Dheepan

press release:

Dheepan (2015, France, 115 min., Digital)

Dir: Jacques Audiard; Cast: Antonythasan Jesuthasan, Kalieaswari Srinivasan, Claudine Vinasithamby

Winner of the Palme d’Or at the 2015 Cannes Film Festival, Dheepan is the gripping new thriller from Jacques Audiard, director of the Oscar-nominated A Prophet and Rust and Bone.  Fleeing their country’s civil war, three Sri Lankan refugees are forced to pose as a family.  All but strangers to one another, the trio is relocated to a crime-infested Parisian housing project, where they struggle to build a new life together.  The setup for this timely and engrossing tale closely mirrors the biography of lead actor Jesuthasan Antonythasan, who came to France after growing up a child soldier in the Tamil Tigers, and here gives a riveting performance.  “Absolutely terrific… Audiard’s most  compassionate and humanistic film to date” (Indiewire).  In Tamil and French with English subtitles.

This fall, the Madison Museum of Contemporary Art (MMoCA) will premiere a powerhouse slate of acclaimed films to Madison audiences.  MMoCA’s Spotlight Cinema will show eight critically-celebrated and award-winning narrative features and documentaries from around the world, screening every Wednesday night from September 28 through November 16. Highlights include the winner of the Palme d’Or at the 2015 Cannes Film Festival (Dheepan), the winner of the World Cinema Grand Jury Prize at the 2016 Sundance Film Festival (Sand Storm), and new work by master directors Hirokazu Kore-eda (After the Storm) and Nikolaus Geyrhalter  (Homo Sapiens).

​"MMoCA's Spotlight Cinema series is Madison’s chance to experience eight of the year’s most acclaimed and vital arthouse films on the big screen. These eight films comprise a wide-ranging survey of contemporary world cinema, including top prize-winners from Cannes and Sundance, new work by revered master directors, and envelope-pushing visions from the auteurs of tomorrow," stated Mike King, Guest Film Curator.

Spotlight Cinema is curated by Mike King, and is a program of MMoCA’s education department. Funding for the series has been provided by maiahaus, Venture Investors, LLC, and an anonymous donor. Ticket sales begin at 6:30 pm in the Museum lobby; films screen at 7 pm in the lecture hall. Admission is free for MMoCA members and $7 per screening for the general public.