C’est une French Repertory Revolution, and More Focus on Film

France is still favored to win the World Cup – at least as of this writing – but the boys in blue are going to have to compete with output from their country even more artisanal than a sizzling Mbappé strike. Which is to say, the annual SBIFF French Wave Film Festival invades Santa Barbara over the next two weeks. With the move to SBIFF’s new five-screen Film Center on State Street, the fest has both doubled its duration and vastly increased the number of movies, many making their local debuts.

The 14 new films, each of which screens three times over the July 10-24 festival, include The Little Sister (La Petite Dernière), which was nominated for seven César Awards (the French equivalent of the Oscar) including Best Film and Best Director; Nino, winner of the César for Best First Feature Film and Best Male Revelation; Six Days in Spring (Six jours, ce printemps-là), which took home Best Director and Best Screenplay at the San Sebastian International Film Festival; and Leave One Day (Partir un jour), which opened the Cannes Film Festival.

Jean-Luc Godard’s Contempt (1963) and Pierrot le Fou (1965), Luis Buñuel’s Diary of a Chambermaid (1964), Diane Kurys’ 1983 Entre Nous (nominated for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film), Alain Resnais’ 1959 Hiroshima, Mon Amour (Best Screenplay Oscar nod), Alain Resnais’ 1961 Last Year in Marienbad (also a Best Screenplay nominee), and Jean-Paul Rappeneau’s 1975 Le sauvage comprise the seven classic films that span genres including the French New Wave, but which have in common stories that feature essential French women. Each will screen six times during the festival. 

Meanwhile, SBIFF is already saying “mais oui” to filmmaker hopefuls considering submission of their entries to the next festival, slated for February 3-13. The Early Bird deadline for the biggest discounts is August 7, with Santa Barbara Filmmaker’s regular deadline coming October 30, and a final deadline of December 2 for all. 

For movie descriptions and credits, screening times, passes and more information, see https://sbifftheatres.com/wave

Summer Screenings in the Parks

Mixtapes & Misfits – the 15th season of the free Summer Cinema series from UCSB Arts & Lectures – gets underway this week. The series this time around features seven classic summer movies focused on offbeat coming-of-age stories; films brilliantly projected onto a giant screen every starry Friday night at the Santa Barbara County Courthouse Sunken Gardens. The movies will show chronologically, following the order of their original theatrical release. These vivid paeans to reparable teen angst begin the evening of July 10 with John Hughes’ Brat Pack box office smash Pretty in Pink, which made Molly Ringwald a star, and gave Harry Dean Stanton, Jon Cryer, Annie Potts, James Spader, and Andrew McCarthy lots of early exposure 40 years ago. Dress to impress in prom attire inspired by the movie with official photo opportunities onsite. Opening night will also feature a coming-of-age soundtrack or two inspired by the series played live before Pink is projected. 

Say Anything…, La Bamba, Rushmore, Love & Basketball, Napoleon Dynamite,and Hairspray follow each Friday, skipping August 7 due to Fiesta’s Las Noches de Ronda. Early set up of blankets and lawn chairs begin at 12 noon, pre-screening events include live music from DJs, giveaways, food trucks and more, before the flicks get projected on the big inflatable screen once the sun has set. 

Visit https://artsandlectures.ucsb.edu/events-tickets/free-summer-cinema

Ojai Film Society has its own outdoor offerings at the historic Libbey Bowl, with “Wild is the Night” serving as this year’s theme for the events that run through August 27. The July 10 and 17 screenings are documentaries (Selena Y Los Dinos and Cookie Queens) with the directors in attendance post-screening conversations. 

Visit https://ojaifilmsociety.org