Yoyo
Pierre Étaix
France – 1965

Cast: Pierre Étaix (Yoyo / Le millionaire), Claudine Auger (Isolina), Philippe Dionnet (Yoyo as a child), Luce Klein (The equestrienne)
Screenplay: Pierre Étaix, Jean-Claude Carrière
Cinematography: Jean Boffety
Production: C.A.P.A.C.
Language: French
Duration: 92 min
Color: Black and White

Synopsis: A millionaire has everything: servants, a mansion, land, any pleasure money can buy—except Love. Sooner or later he always finds himself alone in his study, sighing over the photograph of the one girl that got away. One fine day a travelling circus rolls into town and, although some time has passed, the man recognizes the lovely equestrienne as the girl from the picture. He finds out that her young boy, Yoyo, is his son. The market crash of the Great Depression leaves the millionaire destitute, which is just as well because he feels happier sharing the simple life of travelling circus performers than spending another night alone in the empty mansion. With WWII raging on in the background, Yoyo grows up to be a successful clown and, with the advent of television, becomes a renowned artist, a film-maker, a millionaire. Now that he has the means, he longs to restore his father’s estate to its former glory.

The Boys from Fengkuei
Feng gui lai de ren
(All the Youthful Days)
Hsiao-Hsien Hou
Taiwan – 1983

Cast: Chun-fang Chang, Shih Chang, Doze Niu, Chao P’eng-chue, Chung-Hua Tou, Li-Yin Yang
Screenplay: T’ien-wen Chu
Cinematography: Kun-Hou Chen
Language: Mandarin, Min Nan
Duration: 101 min
Color: Color

Synopsis: Ah-Ching and his friends have just finished school in their island fishing village, and now spend most of their time drinking, fighting, and getting into trouble with the police. They play crude practical jokes, gamble, drink, fight, and chase girls as they wait for compulsory military service. The most introspective of the group, Ah-Ching lives in two worlds, the dissonant world of his buddies and the traditional culture that comes back to him in flashes of memory of his father when he was a young boy. Constantly berated by his mother for his lack of ambition, Ah-Ching and two friends leave their traditional home in Penghu to look for work in the Southern city of Kaohsiung. On the surface, the boys are street-wise, but beneath their swagger, their naiveté is apparent. Ah-Ching’s sister offers the boys an apartment and they find jobs in a local factory, but an infatuation with a hoodlum’s girlfriend leaves Ah-Ching more alone than when he came to the city.

Bird People
Pascale Ferran
France – 2014Cast: Josh Charles (Gary Newman), Anaïs Demoustier (Audrey Camuzet), Roschdy Zem (Simon), Taklyt Vongdara (Akira), Geoffrey Cantor (Allan), Camélia Jordana (Leila)
Screenplay: Guillaume Bréaud, Pascale Ferran
Cinematography: Julien Hirsch
Production: Archipel 35, France 2, Cinéma Titre et Structure Production, Canal+, Ciné+, France Télévisions, Centre National de la Cinématographie (CNC), Région Ile-de-France Cofinova 8, Procirep, Angoa-Agicoa, MEDIA Programme of the European Union, Cofinova 5, Cofinova 6
Language: French, English, Japanese
Duration: 127 min
Color: Color

Synopsis: Gary is an American engineer who arrives in Paris to finalize details on a major project in Dubai; Audrey is a twentysomething who works as a maid in the airport hotel where Gary is staying. Their shared sense of ennui and indecision is obvious, but their journeys of self-discovery proceed on separate tracks. Gary awakens mid-business-trip to the realization that both his professional and personal lives feel empty and unsatis­fying, and informs his business partners and wife Elisabeth that he will not be returning to any of them. Audrey, meanwhile, finds her daily clean­ing routines upended by a fantastical transformative event. One mysterious evening, she discovers the ability to free herself from her chambermaid duties to observe, unseen, an assortment of individuals within and beyond the confines of the airport hotel.

