Releases
55th San Francisco International Film Festival to Open with Benoît Jacquot’s 'Farewell, My Queen,' April 19 at Castro Theatre
Diane Kruger Stars in Exhilarating Drama About the Upheaval in the French Court Following the Storming of the Bastille
3/20/2012
The 55th San Francisco International Film Festival (April 19–May 3) will open with Farewell, My Queen (Les adieux à la reine, France 2012), Benoît Jacquot’s extraordinarily atmospheric historical drama about the turmoil at Versailles in the early days of the French revolution, starring Diane Kruger as Queen Marie Antoinette and Léa Seydoux as her reader. Farewell, My Queen will screen 7:00 pm, Thursday, April 19 at the historic Castro Theatre followed by the Opening Night Party, 9:30 pm at San Francisco’s elegant and contemporary art gallery, Terra Gallery. Director Jacquot is expected to attend and participate in a post-screening Q&A.
Sumptuous and intimate, Benoît Jacquot’s portrayal of court life at Versailles during four crucial days in July 1789 observes at close range the social decay that brought down the monarchy. In this adaptation of Chantal Thomas’s novel, a servant—the queen’s reader and sometime confidante, Sidonie Laborde (Léa Seydoux)—navigates the quietly mounting atmosphere of confusion, denial and panic among the royal family and their cohort following news of the storming of the Bastille. For the tacit but not timid Sidonie, dogged at all times by Jacquot’s camera, the palace’s seemingly endless hallways all lead to one room, the chamber of Marie Antoinette, to whom she is devoted and by whom she is mesmerized. Diane Kruger plays the monarch in a state of charged vulnerability, having lost her head over the otherwise much-despised Gabrielle De Polignac (Virginie Ledoyen); compared to that thrall, the revolution is as nothing to her. She transfers this frisson to Sidonie. Meanwhile, the aristocrats, sycophants and pretenders ensconced at Versailles read the writing on its walls and begin to take their leave. Thus, regime change begins at home.
“We’re delighted to be opening the festival with a film by one of France’s most interesting filmmakers,” said Rachel Rosen, San Francisco Film Society director of programming. “Benoît Jacquot’s behind-the-scenes look at the early days of the French Revolution is visually rich and features excellent performances, bringing great energy and a fresh perspective to a key historical moment.”
The Opening Night celebration continues at the elegant and contemporary art gallery Terra Gallery (511 Harrison Street) at 9:30 pm with a party featuring two floors of live music, cool cocktails and international culinary delights.
Tickets Opening Night film and party $75 for SFFS members and $90 for the general public; VIP tickets $150; Box office now open online at sffs.org and in person at SF Film Society Cinema (1746 Post Street, Webster/Buchanan). Festival Premier Package on sale March 27, visit festival.sffs.org for details.
SFIFF55 Opening Night is dedicated in honor of Graham Leggat.
SFIFF55 Opening Night is sponsored by Grolsch.
To request interviews or screeners contact your SFIFF publicist.
For photos and press materials visit sffs.org/pressdownloads.
More upcoming San Francisco Film Society programs
Through March 22: Kill List
March 20: The Island President
Opening March 23: Sound of Noise
Opening March 30: House of Pleasures
April 3: Qarantina
April 6: Character Comes First: Costume Design in the Movies
Opening April 6: This Is Not a Film
April 10: SFFS Film Arts Forum: Beyond Film School
Opening April 13: The Turin Horse
April 21: SFIFF State of Cinema Address: Jonathan Lethem
April 22: SFIFF Golden Gate Persistence of Vision Award: Barbara Kopple
April 23: SFIFF Merrill Garbus (tUnE-yArDs) with Buster Keaton Shorts
May 1: SFIFF The Love Song of R. Buckminster Fuller
55th San Francisco International Film Festival
The 55th San Francisco International Film Festival runs April 19–May 3 at the Sundance Kabuki Cinemas, the Castro Theatre, SF Film Society Cinema and SFMOMA in San Francisco and the Pacific Film Archive in Berkeley. Held each spring for 15 days, the International is an extraordinary showcase of cinematic discovery and innovation in one of the country’s most beautiful cities, featuring 200 films and live events, 14 juried awards and $70,000 in cash prizes, upwards of 100 participating filmmaker guests and diverse and engaged audiences with more than 70,000 people in attendance.
San Francisco Film Society
Building on a legacy of more than 50 years of bringing the best in world cinema to the Bay Area, the San Francisco Film Society is a national leader in exhibition, education and filmmaker services.
The Film Society presents 365 days of exhibition each year, reaching a total audience of 130,000 people. Its acclaimed education program introduces international, independent and documentary cinema and media literacy to more than 15,000 teachers and students and presents more than 100 classes and workshops annually. Through Filmmaker360, the filmmaker services program, essential creative and business services and funding totaling millions of dollars are provided to deserving filmmakers of all levels.
