Melnitz Movies and the UCLA Department of French & Francophone Studies present…WHITE MATERIAL
A FILM BY CLAIRE DENIS
Thursday November 4 @ 7:30 PM
James Bridges Theater, Melnitz Hall
FREE ADMISSION
THE BEST FILM OF THE YEAR! – Amy Taubin, ARTFORUM
Master filmmaker Claire Denis returns with this evocative African-set film starring the electrifying Isabelle Huppert (THE PIANO TEACHER) as a woman fighting to save her family plantation, and way of life, in the face of rising civil unrest. Featured in the Venice, Toronto, New York and Los Angeles film festivals, WHITE MATERIAL is an extraordinarily visceral, potent and very personal rumination on a society turned upside down. In an unnamed African country in the throes of a volatile regime change, Maria Vial (Huppert) is trying to sustain the coffee plantation she runs with her ex-husband André (Christophe Lambert), but unknown to her, he has other plans. The country is tenuously under the control of a rebel militia whose leader (Isaach De Bankolé) is on the run. With the regular army preparing to regain control, French forces have moved out, warning the remaining white residents that they’re on their own if they stay behind. However, Maria refuses to be driven off the land, continuing to run the farm as the specter of impending tragedy looms.
Official Selection New York Film Festival, Official Selection Venice Film Festival
"Spellbinding...simultaneously encapsulates both the breathtaking beauty and abject horror of the African cultural landscape." - David Jenkins, TIME OUT LONDON
"Denis has never made such a thrilling film as White Material, one condensed down to the basics of movement, washed out colors, and a sandy texture." - Daniel Kasman, MUBI NOTEBOOK
Director: Claire Denis
Starring: Isabelle Huppert, Christophe Lambert, Isaach De Bankolé
An IFC Films Release
In French with English subtitles
35mm, 106 minutes
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