Curtain up on the program of the 48th Deauville American Film Festival!
The organizers, who will distill their announcements over the month of August, have revealed the thirteen films in the official competition which will be submitted to the jury chaired by French director Arnaud Desplechin.
Like past editions, the first films take the lion's share, with eight titles.
Back to the future
This selection, which is dedicated to the hopes of American independent cinema, demonstrates a striking thematic coherence, focused on childhood and adolescence.
Coming-of-age stories will be legion, starting with several that garnered much attention at the Cannes Film Festival.
“Deauville has always been focused on the future of cinema and the emergence of new talent.
It is striking to see that they look en masse towards the youth.
There is in them an anthological questioning about the future ”
, deciphers for
Le Figaro
Bruno Barde, the boss of the Norman festival.
Read alsoDeauville Festival 2022: Arnaud Desplechin at the head of the jury
Like his fellow breeders, the director of Deauville is delighted with a robust vintage.
“Last year, the disruptions linked to the pandemic were still sensitive.
This year, we are back to normal
.
As proof, he watched 280 films compared to 200 in 2021.
“I discover a lot of them at festivals at Sundance, Tribeca, Cannes, but Deauville's love rating among independent filmmakers is real.
Some send me viewing links directly,”
he says
.
Riley Keough, Paul Mescal on the screens
Winner of the Golden Camera,
War Pony
marked the debut behind the camera of the granddaughter of Elvis Presley, actress Riley Keough and her accomplice Gina Gammell.
This immersion in a Native American reservation in Dakota recounts the divergent paths taken by two young people to approach the “American dream” and “become men”.
Also acclaimed on the Croisette,
Aftersun
by Charlotte Wells features the Irish idol of the moment Paul Mescal, one of the chilled lovers of the
Normal People
series , also seen in
The Lost Daughter.
The actor plays a young father on vacation in Turkey, with his eleven-year-old daughter who idolizes him.
A decade later, these memories will take on a darker connotation.
Seen in the Un certain regard category,
The Silent Twins
by Agnieszka Smoczyńska paints the portrait of twins who cut themselves off from the world.
The star of
Black Panther,
Letitia Wright, camps one of these fusional sisters who hit the headlines in the 70s and were interned.
Palm Trees And Power Lines
by Jamie Dack contemplates the summer of awakening to the desire of a teenager who feels trapped in her daily life.
But her older suitor isn't armed with the best of intentions.
Taking place over one night,
1-800-HOT-NITE
by Nick Richey recounts the wanderings in Los Angeles of a teenager and his group of friends.
First brawl, first kiss, first telephone conversation of a sexual nature will mark the end of innocence.
Over/Under
by Sophia Silver follows the battered friendship of two little girls on the threshold of puberty over several summers.
Stay Awake
by Jamie Sisley accompanies two brothers who enter adolescence and must take care of their drug-addicted mother.
Siblings are also at the heart of
Montana Story
of Deauville regulars Scott McGehee and David Siegel.
Struggled, Cal and Erin will have to talk to each other when their father comes under attack and decisions have to be made on the family ranch.
Some genre titles
Sliding more towards the genre, Riley Stearns'
Dual
, starring Karen Gillan (
Dr Who
) and Aaron Paul
(Breaking Bad
) follows a terminally ill woman who will do anything to heal, including resorting to a clone.
The Watcher
by Chloe Okuno recounts the expatriation of an American couple to Romania.
Once installed, they feel watched.
Another thriller, John Patton Ford's
Emily The Criminal
follows a debt-ridden heroine (Aubrey Plaza) who turns to crime.
Peace In The Valley
by Tyler Riggs shows the daily life of a family ravaged by a shooting and the attraction of firearms.
Lighter than the rest,
Scrap
by Vivian Kerr questions motherhood through a single mother struggling to make ends meet (Vivian Kerr) and her sterile sister-in-law (Lana Parrilla, the evil queen of the
Once Upon A Time
saga ).
The Deauville festival will announce in August the actors and filmmakers who will travel to Normandy
.
“With the resumption of cinema and TV filming, everyone is working… It is not easy to find a gap in the agendas of talents”,
notes Bruno Barde who promises great surprises to come, in particular the screening of films out of competition. of studio who should slip into the race for the Oscars.