Join us for the Francophone Short Films In Harlem. New York City, 20 short films from 12 countries will be showcased.

Schedule of Events

April 25, 2025

7:00 pm at Maysles Documentary Center

Post-screening discussion + coktails to follow
2022, 20 minutes
Directors:
Frederic Hainaut & Olivier Crouter (Des mondes lointains)
Juliette Boucheny (Ativo)

In the heart of the Democratic Republic of Congo, Paul runs a grain mill. This morning, he is feverish, which does not prevent him from grinding grain. The machine's transmission belt breaks and that is a disaster. Paul sends Michel to Sakala to get a new belt. While he is hospitalized, he dialogues with his faraway lands.

Ativo

Juliette Boucheny
Togo-France
2022, 26 minutes

Agotimé-Adamé, a village two hours north of Lomé, Togo. Guénolé, a twelve-year-old boy, is gifted with obvious musical talent and dreams of playing the piano but doesn't own one. Supported by his sister Prudence, his grandmother Eternal, and aided by the spirits of nature, Guénolé succeeds in achieving his goal.

Bail, Bail

Sandrine Brodeur-Desrosiers
Québec/Canada
2024, 13 minutes

As they are signing their new lease, two longtime roommates realize that their new landlord is going to evict them illegally. They decide to fight to keep their apartment.
Humor, violence, western kung fu… in the middle of the holly season!

La Voix des Autres

Fatima Kaci
France
2023, 30 minutes

Rim is a Tunisian interpreter working in France on asylum procedures. Every day, she translates the stories of exiled men and women, whose voices raise questions about her own history.

Crème a Glace

Rachel Samson
Québec/Canada
2024, 9 minutes

Under a blazing summer sky, Chloe, Jenny (12 years old), and Squeegee (19 years old) share one last ice cream at the local dairy bar. It's a poetic animated chronicle of childhood friendship, its challenges in the face of adolescence, and the first fractures of friendship.

April 27, 2025

3:30 pm at Maysles Documentary Center

Post-screening discussion moderated by Joseph Pomp with directors:
Arnold SETOHOU, Producer NEW DIRECTION FILMS (Cotonou/Bénin) (Mon vélo)
Winners of Lycée Français rough-cut festival 2025

Sita Bella

Eugenie Metala
Cameroun
2023, 30 minutes

An anonymous grave between those of her parents, a rundown cinema in the premises of the Ministry of Arts and Culture, this is what remains as signs of the passage of Sita Bella on Earth. And yet she was the first woman journalist, the first Cameroon's airliner pilot, one of the first filmmakers in Africa whose film ‘Tam Tam in Paris' was selected at the first edition of Fespaco in 1969.
To pay tribute to this exceptional woman is the challenge of this work of a young director Eugénie Metala under the supervision of Jean Marie Teno.

Kin My Beautiful

Junior Moses
Democratic Republic of the Congo
2022, 8 minutes

Walking through Kinshasa, the capital of Democratic republic of the Congo.In its grandeur, in its ugliness and in its ardor, beautiful Kinshasa, which is my beautiful, is where my daily life comes to life, through its atmosphere, through its luminance.

Merlich, Merlich

Hannit Ghilas
France
2024, 19 minutes

Karim learns of his grandfather's death and the family begins funeral preparations. While retrieving forgotten coffee with his cousin Myriam, a car accident occurs. Karim stages a theft to cover it up, but his younger brother Idriss blackmails them. Myriam finds a solution.

Mon Vélo

Francky Tohouegnon
Bénin
2023, 12 minutes

Oumar, a 12-year-old boy, yearns for a bike. His father promises to give him one if he comes top of his class. When his school results are announced, stress overwhelms him and plunges him into a frightening dream in which his brand-new bike is stolen. Determined, he teams up with his best friend, Comlan. Together, they set a clear goal: to find the bike at all costs before his father discovers it's missing.

