Asghar Farhadi’s Le passé (The Past) will open Cinemania on Nov. 7, and the festival will close on Nov. 17 with Rebecca Zlotowski’s Grand Central. Both films premiered at Cannes earlier this year, Le Passé in official competition, and Grand Central in the Un Certain Regard section.
The announcement marks another coup for Montreal’s festival of French films subtitled in English, which always manages to score some high profile releases. Iranian writer-director Farhadi won the Oscar for best foreign language film in 2012 for A Separation, at the expense of Quebec filmmaker Philippe Falardeau’s Monsieur Lazhar. Farhadi’s latest film again deals with issues of broken relationships, miscommunications and the deconstruction of a dramatic event. It stars Bérénice Bejo (The Artist), Tahar Rahim (A Prophet) and Ali Mosaffa.
Zlotowski’s Grand Central also stars Rahim, along with Léa Seydoux (who stars in this year’s Cannes Palme d’Or winner, Abdellatif Kechiche’s racy La vie d’Adèle Chapitre 1 et 2, aka Blue is the Warmest Colour). The film posits the pair as an adulterous couple working in a Nuclear power plant, and touches on issues of social justice.
Cinemania’s full program will be announced Oct. 30. For more information, visit the festival website.
tdunlevy@montrealgazette.com
Twitter: @tchadunlevy
