THE SECRET OF THE GRAIN Premieres at L.A.'s ColCoa Festival
The award-winning new film THE SECRET OF THE GRAIN (La Graine et le Mulet) by celebrated French-Maghrebi director, Abdellatif Kechiche, has its West Coast Premiere at the ColCoa French Film Festival (City of Lights – City of Angels) in Los Angeles on Saturday, April 19th.
Starring a cast of newcomers, including award-winning actress Hafsia Herzi, The Secret of the Grain is the portrait of a French family of North-African origin, struggling amidst financial hardship and family tensions. The film tells the story of Slimane (Habib Boufares), a sixty-year-old shipyard worker who buys a boat and remodels it as a couscous restaurant, to make a better life for himself and his family. Through Slimane, Abdellatif Kechiche explores deeper issues of racism and discrimination, faced by immigrants who cannot find their place in French society and have difficulty relating to their French-born children.
Awards: 2007 Venice Mostra Special Jury Prize, 2008 César award for Best Film, Best Director, Best original screenplay, Best New Actress, Lumiere award for Best Director and Best New Actress
Screen International says, “A cine-verite tour-de-force, Abdellatif Kechiche’s follow-up to the award-winning L’Esquive loads an apparently slight story set against the background of France’s first-and-second generation Maghrebi immigrant communities with surprising dramatic weight.”
More about the ColCoa Festival here.
