, multi-media artist Clément Cogitore and choreographer Bintou Dembélé metaphorically stormed the Bastille, mounting a groundbreaking production of Jean-Philippe Rameau’s baroque opera Les Indes Galantes at the Opéra Bastille. What was revolutionary was their casting of 30 mind-blowing, multi-ethnic dancers, each a veritable master of a different form of freestyle street dance –  hip-hop, krumping, voguing, flexing, popping – to bring Rameau’s masterpiece about colonization and enslavement to life. Philippe Béziat’s exhilarating documentary recounts an entire year of rehearsals and preparations leading up to that unprecedented opening night.”

— American French Film Festival


“From the director of Becoming Traviata, Gallant Indies, captures the work of this multifaceted troupe under the direction of artist and filmmaker Clément Cogitore; together, they shepherd Rameau’s opera into the 21st century, while exquisitely and joyfully mirroring the true diversity of contemporary France. Replete with gorgeous melodies and fantastic dance numbers, Cogitore’s production integrates questions of racism, classism, and colonialism into a radical new staging that both honors and transforms the original text.”

​— Icarus Films

FILM SOCIETY SCREENINGS

Nelson     
Tuesday, 01 August, 6.00pm

​Whanganui  
Monday, 07 August, 7.00pm​

​Dunedin     
Wednesday, 23 August, 7.30pm

Auckland  
Monday, 04 September, 6.15pm 

New Plymouth
​Wednesday, 13 September, 6.00pm

Wellington  
Monday, 25 September, 6:15pm 

Hamilton     
Monday, 09 October, 6.30pm

Palmerston North
​Wednesday, 18 October, 6.00pm​

​Bigger Picture Ōamaru
Thursday, 26 October, 7.00pm

Find more FRENCH CINEMA >> 
French Connections is presented in
co-operation with the Institut Français and the Embassy of France