The Film Society seeks to elevate all aspects of film culture, offering a wide range of activities that engage emotions, inspire action, change perceptions and advance knowledge. A 501(c)3 nonprofit corporation, it is largely donor and member supported. Patronage and membership provides discounted prices, access to grants and residencies, private events and a wealth of other benefits.
For more information visit sffs.org.
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Sumptuous and intimate, Benoît Jacquot’s portrayal of court life at Versailles during four crucial days in July 1789 observes at close range the social decay that brought down the monarchy. In this adaptation of Chantal Thomas’s novel, a servant—the queen’s reader and sometime confidante, Sidonie Laborde (Léa Seydoux)—navigates the quietly mounting atmosphere of confusion, denial and panic among the royal family and their cohort following news of the storming of the Bastille. For the tacit but not timid Sidonie, dogged at all times by Jacquot’s camera, the palace’s seemingly endless hallways all lead to one room, the chamber of Marie Antoinette, to whom she is devoted and by whom she is mesmerized. Diane Kruger plays the monarch in a state of charged vulnerability, having lost her head over the otherwise much-despised Gabrielle De Polignac (Virginie Ledoyen); compared to that thrall, the revolution is as nothing to her. She transfers this frisson to Sidonie. Meanwhile, the aristocrats, sycophants and pretenders ensconced at Versailles read the writing on its walls and begin to take their leave. Thus, regime change begins at home.
“We’re delighted to be opening the festival with a film by one of France’s most interesting filmmakers,” said Rachel Rosen, San Francisco Film Society director of programming. “Benoît Jacquot’s behind-the-scenes look at the early days of the French Revolution is visually rich and features excellent performances, bringing great energy and a fresh perspective to a key historical moment.”
The Opening Night celebration continues at the elegant and contemporary art gallery Terra Gallery (511 Harrison Street) at 9:30 pm with a party featuring two floors of live music, cool cocktails and international culinary delights.
Tickets Opening Night film and party $75 for SFFS members and $90 for the general public; VIP tickets $150; Box office now open online at sffs.org and in person at SF Film Society Cinema (1746 Post Street, Webster/Buchanan). Festival Premier Package on sale March 27, visit festival.sffs.org for details.
SFIFF55 Opening Night is dedicated in honor of Graham Leggat.
SFIFF55 Opening Night is sponsored by Grolsch.
To request interviews or screeners contact your SFIFF publicist.
For photos and press materials visit sffs.org/pressdownloads.
More upcoming San Francisco Film Society programs
Through March 22: Kill List
March 20: The Island President
Opening March 23: Sound of Noise
Opening March 30: House of Pleasures
April 3: Qarantina
April 6: Character Comes First: Costume Design in the Movies
Opening April 6: This Is Not a Film
April 10: SFFS Film Arts Forum: Beyond Film School
Opening April 13: The Turin Horse
April 21: SFIFF State of Cinema Address: Jonathan Lethem
April 22: SFIFF Golden Gate Persistence of Vision Award: Barbara Kopple
April 23: SFIFF Merrill Garbus (tUnE-yArDs) with Buster Keaton Shorts
May 1: SFIFF The Love Song of R. Buckminster Fuller
55th San Francisco International Film Festival
The 55th San Francisco International Film Festival runs April 19–May 3 at the Sundance Kabuki Cinemas, the Castro Theatre, SF Film Society Cinema and SFMOMA in San Francisco and the Pacific Film Archive in Berkeley. Held each spring for 15 days, the International is an extraordinary showcase of cinematic discovery and innovation in one of the country’s most beautiful cities, featuring 200 films and live events, 14 juried awards and $70,000 in cash prizes, upwards of 100 participating filmmaker guests and diverse and engaged audiences with more than 70,000 people in attendance.
San Francisco Film Society
Building on a legacy of more than 50 years of bringing the best in world cinema to the Bay Area, the San Francisco Film Society is a national leader in exhibition, education and filmmaker services.
The Film Society presents 365 days of exhibition each year, reaching a total audience of 130,000 people. Its acclaimed education program introduces international, independent and documentary cinema and media literacy to more than 15,000 teachers and students and presents more than 100 classes and workshops annually. Through Filmmaker360, the filmmaker services program, essential creative and business services and funding totaling millions of dollars are provided to deserving filmmakers of all levels.
The Film Society seeks to elevate all aspects of film culture, offering a wide range of activities that engage emotions, inspire action, change perceptions and advance knowledge. A 501(c)3 nonprofit corporation, it is largely donor and member supported. Patronage and membership provides discounted prices, access to grants and residencies, private events and a wealth of other benefits.
For more information visit sffs.org.
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