Film Movement Plus Announces July Highlights

As he has numerous times in the past, David Hockney is having a moment. As the artist inspired by his native England, the French countryside and Southern California’s swimming pools celebrates his 82nd birthday on July 9, his genius is on full display in the newly restored 1973 pseudo-documentary A Bigger Splash, Catherine Cusset’s book “Life of David Hockney: A Novel” and a coming NYC exhibit.

One of the great surviving icons of the 1960s, Hockney’s career may have started with almost instant success, but, in private, he has struggled with his art, relationships, and the tragedy of AIDS, making his optimism and sense of adventure truly uplifting. Whether an aficionado or a newcomer to the Brit called by Vogue “one of our greatest living artists,” HOCKNEY (2014, 112 mins), Randall Wright’s acclaimed documentary making its streaming premiere, weaves together a portrait of the multifaceted artist from frank interviews with close friends and never before seen footage from his own personal archive.

— April Wolfe, The Village Voice

— Tony Pipolo, Artforum

Each July 14, France celebrates Bastille Day, which marks the anniversary of the 1789 Storming of the Bastille, a turning point of the French Revolution. This Bastille Day, also called “French National Day,” Film Movement Plus invites all Francophiles (and cinema lovers) to enjoy some streaming Gallic classics, including the premiere of MARQUISE (1997, 116 minutes), a rollicking period dramedy digitally remastered in 2K for optimal viewing.

Nominated for Best Foreign Language Film at the British Independent Film Awards, the Grand Jury Prize at AFI Fest and a César Award for Jordi Savall’s music direction, MARQUISE, set in 17th century France stars Sophie Marceau, a beautiful street dancer who found fame and notoriety among the aristocratic elite under the stage name Mademoiselle Du Parc. When the distinguished Molière (Bernard Giraudeau) and his theatre troupe come to town, Marquise mesmerizes the men, and joins the troupe. She marries Gros René (Patrick Timsit) and becomes a favorite of King Louis XIV, but it is not until Marquise becomes the mistress of rival playwright Racine that she finally realizes her ambition to become a great actress.

To continue the Bastille Day celebration, below, find a curated selection of French programming, featuring some of the country’s biggest stars and directors:

This July, on the eve of the anniversary of Frantz Fanon’s birthday (July 20, 1925), explore the preeminent theorist of the twentieth century anti-colonial movement, and a man whom Jean-Paul Sartre recognized as the figure “through whose voice the Third World finds and speaks for itself” with FRANTZ FANON: BLACK SKIN, WHITE MASK (1995, 72 mins).

Starring British actor Colin Salmon (Arrow, Prime Suspect, Tomorrow Never Dies) as Fanon, the innovative landmark biopic, from artist/ filmmaker Isaac Julien and curator and producer Mark Nash (Documenta 11) undertakes an intellectual and poetic exploration of Fanon’s life, influence and legacy. Julien, the celebrated black British director of such provocative films as Looking for Langston and Young Soul Rebels, elegantly weaves together interviews with family members and friends, documentary footage, readings from Fanon’s work and dramatizations of crucial moments in the theorist’s life. And, cultural critics Stuart Hall and Françoise Verges position Fanon’s work in his own time and draw out its implications for our own, restoring the theorist to his rightful place at the center of contemporary discussions around post-colonial identity.

FRANTZ FANON: BLACK SKIN, WHITE MASK Digitally Remastered, Film Movement Classics Trailer

One of the most acclaimed directors of “new Italian cinema,” Soldini, born in Milan, was recognized by critics for the artistic and cinematic qualities of his early films, but it wasn’t until Pane e tulipani [Bread and Tulips] (2000), that he received international recognition and box office success. Celebrate Soldini’s unique point of view as a fiercely independent filmmaker with four of his compelling films that poignantly observe and critic contemporary Italian life.

GARIBALDI’S LOVERS Official Trailer

FILM MOVEMENT PLUS (www.filmmovementplus.com) opens up a world of provocative, compelling and award-winning films from Film Movement’s singular library. Priced at $5.99 per month with a free 14-day trial, the SVOD subscription service, currently available on Roku, Apple TV, Amazon Fire, Android TV, mobile (iOS and Android), and Chromecast, offers consumers immediate access to 250 festival favorite feature films and 100 short films, including: THEEB, the 2016 Academy Award® nominee for Best Foreign Film; AFTER THE STORM, a powerful family drama from 2018 Palme d’Or winner Hirokazu Kore-eda; HUMAN CAPITAL, a political thriller from Paolo Virzi (The Leisure Seeker) that was Italy’s Best Foreign Film submission for the 87^th Academy Awards® and MY LOVE, DON’T CROSS THAT RIVER, an unforgettable documentary about true love that transcends generations and cultures and is South Korea’s most successful film of all time. Classics from the Film Movement catalog include Bille August’s PELLE THE CONQUEROR, an Academy Award® winner for Best Foreign Language Film in 1996 and much more.

Founded in 2002 as one of the first-ever subscription film services with its DVD-of-the-Month club, Film Movement is now a North American distributor of award-winning independent and foreign films based in New York City. It has released more than 250 feature films and shorts culled from prestigious film festivals worldwide.  Film Movement’s theatrical releases include American independent films, documentaries, and foreign art house titles. Its catalog includes titles by directors such as Hirokazu Kore-eda, Maren Ade, Jessica Hausner, Andrei Konchalovsky, Andrzej Wajda, Diane Kurys, Ciro Guerra and Melanie Laurent. In 2015, Film Movement launched its reissue label Film Movement Classics, featuring new restorations released theatrically as well as on Blu-ray and DVD, including films by such noted directors as Eric Rohmer, Peter Greenaway, Bille August, Marleen Gorris, Takeshi Kitano, Arturo Ripstein, Sergio Corbucci and Ettore Scola. For more information, please visit www.filmmovement.com.