The 2018 Belmont World Film series begins tonight at StudioCinema in
Belmont with the French film “The Workshop”, in which a group of young writers with different backgrounds are trying to reflect their town’s current situation in their group written thriller, but are forced to deal with the hostility and disturbing vision of one participant, which soon alarms his peers and the instructor, who is a famous Parisian thriller writer. The guest speaker for tonight’s film is Odile Cazenove, Professor of French and Francophone Culture and Chair of the Romance Studies at Boston University. The screening is part of the Month of Francophonie sponsored by the French Consulate in Boston.
This year’s series, “Bound by Beliefs,” features films that show how difficult it is to implement change in the face of long-held societal or community beliefs. All but one film is either a North American, East Coast or New England premiere and several are also their countries’ submissions to the Academy Awards’ Best Foreign Language Film category. As in the last several years, a full third of the films are directed by women. The festival also includes the most recent work by several well-known directors, including French director Laurent Cantet (Foxfire, The Class), Laurence Ferrerira Barbosa (Normal People Are Nothing Exceptional), and Tony Gatlif (Latcho Drom, Gadjo Dilo).
Tickets can be purchased through the Belmont World Film series website ; screenings take place at StudioCinema, 376 Trapelo Road in Belmont; the screening time for this and all future BWF series selections this year is 7:30 PM
The series continues on Monday evenings beginning March 26 through May 14, and a second “mini-series” called “Justice For All” will also run Mondays in June beginning June 11.