Cinematic Cultural Connections

SBIFF’s annual French Wave Film Festival brings 11 new French films to the Riviera Theatre screening in repertory July 11-17, including multiple winners and nominees for César Awards (France’s Oscars) and movies that have screened at major film festivals in Cannes, Berlin, Toronto and Venice. Among the highlights: The President’s Wife: Bernadette, which stars Catherine Deneuve as the woman-behind-the-man to her newly elected husband Jacques; Meet the Barbarians, about what happens when a family of Ukrainian refugees settles in a small village in Brittany, which was written, directed by, and stars Julie Delpy; and Monsieur Aznavour, a biopic about the great singer Charles Aznavour. Visit https://sbifftheatres.com/wave for details, showtimes and ticket/pass info.

The Alhecama Theatre hosts the 16th annual Asian American Film Series over three Friday nights from July 11-25, with four films followed by Q&A sessions with filmmakers or other guests. Opening night’s Home Court tells the coming-of-age story of Ashley Chea, a Cambodian American high school basketball prodigy in Southern California whose life intensifies as recruitment heats up. While the closing night selection, Starring Jerry as Himself, documents how a family’s immigrant father, a recently divorced and retired Florida man, was recruited by the Chinese police to be an undercover agent. 

Visit www.sbthp.org/aafs