Rendezvous with French Cinema

Join us this July at Rendezvous with French Cinema, a monthly French cinema club with the goal of practicing, listening, and strengthening French language skills with monthly screenings at Hayy Cinema in collaboration with Alliance Francaise.

July 2025

A coming-of-age masterpiece, The 400 Blows captures the pain of growing up

The 400 Blows (1959): After being neglected by his parents, juvenile Antonie quits school, leaves his home and becomes involved in petty crimes across Paris. As he wanders the streets, Antonie discovers the city like never before.

Genre: Family/Drama Director: François Truffaut

Duration: 1h39m

Country: France Year: 1959

Language: French Subtitles: English

June 2025

Alphaville (1965): Lemmy Caution, an American secret agent, is sent to Alphaville, a futuristic city on another planet. His mission is to find Henry Dickson, a missing agent, and kill the creator of Alphaville.

Genre: Sci-fi, Noir
Director: Jean Luc Godard
Country: France
Language: French
Subtitles: English

January 2025

Hirokazu Kore-eda takes his observational skills to France, with mixed results.

-The Guardian

The Truth: Tensions mount between the mother-daughter duo, Fabienne and Lumir, when the former publishes her memoir and the latter accuses her of distorting some facts about their relationship.

Genre: Drama Director: Hirokazu Koreeda

Country: France/Japan Year: 2019

Language: French/English, subtitled in English/Arabic

December 2024

A Moving Drama Tests the Special Bond Between a French Girl and Her Nanny

–Variety

Ama Gloria: Six-year-old Cléo loves her nanny Gloria more than anything. When Gloria must return to Cape Verde to care for her own children, the two must make the most of their last summer together.

Genre: Drama Director: Marie Amachoukeli-Barsacq

Country: France Year: 2023

Language: French, subtitled in English/Arabic

November 2024

Classic & Fun Children’s French Film

Le roi et l’oiseau (The King & The Mockingbird): This animated fantasy tale follows the romance between a lovely shepherdess and a handsome chimney sweep. The land’s imperious king falls for the beautiful woman and tries to thwart her relationship, but a kind mockingbird assists the lovers in evading the ruler. On the king’s command, the chimney sweep and his bird friend are imprisoned, and they must escape in order to rescue the young man’s true love.

Genre: Animation, Family, Fantasy

Country: France

Language: French, Subtitled in English

October 2024

French Horror: Classic Film Noir

The Sleeping Car Murder: The witnesses of a train murder must take the investigation into their own hands if they want to survive.

Genre: Mystery, Crime, Thriller

Country: France

Language: French, Subtitled in English