Opening April in Paris with a silent film (and live piano accompaniment by Patrick Miller) has become a treasured tradition. This year's little-seen classic is an elegant, ironic comedy starring French actor Adolph Menjou, whose suspicions about the fidelity of his Jazz Age flapper wife (Marie Prevost) insidiously infects their circle of married friends. Lubitsch slyly asks if everyone is capable of adultery. What, apr s tout, is the point of marriage?

Please join us for French pastries and coffee during the intermission!

President Jones will give opening remarks

A rare opportunity to see two of France's greatest actors - Simone Signoret (Les Diaboliques) and Jean Gabin (Grand Illusion) - together in a wonderfully dark comedy. Signoret and Gabin portray a married couple for whom living together for 25 years has brought more misery than hearts and flowers. In fact, it seems to be their mutual disdain that keeps them lively, and the only way they communicate is by addressing their conversation to a stray cat. beloved by Gabin detested by Signoret.

With Paris of the 1960s providing a magical backdrop, François Truffaut's bittersweet comedy about the shaky relationship of young lovers is the third in his Antoine Doinel series starring Jean-Pierre Léaud of The 400 Blows. As romantic - and conflicted - as ever, Léaud can't make up his mind of whether to commit to girlfriend (Claude Jade) or fall under the spell of a glamorous older woman (Delphine Seyrig).

The winner of the Golden Lion for Best First Film at the Venice Film Festival takes an unsparing look at life on the margins in the land of liberté, égalité, and fraternité. Tunisian director Abdel Kechiche follows the ups and downs of an Arab immigrant in Paris, as he joins a loose community of second generation North Africans who provide each other with the support needed to negotiate homeless shelters, illegal jobs, and assumed identities.

My Favorite Season When the aging matriarch of a French family (Marthe Villalong) moves in with her daughter (Catherine Deneuve) in the French countryside, they find that living together unearths unexpected secrets from the past. The arrival of Deneuve's eccentric brother (Daniel Auteuil), from whom she had been estranged for years, throws her well-ordered life into confusion.

Birds of a Feather / La cage aux folles  (1978, 110 min.).

The original French film that inspired the inevitably less-than American remake (and musical) remains an inspired delight! Ugo Tognazzi and Michel Serraut play two perfectly happy gay men living in St. Tropez... until their son announces he's getting married to a woman who doesn't understand the "complexities" of his home life.

A new print. Jean Cocteau's visual masterpiece of the well-known fairy tale is also a sly commentary on the gaping chasm of unknowability between most couples who dare to fall in love. Children (who are old enough to read subtitles) will also love this magical and unique film.

Sylvie Groulx spent an entire school year filming and getting to know one class of first grade students in a multi-ethnic neighborhood in Montreal. With the commitment and patience of teacher Madame Lise, Rafik, Solace, Rahat, Jessica and Adonay take on the challenge of learning French - and living together with tolerance and understanding.

Please join us for a closing reception. Doors open at 7:00!