A French Flavor At Tribeca FF

by Sandy Mandelberger, North American Editor

New Yorkers’ continued love affair with French cinema is evidenced by a strong representation of French films at this year’s Tribeca Film Festival. Among the feature highlights are 2 DAYS IN NEW YORK, actress/director Julie Delpy’s comedy of cultural errors that co-stars Chris Rock; A BETTER LIFE, a gritty romance about the passionate love of an idealistic chef and a single mother as presented by director Cedric Kahn; CHICKEN WITH PLUMS, a morality tale about an Iranian man who loses himself in reveries of his youth, from the team that created the Oscar nominated film PERSEPOLIS; ELLES, a sexually charged drama that stars Juliette Binoche as a journalist investigating the phenomenon of nice college girls moonlighting as prostitutes; POLISSE, a gritty tale of the daily grind for a motley band of cops in the Juvenile Protection Unit who confront abusive parents, child molesters, traumatized kids and oversexed teens as part of their daily routine; and SLEEPLESS NIGHT, an adrenaline-fueled policier about a cop who steals a bag of cocaine and whose son is held for ransom by the mob boss it belongs to.