Winners of Rough-cut Festival

Lycée Français
New York City
2025, 15 minutes

April 27, 2025

7:00 pm at Maysles Documentary Center

Post-screening discussion + coktails to follow

Directors:
Elen Sylla Grolimund (Villa Madjo)
Brian Hawkins (Les Vouèsins)

Villa Madjo

Elen Sylla Grolimund
Senegal-France-Belgium
2024, 13 minutes

Starting from the observation that her father -who is white- was born in Africa, and that her mother -who is black- was born in Europe, the director reveals the complex history of her family, from colonialism to their experience of the interracial couple in Europe in the 1950's and 70's.

Eldorado

Mathieu Volpe
Belgium
2024, 19 minutes

Awa, a Cameroonian snow groomer operator, helps a determined young migrant cross the border from Italy to France. As their journey unfolds, a poignant story of redemption emerges amid a web of snow and hidden truths.

Sylvie en Liberté

Sara Bourdeau
Québec/Canada
2024, 24 minutes

Sylvie's out of jail and back in town. She secretly visits her mother, trying to convince her to leave her violent husband. Facing her mother's refusal, Sylvie stays determined to enjoy every second of her new freedom. She rides her old chopper bicycle across the dirt roads, gets drunk, and thinks about kidnapping a neglected dog. But one thing is on Sylvie's mind: seeing her old lover, Coyote. Time flies, things change, and Sylvie must choose the only freedom available to her.

Le Flou des Arbres

Fanny Perrault
Québec/Canada
2024, 11 minutes

Two incarcerated women in a secured forest of the North of Quebec are subjected to hard labor of reforestation. Confronted to their body's instrumentalization and its underhand control, they enjoy a little area of freedom they managed to create thanks to a prison guard particularly empathetic towards them.

Les Vouèsins

Brian Hawkins
USA/Missouri-French Créoles
2024, 15 minutes

When he arrived in the summer of 1934, J. M. Carrière described Old Mines as "a straggling, quiet little village in the foothills of the Missouri Ozarks, about sixty-five miles south of Saint Louis. Scattered all along the countryside, I found six hundred French-speaking families living in this community. "Carrière sought out the most accomplished storytellers and meticulously transcribed 73 folktales, documenting both the Creoles' worldview and the local French language, rapidly falling out of use. When researchers returned to the community in the 1970s, many of the stories Carrière collected had already faded from memory. Others left an indelible impression, such as Frank "Boy" Bourisaw's Le Petit Bœuf aux cornes d'or.

April 29, 2025

6:00 pm at Maison Française, Columbia University

Post-screening discussion moderated by Boukary Sawadogo, Associate professor of Cinema Studies and Black Studies, City College New York and with directors:

Frederic Hainaut & Olivier Crouter (Des mondes lointains)

Elen Sylla Grolimund (Villa Madjo)

Arnold SETOHOU, Producer NEW DIRECTION FILMS (Cotonou/Bénin) (Mon vélo)

Kabril I Manz Salad

Nicolas Sery
La Réunion/ France
2023, 20 minutes

In a Reunion Island housing project, as the time of the sacrifice for the Aïd el-Kebir approaches, Ibrahim,12, of Comoran descent, is bullied by Evan, a neighbor of the same age, who accuses him of being an animal killer, When Ibrahim learns that a goat is about to be delivered to his building he decides to save it... but Evan is watching.

Les fleurs sauvages

Thierry Sirois-Rodolph St Gelais
Québec/Canada
2024, 5 minutes

In a detailed telephone message, a man explains to his interlocutor how to use his lawn tractor so that he can mow his lawn in his absence.

Des Mondes Lointains

Frederic Hainaut-Olivier Crouter
Democratic Republic of the Congo-Belgique
2022, 20 minutes

In the heart of the Democratic Republic of Congo, Paul runs a grain mill. This morning, he is feverish, which does not prevent him from grinding grain. The machine's transmission belt breaks and that is a disaster. Paul sends Michel to Sakala to get a new belt. While he is hospitalized, he dialogues with his faraway lands.

