The theme of this year’s April in Paris film festival, the annual French-language cinema series that runs April 8 to 14 at Cinestudio in Hartford, is “Ties That Bind” — a theme can be interpreted in many ways.
“Relationships link and bond people together but there are also bonds of enslavement,” said Trinity Professor Karen Humphreys, who co-organized the festival with fellow Prof. Sara Kippur. “Relationships characterize everyone’s lives. There are many different kinds.”
In “The Late Mathias Pascal,” a 1926 silent that is shown April 8, the tie that binds is identity. It tells the story of a man who runs away from his wife to live a different life, only to have his obligations lure him back.
In “The Crime of Monsieur Lange,” which also plays April 8, tie that binds is devotion to coworkers. The 1936 drama by the legendary Jean Renoir is about an unscrupulous boss and his employees, who thrive without him.
In “The Nun,” the tie that binds is faith, if not religion. The 2013 adaptation of Denis Diderot’s novel, which is shown April 9, is about a teen sent to a convent, whose sincere belief in God is challenged by the cruel atmosphere.
In “Black Girl,” the tie that binds is servitude, and how that symbolizes the negative specter of colonialism. Ousmane Sembene’s 1966 classic plays April 10 and profiles a Senegalese girl who travels to France to be a servant, to find neither her new life nor her job is what she expected.
The woman profiled in “Latest News from the Cosmos” feels a binding tie to poetry. French writer Babouillec Sp is autistic and nonverbal, but finds her voice through her poems. It plays April 11.
“Fatima” is about two ties that bind: family and country. Fatima, a Moroccan mother of two, lives in Paris. She is devoted to her two very different daughters, although she doesn’t feel at home in France. It is shown April 12.
The lead character in “The Death of Louis XIV” feels tied to his earthly power, as do the aristocrats who surround his deathbed. They know how to wield influence, but they don’t know how to face death. It plays April 13.
In “Worst Case, We Get Married,” which plays April 14, a young woman is torn between three ties: her stepfather, who is thrown out of the house; her mother, who threw him out; and a young man she turns to for comfort.
Also on April 14, the animated “April and the Extraordinary World” tells a story about the ties that bind a child and her parents. It tells a story about a couple who goes missing, and their daughter, who goes to look for them.
All screenings are at 7:30 p.m. at the theater at Trinity College, except “Extraordinary World,” which is at 2:30 p.m.; “Mathias Pascal,” which is at 1:30 p.m.; and “Worst Case,” which is at 8 p.m. “Mathias Pascal” and “Worst Case” are accompanied by receptions. aprininparis.org.
