the biopic of Maria Callas, the road movie of Jesse Eisenberg… Five films to discover in preview

From January 22 to 28, the favorite “Télérama” films of 2024 will be screened in 470 theaters in France. Also on the program: five feature films scheduled for release this year.

“Maria”, by Pablo Larraín

After Jackie Kennedy (Jackie, starring Natalie Portman) et Lady Di (Spencer, with Kristen Stewart), the Chilean filmmaker tells the story of another 20th century icon bruised by life and men in a biopic that is anything but classic. Maria Callas (1923-1977) is seized during the last days of her life in Paris, when the legendary singer remembers her love affair with the billionaire Onassis (who left to marry… Jackie Kennedy) and desperately seeks to recover her damaged voice.

Through the captivating camera movements in the immense apartment on Avenue Georges-Mandel, the incredible luxury of the artistic direction, the use of sublime arias by Puccini, Verdi and Bellini, Pablo Larraín tells the poignant tragedy of a woman incapable of healing her intimate wounds through her art. And offers Angelina Jolie, who plays Callas as much as a diva as a lost little girl, her most beautiful role. — Samuel Douhaire

Maria will notably be presented in a special screening on Sunday January 26 at 4 p.m. at the Le Balzac cinema, in Paris 8ᵉ. The screening will be followed by a meeting with Pablo Larraín broadcast live in certain arthouse theaters in the region.

“A Real Pain”, de Jesse Eisenberg

They had lost sight of each other a little, they meet again for an unusual journey to the land of memory. David, the false calm introvert, and Benji, his charismatic, angry, angry cousin, leave New York for Poland, in homage to their late Jewish grandmother, who had once gone into exile to flee the Nazis. Here they are embarked on a sort of organized visit, in the footsteps of this black page in the country’s history, from a monument to a concentration camp, in the company of a small band of “tourists”, heterogeneous and endearing…

L’excellent Jesse Eisenberg (The Social Network, Café Society), whose second feature film as director – and screenwriter – plays a subtle and touching David, opposite Kieran Culkin (the series Succession), extraordinary Benji, in an intelligent and delicate initiatory road movie. Where the great traumas of yesterday mingle with infinite subtlety with the cracks and intimate pains of the present. — Cecile Mury

“The Attachment”, by Carine Tardieu

Sandra (Valeria Bruni Tedeschi), in her fifties, likes to live alone. After her lover’s visits, she says “Come on, see you next Thursday”, and closes the door with a smile. She didn’t have children, she works in a feminist bookstore, in short, all she needs is a cat to complete the cliché. But his independence, his tranquility, all that, Elliot doesn’t care about the year 40, because he is 6 years old and he is going through immense grief. So when he gets the hang of it, the kid calls on this slightly outdated next-door neighbor. Her stepfather, Alex (Pio Marmaï), imitates her, so much so that, little by little, Sandra becomes attached to this family in a state of reconstitution…

One birth, one death: from the outset, the new feature film by Carine Tardieu (The Young Lovers) hits the heart. Adapted from a novel by Alice Ferney, it chronicles, through an elliptical story covering more or less two years, the birth of unforeseen, changing, sometimes indefinable feelings between finely written and interpreted characters. Around a Valeria Bruni Tedeschi as sober as she is moving, the filmmaker leads her troupe – Pio Marmaï, Vimala Pons, Catherine Mouchet and Raphaël Quenard – with a consummate art of gentleness. Good melodrama, beautiful tears. —Marie Sauvion

Attachment will notably be presented in a special screening Thursday January 23 at 8 p.m. at the Le Balzac cinema in Paris 8ᵉ. The screening will be followed by a meeting with Valeria Bruni Tedeschi, Pio Marmaï and Carine Tardieu broadcast live in certain arthouse theaters in the region.

“La Pampa”, by Antoine Chevrollier

Against all expectations, the “pampa” is not Argentinian, but Angevin. Two teenagers, quasi-neighbors and lifelong friends, go motocross there on the outskirts of their village, trained very seriously by local men. The two boys are full of joy and action, not really knowing if they have chosen this invasive hobby. They also ignore what differentiates them, beyond their close complicity. One day, a revealed secret changes the situation, then blows everything up…

The author of this first feature film, Antoine Chevrollier, signed the series Oussekine and, previously, directed several episodes of Legends Office and of Black Baron. Today he brings a new lease of life to French cinema, both through his mastery of a complex and unpredictable story and through a sharp look at society. Evoking toxic masculinity, homophobia, youth and generational conflicts, this ebullient film, with intense interpretation, constantly surprises and deeply moves. —Louis Guichard

The Pampa will notably be presented in a special screening on Wednesday January 22 at 8 p.m. at the Le Balzac cinema in Paris 8ᵉ. The screening will be followed by a meeting with Antoine Chevrollier and the actors Sayyid El Alami, Amaury Foucher, Léonie Dahan-Lamort and Artus, a meeting broadcast live in certain arthouse theaters in the region.

“My favorite cake”, by Maryam Moghadam and Behtash Sanaeeha

This Iranian film has the effect of an astonishing encounter. It is the portrait of Mahin, a septuagenarian widow who lives in Tehran, sleeps poorly, cooks for her old friends and drags herself around with comical weariness. This little life has so much charm that it seems far from Iran, where women’s protest movements are harshly repressed. But Mahin is old enough to have known her country before it became an Islamic republic and the nostalgia for freedom gives her the audacity of an adventurer, who goes looking for love in a bar for seniors…

We go from surprise to surprise in this comedy which, like its heroine, combines good nature and courage. Gifted at playing with situations where keen observation fuels humour, the director-director duo also knows how to describe a darker present and gives this joyful film a deep resonance. — Frédéric Strauss

Télérama Cinema Festival 2025

From January 22 to 28, Télérama invites you to (re)see the best films of 2024, as well as five preview films, for 4 euros.

All information here