Alliance Française launches French film series with sports comedy and walking documentary
Le Rêve américain and Á pied screen August 19 and 20, kicking off a summer lineup of international documentaries and biopics featuring everything from NBA ambition to the lost art of walking.
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Visions Ouest Productions and Alliance Française Vancouver are rolling out the first two films in a summer series of French-language cinema, starting this week with a sports comedy and a philosophical documentary about pedestrian life.
Le Rêve américain (The American Dream) screens August 19 at 7 p.m. Directed by Anthony Marciano, the true-story comedy follows French basketball agents Bouna Ndiaye and Jérémy Medjana, two underdogs who built careers in the NBA with no money or connections. The film stars real-life friends Jean-Pascal Zadi and Raphaël Quenard as the agents, whose story began when they met by chance on a basketball court in the mid-1990s—Medjana was working at a video store and Ndiaye was cleaning Orly Airport. Today they manage some of France's greatest players, including Nicolas Batum and Victor Wembanyama. The buddy-film chemistry between the leads drives what is as much a sports feature as it is a character study.
The following night, Á pied (Made to Walk) screens August 20 at 7 p.m. Directed by Vali Fugulin, this Quebec documentary examines humanity's retreat from walking in the modern world. With sweeping drone cinematography of global landscapes, the film follows everyone from a Brazilian food vendor navigating favela hills to an elderly Japanese woman reconnecting with her neighbourhood on foot. An Indigenous surgeon and acclaimed Montreal dance artist Louise Lecavalier also feature, woven together with scientific insights that restore the everyday act of walking to its place as expression and healing.
Both films carry English subtitles. The series continues throughout August.
The details
When do these films screen?
'Le Rêve américain' screens August 19 at 7 p.m. and 'Á pied' screens August 20 at 7 p.m.
What is 'Le Rêve américain' about?
'Le Rêve américain' follows French basketball agents Bouna Ndiaye and Jérémy Medjana, who built careers managing NBA players including Nicolas Batum and Victor Wembanyama, starting from humble beginnings in the mid-1990s.
Where are the screenings taking place?
Alliance Française Vancouver is hosting the films.