Indochine
Régis Wargnier
France – 1992Cast: Catherine Deneuve (Éliane Devries), Vincent Perez (Jean-Baptiste Le Guen), Linh Dan Pham (Camille), Jean Yanne (Guy), Dominique Blanc (Yvette)
Screenplay: Erik Orsenna, Louis Gardel, Catherine Cohen, Régis Wargnier
Cinematography: François Catonné
Production: Paradis Films, La Générale d’Images, Bac Films, Orly Films, Ciné Cinq, Centre National de la Cinématographie, Club des Investissments Canal+, Sofica, Sofinergie, Investimage, Cofimage
Language: French, Vietnamese
Duration: 152 min
Color: Color

Synopsis: Born and raised in French Indochina, Éliane is the imperious owner of a rubber-plantation. When her best friends, members of the Nguyễn Dynasty, die in a plane crash, she adopts their little girl Camille to raise as her own. Meanwhile, Éliane begins a torrid affair with a younger French navy officer, Jean-Baptiste. Some years later, when Camille has grown into a young woman, a civil unrest incident brings her and Jean-Baptiste together, and they fall love. Éliane is livid and campaigns to have Jean-Baptiste transferred. Camille marries Tanh, the son of wealthy merchants but a secret communist sympathizer. Camille also has a secret: she still loves Jean-Baptiste, and now that she has freed herself from mother’s watchful eyes, she heads towards his outpost. As she travels the country, she begins to understand the people of her homeland. When the colonial government tears her away from Jean-Baptiste and their infant child Étienne, Camille is imprisoned for crimes against the state, while Éliane adopts the baby. Camille experiences a political awakening and becomes a communist, while her incarcerated lover Jean-Baptiste, awaiting a court-martial, is found dead in his cell under peculiar circumstances. As Vietnam descends into civil war, Éliane abandons the plantation and relocates to France together with Étienne.

Seven Chances
Buster Keaton
USA – 1925Cast: Buster Keaton (James Shannon), T. Roy Barnes (Billy Meekin – James’ Partner), Snitz Edwards (James’ Lawyer), Ruth Dwyer (Mary Jones – James’ Girl)
Screenplay: Roi Cooper Megrue, Clyde Bruckman, Jean C. Havez, Joseph A. Mitchell
Cinematography: Byron Houck Elgin Lessley
Production: Buster Keaton Productions (A Metro-Goldwyn Production)
Language: Silent
Duration: 56 min
Color: Black and White, Color (2-strip Technicolor for the opening sequence)

Synopsis: On the morning of his 27^th birthday, James Shannon, a young lawyer in need of money to save his partner from jail, is informed that he stands to inherit $7 million if he is married by 7 o’clock that evening. He proposes to his sweetheart, but she rejects him when he states that he must marry a girl—any girl—in order to come into a fortune. At the country club, his partner picks out seven girls and Jimmy proposes to each in turn, but is refused by all. In town, he desperately proposes to anyone in a skirt, including a Scotsman. Meanwhile, the partner puts a story into the paper detailing Jimmy’s predicament and advertising for a bride. At the church altar early next morning, Jimmy finds the place full of candidates. He narrowly escapes, happily finding out that his sweetheart has forgiven him. Jimmy is pursued by a mob of outraged would-be brides, and after a wild chase, arrives safely at Mary’s house just in time to be married on the stroke of seven.

The Artist
Michel Hazavinicius
France – 2011Cast: Jean Dujardin (George Valentin), Bérénice Bejo (Peppy Miller), John Goodman (Al Zimmer), James Cromwell (Clifton), Penelope Ann Miller (Doris), Missi Pyle (Constance)
Screenplay: Michel Hazavinicius
Cinematography: Guillaume Schiffman
Production: Studio 37, La Petite Reine, La Classe Américaine, JD Prod France 3, Cinéma Jouror Productions, uFilm, Canal+, CinéCinéma, France Télévision, Le Tax Shelter du Gouvernement Fédéral de Belgique
Language: English, French
Duration: 100 min
Color: Black and White

Synopsis: It’s 1927 and Hollywood’s darling male lead George Valentin is enjoying the success of his latest picture, The Russian Affair. Peppy Miller, an aspiring young actress, accidentally bumps into Valentin at the premiere and plants a kiss on his cheek as they are surrounded by photographers. “Who’s that girl,” the press are quick to inquire. Perhaps it is thanks to this chance encounter that Miller gets her first break. Meanwhile the Kinograph Studio is transitioning to sound. Valentin finds the entire notion of ‘talkies’ vulgar, breaks off his contract, and decides to produce and direct his own silent motion picture. Always on the lookout for fresh faces, Kinograph offers Peppy Miller a role in their talking pictures and her career takes off. Valentin’s film on the other hand is a complete flop, and just as the Great Depression hits hardest, he is bankrupt. Miller, however, has not forgotten what Valentin did for her career, and offers her help, though, now that his star has set, he has to decide where and how he fits into the Hollywood dream machine.

