This program is made possible with the support of the Cultural Services of the French Embassy, the French Ministry of Culture, and the Community Media Project. Alias Betty and Murderous Maids are $4 Discount and $5 General, all the other films are free to the public.

Alias Betty (Betty Fisher et autres histories) *Milwaukee Premiere (Claude Miller, France, 101min, 35mm, French w/Eng. St., 2001) Betty is a young single mother whose son dies in an accident. Devastated by the loss, she barely notices when her deranged mother kidnaps a boy from the projects to replace him. Soon Betty decides to keep her new "son" and becomes the unwilling party to a criminal act. The plot thickens at the entrance of the boy's sexually promiscuous mother and unsavory circle of friends. Featuring award-winning performances from three of France's most acclaimed actresses, Nicole Garcia, Sandrine Kiberlain, and Mathilde Seigner.

Friday, February 14 -- 6pm
Sunday, February 16 -- 6pm
Little Brothers (Petites freres) (Jacques Doillon, France, 92min, 35mm, French w/Eng. St., 2000) This sincere study of childhood in the projects is as gritty as it is lyrical and recalls Italian neo-realist cinema. Talia, a 13-year old girl, runs away from home with her beloved pit bull Kim. Talia, in an attempt to rescue Kim, strikes an uneasy friendship with four boys. Soon Talia and her gang of "petites freres" find real friendship and humanity in their harsh surroundings.

Saturday, February 15 -- 8pm
My Wife is an Actress (Ma femme est une actrice) (Yvan Attal, France, 93min, French w/ Eng. St., 35mm, 2001) Tells the story of a struggling sports writer (Yvan Attal) married to a successful and famous actress (Charlotte Gainsbourg), leading to jealousy of her new film co-star, Terrence Stamp. "An enjoyable romantic comedy! A terrifically deft picture about the thick line that separates movie glamour from the real world, and the thin line that separates movie glamour from the real world, and the thin line between common sense and paranoia." Elvis Mitchell, The New York Times

Friday, February 21 - 8pm
Saturday, February 22 - 6pm
Sunday, February 23 - 8pm
Murderous Maids (Les blessures assassines) *Milwaukee Premiere (Jean-Pierre Denis, France, 94min, 35mm, French w/Eng. St., 2001) This superbly chilling tale is based on one of the most extraordinary crimes of 20th Century France, in which an upper middle class woman and her daughter were brutally murdered by their young maids, who were sisters, in 1933. This most authentic dramatization encompasses an in-depth psychological study and intense love story between the two sisters. The Cesar Award-winning acting of Sylvia Testud, in the role of a paranoid schizophrenic servant, gives this crime of passion an intelligence no Hollywood version could match.

Friday, February 21 - 6pm
Sunday, February 23 -- 6pm
Girls Can't Swim (Les filles ne savent pas nager) (Anne-Sophie Birot, France, 101min, French w/Eng. St., 35mm, 2000) This touching story of two girls in transition features one of the rising young stars of French Cinema, Isild Le Besco (Sade) as Gwen. She lives on the Brittany coast where her best friend Lise joins her every summer vacation. But in the turmoil following Lise's father's death, their reunion is soon soured by Gwen's maturing interest in the opposite sex. "The complexity of the teenage heart has seldom been more deftly portrayed." John Anderson, Newsday

Saturday, February 22 - 8pm
Code Unknown (Code inconnu: récit incomplet de divers voyages) (Michael Haneke, France, 117min, French w/Eng. St., 35mm, 2001) Special Jury Prize Cannes Film Festival From acclaimed French director Michael Haneke (The Piano Teacher), starring Academy Award winner Juliette Binoche, comes "the most intellectually stimulating and emotionally provocative piece of European cinema of recent times." (Sight and Sound) A seemingly innocuous yet cold incident on a busy Parisian street briefly links the lives of five very different people: a struggling actress, a teacher of deaf children, a war photographer, an aimless teenage boy, and a Romanian illegal immigrant.