Laura Loth
Education in French and Francophone Cinema
The 400 Blows
(Les Quatre Cents Coups)
The story of a misunderstood adolescent boy growing up in Paris.
- ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
- France • 1959
- Director François Truffaut
- Cast Jean-Pierre Léaud, Claire Maurier, Albert Rémy, Georges Flamant, Patrick Auffay, Robert Beauvais
- Genre Drama
- Available on Criterion Channel, Max Amazon Channel, Max, Apple TV, Google Play Movies, Vudu, Amazon Video, YouTube, Kanopy
School of Babel
(La cour de Babel)
A documentary that follows young students that recently moved to France as they navigate a new environment and educational system.
- ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
- France • 2014
- Director Julie Bertuccelli
- Cast
- Genre Documentary
- Available on OVID, Apple TV, Amazon Video
Zero for Conduct
(Zéro de conduite : Jeunes diables au collège)
- ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
- France • 1933
- Director Jean Vigo
- Cast Jean Dasté, Robert le Flon, Du Verron, Delphin, Léon Larive, Madame Émile
- Genre Comedy, Drama
- Available on Criterion Channel
Sugar Cane Alley
(Rue cases nègres)
An intimate portrait of life on Martinique under French colonial rule in the 1930s through the eyes of the young José.
- ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
- France, France • 1983
- Director Euzhan Palcy
- Cast Garry Cadenat, Darling Légitimus, Douta Seck, Joby Barnabé, Francisco Charles, Marie-Ange Farot
- Genre Drama, Family
- Available on No streaming locations found.
To Be and to Have
(Être et avoir)
A passionate school teacher forges a warm and unique classroom community in rural France.
- ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
- France • 2002
- Director Nicolas Philibert
- Cast Georges Lopez
- Genre Documentary
- Available on Hoopla, Kanopy
Classe à part
- Canada • 2018
- Creator
- Cast
- Genre Documentary
- Available on No streaming locations found.
The Class
(Entre les murs)
Based on his real life, a teacher must deal with the challenging dynamics of his multicultural classroom.
- ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
- France • 2008
- Director Laurent Cantet
- Cast François Bégaudeau, Franck Keïta, Louise Grinberg, Rabah Nait Oufella, Esmeralda Ouertani, Rachel Regulier
- Genre Drama
- Available on Apple TV, Google Play Movies, Vudu, Amazon Video, YouTube, Tubi TV
A Season in France
(Une saison en France)
An African high school teacher searches for comfort in a community that is all-too prepared to reject him.
- ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
- France • 2018
- Director Mahamat-Saleh Haroun
- Cast Eriq Ebouaney, Sandrine Bonnaire, Aalayna Lys, Ibrahim Burama Darboe, Bibi Tanga, Léonie Simaga
- Genre Drama
- Available on No streaming locations found.
In the House
(Dans la maison)
There's always a way in.
- ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
- France • 2012
- Director François Ozon
- Cast Fabrice Luchini, Kristin Scott Thomas, Ernst Umhauer, Emmanuelle Seigner, Bastien Ughetto, Denis Ménochet
- Genre Comedy, Drama, Mystery, Thriller
- Available on Fandor Amazon Channel, Apple TV, Google Play Movies, Amazon Video, YouTube, Tubi TV, Kanopy
A Paris Education
(Mes provinciales)
An impressionable film student tries to find his own voice in the vibrant, but sometimes suffocating, Sorbonne environment.
- ✭ ✭ ✭
- France • 2018
- Director Jean-Paul Civeyrac
- Cast Andranic Manet, Corentin Fila, Gonzague Van Bervesseles, Diane Rouxel, Jenna Thiam, Nicolas Bouchaud
- Genre Drama
- Available on Apple TV, Google Play Movies, Amazon Video, YouTube, Kanopy
Bad Seeds
(Mauvaises herbes)
- ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
- France, Belgium • 2018
- Director Kheiron
- Cast Kheiron, Catherine Deneuve, André Dussollier, Hakou Benosmane, Leila Boumedjane, Alban Lenoir
- Genre Comedy
- Available on Netflix, Netflix basic with Ads
FR 334 Spring 2021
L'Atalante
Small-town girl Juliette and barge captain Jean marry after a whirlwind courtship, but all is not smooth sailing...
- ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
- France • 1934
- Director Jean Vigo
- Cast Michel Simon, Dita Parlo, Jean Dasté, Gilles Margaritis, Louis Lefebvre, Maurice Gilles
- Genre Romance, Drama, Comedy
- Available on Criterion Channel, Apple TV, Amazon Video
Zero for Conduct
(Zéro de conduite : Jeunes diables au collège)
- ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
- France • 1933
- Director Jean Vigo
- Cast Jean Dasté, Robert le Flon, Du Verron, Delphin, Léon Larive, Madame Émile
- Genre Comedy, Drama
- Available on Criterion Channel
Chocolat
A Frenchwoman returns to Cameroon, where she remembers growing up during colonialism.
- ✭ ✭ ✭
- France, West Germany, Cameroon • 1988
- Director Claire Denis
- Cast Isaach De Bankolé, Giulia Boschi, François Cluzet, Jean-Claude Adelin, Mireille Perrier, Laurent Arnal
- Genre Drama
- Available on Criterion Channel
White Material
In The African Heat, One Woman Stands Alone.
- ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
- France, Cameroon • 2010
- Director Claire Denis
- Cast Isabelle Huppert, Christopher Lambert, Nicolas Duvauchelle, Isaach De Bankolé, William Nadylam, Michel Subor
- Genre Drama
- Available on MUBI, MUBI Amazon Channel, Criterion Channel, Apple TV, Google Play Movies, Amazon Video, YouTube
The Rules of the Game
(La Règle du jeu)
A weekend at a marquis’ country château lays bare some ugly truths about a group of haut aristocratic acquaintances.
- ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
- France • 1939
- Director Jean Renoir
- Cast Marcel Dalio, Nora Gregor, Paulette Dubost, Mila Parély, Odette Talazac, Claire Gérard
- Genre Comedy, Drama, Romance
- Available on Criterion Channel, Apple TV, Google Play Movies, Vudu, Amazon Video, YouTube, Kanopy
Boudu Saved from Drowning
(Boudu sauvé des eaux)
A Recently Rediscovered Renoir ... Discover It For Yourself!
- ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
- France • 1932
- Director Jean Renoir
- Cast Michel Simon, Marcelle Hainia, Sévérine Lerczinska, Jean Gehret, Max Dalban, Jean Dasté
- Genre Comedy
- Available on Criterion Channel
Breathless
(À bout de souffle)
When you discover the dirty truth about the person you love...
- ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
- France • 1960
- Director Jean-Luc Godard
- Cast Jean-Paul Belmondo, Jean Seberg, Daniel Boulanger, Jean-Pierre Melville, Henri-Jacques Huet, Van Doude
- Genre Crime, Drama
- Available on Criterion Channel, Max Amazon Channel, Max, Apple TV, Google Play Movies, Vudu, Amazon Video, YouTube, Kanopy
Cléo from 5 to 7
(Cléo de cinq à sept)
A young singer awaiting life-changing medical results embarks on a journey of self-discovery.
- ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
- France, Italy • 1962
- Director Agnès Varda
- Cast Corinne Marchand, Antoine Bourseiller, Dominique Davray, Dorothée Blanck, Michel Legrand, José Luis de Vilallonga
- Genre Comedy, Drama
- Available on Criterion Channel, Max Amazon Channel, Max, Kanopy
The Gleaners and I
(Les Glaneurs et la Glaneuse)
From picking fields after harvests to scouring dumpsters in the city, Varda follows all sorts of gleaners in France.
- ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
- France • 2000
- Director Agnès Varda
- Cast Bodan Litnanski, Agnès Varda, François Wertheimer
- Genre Documentary
- Available on Criterion Channel, DocAlliance Films
Tomboy
When a young girl moves to a new neighborhood with her family, she assumes a new identity as a boy.
- ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
- France • 2011
- Director Céline Sciamma
- Cast Zoé Héran, Malonn Lévana, Jeanne Disson, Sophie Cattani, Mathieu Demy, Rayan Boubekri
- Genre Drama
- Available on Criterion Channel, Microsoft Store
Swimming Pool
On the surface, all is calm.
- ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
- France, United Kingdom • 2003
- Director François Ozon
- Cast Charlotte Rampling, Ludivine Sagnier, Charles Dance, Jean-Marie Lamour, Marc Fayolle, Mireille Mossé
- Genre Crime, Thriller
- Available on No streaming locations found.
La Haine
In the banlieues of France, the immigrant populations' resentment simmers away -- until it starts to boil.
- ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
- France, United States • 1995
- Director Mathieu Kassovitz
- Cast Vincent Cassel, Hubert Koundé, Saïd Taghmaoui, Abdel Ahmed Ghili, Souleymane Dicko, Héloïse Rauth
- Genre Drama
- Available on Criterion Channel, Apple TV, Amazon Video
Beauty and the Beast
(La belle et la bête)
Before the Disney classic, there was "La Belle et la Bête."
- ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
- France • 1946
- Director Jean Cocteau
- Cast Jean Marais, Josette Day, Marcel André, Mila Parély, Nane Germon, Michel Auclair
- Genre Drama, Fantasy, Romance
- Available on Criterion Channel, Max Amazon Channel, Max, Apple TV, Amazon Video, Tubi TV, Kanopy
Children of Paradise
(Les Enfants du Paradis)
This French masterpiece centers around the theatrical life of a courtesan and the four men who love her.
- ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
- France • 1945
- Director Marcel Carné
- Cast Arletty, Jean-Louis Barrault, Pierre Brasseur, María Casares, Marcel Herrand, Louis Salou
- Genre Drama, Romance
- Available on Criterion Channel, IndieFlix, Apple TV, Amazon Video
Grand Illusion
(La Grande Illusion)
During WWI, a group of French prisoners of war grapple with their class differences as they plot their escape.
- ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
- France • 1937
- Director Jean Renoir
- Cast Jean Gabin, Dita Parlo, Pierre Fresnay, Erich von Stroheim, Georges Péclet
- Genre Drama, History, War
- Available on No streaming locations found.
The Battle of Algiers
(La battaglia di Algeri)
The revolt that stirred the world!
- ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
- Algeria, Italy • 1966
- Director Gillo Pontecorvo
- Cast Brahim Hadjadj, Jean Martin, Yacef Saadi, Ugo Paletti, Fusia El Kader, Samia Kerbash
- Genre Drama, History, War
- Available on Criterion Channel, TCM, Max Amazon Channel, Max, Apple TV, Google Play Movies, Amazon Video, YouTube, Kanopy
Sunday God Willing
(Inch'Allah dimanche)
One woman's escape from tradition into the modern world.
- ✭ ✭ ✭
- France, Algeria • 2001
- Director Yamina Benguigui
- Cast Fejria Deliba, Zinedine Soualem, Rabia Mokeddem, Amina Annabi, Marie-France Pisier, Anass Behri
- Genre Family, Drama
- Available on Amazon Video, Tubi TV, Kanopy