Diamond Island
Davy Chou
France – 2016Cast: Sobon Nuon (Bora), Cheanick Nov (Solei), Madez Chhem (Aza), Mean Korn (Dy), Jany Min
Screenplay: Davy Chou, Claire Maugendre
Cinematography: Thomas Favel
Production: Aurora Films
Language: Khmer
Duration: 101 min
Color: Color

Synopsis: Bora leaves the poverty of his village to seek better luck in Phnom Penh. He takes up a back-breaking job as a construction laborer on the luxury apartment building project named “Diamond Island,” intended for a new class of wealthy urbanites. Living in a shantytown near the titular complex, along with hundreds of other low-paid workers, he finds some good friends such as the chatty and somewhat punkish Dy, while catching the eye of lovely Aza, who seems to like him both for his modesty and good looks. But city life becomes complicated when Bora runs into his estranged older brother Solei, who left the homestead years ago and hasn’t really been heard from since. The latter seems to be living it up in Phnom Penh, driving around town on a fancy moped and hanging out with his own crew and girlfriend, all of it thanks to the help of a mysterious “American sponsor”—clearly Solei’s pimp—a fact Bora remains ignorant of or else doesn’t want to acknowledge. Through Bora’s experiences, we see a contemporary Cambodia as a society in transition, where the divide between the urban rich and the rural poor is growing quickly, and perhaps irreversibly.

Road to Mandalay
Zai Jian Wa Cheng
Midi Z
Taiwan, Myanmar – 2016 Cast: Ko Kai (Guo), Ke-Xi Wu (Lianqing)
Screenplay: Midi Z
Cinematography: Tom Fan
Production: Seashore Image Productions, Flash Forward Entertainment, House on Fire-Bombay, Berlin Film Production, Myanmar Montage Films, Pop Pictures Company Limited
Language: English, Chinese, Thai, Burmese
Duration: 107 min
Color: Color

Synopsis: A rundown truck barrels down the road, transporting its human cargo across the border under cover of night. On board is Guo, a kind and honest young man who doesn’t think of himself as an illegal immigrant, as he has no intention of staying in Thailand. Just out of military service, he has a plan: work for a while in a textile factory, bring the money back to Burma, find the love of his life, and live happily ever after. He certainly does not expect to find the woman of his dreams sitting near him on this very truck. Lianqing is beautiful and resolute, determined to leave poverty behind and build a better, brighter future for herself. But her lack of working papers makes her feel fragile and insecure, vulnerable to exploitation at the mercy of unscrupulous employers. Even though she escapes the borderlands where her virginity is considered a precious commodity, she will find that things are no better in the bustling cities of Thailand. The road ahead of Guo and Lianqing is a difficult one, and they will have to endure terrible hardships if they are to have a life together.

Golden Slumbers
Le Sommeil d’or
Davy Chou
France – 2012Cast: Yvon Hem, Dy Saveth, Liv Sreng, Ly Bun Yim
Screenplay: Davy Chou
Cinematography: Thomas Favel
Production: Vycky Films Bophana Production Araucania Films CinéCinéma
Language: Khmer, French
Duration: 100 min
Color: Color

Synopsis: An ethnographic documentary, this film consists of interviews with surviving directors and stars of Cambodia’s pre-Khmer Rouge film industry, as well as with enthusiastic cinéphiles who excitedly reminisce about their favorite titles. Much of the film recounts the history of film production and its personalities, from Marcel Camus travelling to Cambodia to shoot Bird of Paradise in 1962, through to Prime Minister Norodom Sihanouk’s inauguration of a national film festival in 1969 with the aim of encouraging local directors. After a period of enormous productivity throughout the following decade, many members of the film industry fled the country with the rise of the Khmer Rouge, and those who stayed perished during the purges, leaving behind only traces of a distant world of fond remembrances.