Villa Madjo

Elen Sylla Grolimund
Senegal-France-Belgium
2024, 13 minutes

Starting from the observation that her father -who is white- was born in Africa, and that her mother -who is black- was born in Europe, the director reveals the complex history of her family, from colonialism to their experience of the interracial couple in Europe in the 1950's and 70's.

Making Men

Harold George-Antoine Panier
Zimbabwe-Belgium
2020, 20 minutes

Examining the question of masculinity, this dance film zooms in on four individuals in the process of becoming men. As is expected, they proceed unquestioningly into manhood through various stages of their lives, adopting the clearly coded characteristics dictated by society. However, they're oppressed by a feeling of unease in the very depths of their being, feeling uncertainty but also something else, harder to define…. Shot in the breathtaking landscape of Zimbabwe, Making Men features strong and rhythmical choreography but also special camerawork that intensifies emotions inspired by the movement.

Mon Vélo

Francky Tohouegnon
Bénin
2023, 12 minutes

Oumar, a 12-year-old boy, yearns for a bike. His father promises to give him one if he comes top of his class. When his school results are announced, stress overwhelms him and plunges him into a frightening dream in which his brand-new bike is stolen. Determined, he teams up with his best friend, Comlan. Together, they set a clear goal: to find the bike at all costs before his father discovers it's missing.

April 30, 2025

6:30 pm at Lycée Français

Post-screening discussion moderated by Binita Mehta with directors:

Juliette Boucheny (Ativo)
Elen Sylla Grolimund (Villa Madjo)
Brian Hawkins (Les Vouèsins)

Winners of Rough-cut Festival

Lycée Français
New York City
2025, 15 minutes

Ativo

Juliette Boucheny
Togo-France
2022, 26 minutes

Agotimé-Adamé, a village two hours north of Lomé, Togo. Guénolé, a twelve-year-old boy, is gifted with obvious musical talent and dreams of playing the piano but doesn't own one. Supported by his sister Prudence, his grandmother Eternal, and aided by the spirits of nature, Guénolé succeeds in achieving his goal.

Villa Madjo

Elen Sylla Grolimund
Senegal-France-Belgium
2024, 13 minutes

Starting from the observation that her father -who is white- was born in Africa, and that her mother -who is black- was born in Europe, the director reveals the complex history of her family, from colonialism to their experience of the interracial couple in Europe in the 1950's and 70's.

Eldorado

Mathieu Volpe
Belgium
2024, 19 minutes

Awa, a Cameroonian snow groomer operator, helps a determined young migrant cross the border from Italy to France. As their journey unfolds, a poignant story of redemption emerges amid a web of snow and hidden truths.

Galivan

Myra Lou Anna Thiemard
Switzerland
2024, 18 minutes

Sophie, travels to Valparaiso, Chile, to meet her family. This new environment and this imminent encounter plunge her into an introspective state that will resurface long-buried feelings. In the city, her Chilean father is everywhere and not as she imagined...

I directed Gavilán surrounded by my family and friends, it was a film that was above all an experience. An experience that makes me know more about my sister, the actress of the film, my family, and learn more about me and about cinema. The story was built over time, events and my inner revelations

Les Vouèsins

Brian Hawkins
USA/Missouri-French Créoles
2024, 15 minutes

When he arrived in the summer of 1934, J. M. Carrière described Old Mines as "a straggling, quiet little village in the foothills of the Missouri Ozarks, about sixty-five miles south of Saint Louis. Scattered all along the countryside, I found six hundred French-speaking families living in this community.

"Carrière sought out the most accomplished storytellers and meticulously transcribed 73 folktales, documenting both the Creoles' worldview and the local French language, rapidly falling out of use. When researchers returned to the community in the 1970s, many of the stories Carrière collected had already faded from memory. Others left an indelible impression, such as Frank "Boy" Bourisaw's Le Petit Bœuf aux cornes d'or.

Date: April 25-30, 2025

Locations:
Maysles Documentary Center, 343 Malcolm X Boulevard, New York, NY 10027
Columbia University - Maison Francaise Buell Hall, 515 W 116th St New York, NY 10027
Lycee Francais De New York, 505 E 75th St, New York, NY 10021

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