France

Update-Documentary “Sur l’Adamant” takes top Berlinale prize

The French documentary “Sur l’Adamant” (On the Adamant) about mental patients aboard a floating clinic in the Seine river in Paris won the prestigious Golden Bear top prize at the Berlinale film festival on Saturday night. Two films with transgender themes also won top awards. Spanish child actress Sofia Otero, who plays an eight-year-old boy…Read more Update-Documentary “Sur l’Adamant” takes top Berlinale prize

Nuclear “nomads”, mental health, Ukraine in Berlinale spotlight

The boundaries of what documentary filmmakers can do seem to expand all the time and this year the 45 or so documentaries shown at the Berlinale gave a taste of where the format is going. As might be expected of this most political of major European film festivals, documentaries about the war in Ukraine loomed…Read more Nuclear “nomads”, mental health, Ukraine in Berlinale spotlight

Skewering Silicon Valley at the 70th Berlinale

The 70th edition of the Berlinale is living up to its reputation as the most political of festivals, wirh films taking direct swipes at Silicon Valley and the gig economy, the failure of men to deal with women as equals and the aftermath of slavery in Brazil. "My p--sy's in the Cloud" -- on a…Read more Skewering Silicon Valley at the 70th Berlinale

En Route: A trip to the past on Ile d’Yeu, hidden gem off France’s west coast

I want to sing the praises of the little known (outside of France) island of Ile d'Yeu, off the coast of Vendee. But before getting to the usual trip bumph, a visit there in late July, early August was a chance to reconnect with a family I stayed with on the island...almost 50 years ago!…Read more En Route: A trip to the past on Ile d’Yeu, hidden gem off France’s west coast

En Route: Lascaux 4 — a high-tech trip back in time

MONTIGNAC, France -- Pixar, eat your heart out. Cro-Magnon artists 20,000 years ago painted a picture of a snorting horse whose head seems to move upwards on the wall of the Lascaux cave in southwest France. That, at least, is the illusion visitors have when they see the meticulous reproductions of the famous Lascaux cave…Read more En Route: Lascaux 4 — a high-tech trip back in time

En Route: ‘Faux Americana’ sweeps France

ROCAMADOUR, France - So these are the slogans emblazoned on the T-shirts, jackets and sweatshirts that people -- many of them French  -- are wearing in the heavily touristed Perigord region of France this summer: -- "America's Highway Route 66 the Mother Road" -- "University of California Berkeley Deluxe Classics" -- "Authentic 77 Stage Shape…Read more En Route: ‘Faux Americana’ sweeps France

En Route: The sweet life in Perigord

GROLEJAC, France - It looked for the longest time like Agnes Lacoste, a woman with a striking silvery mane, would have no customers for her "Barbe a Papa" (cotton candy) stall at a nighttime "marche gourmand" in the Perigord village of Grolejac. The paella, grilled duck breast and bottles of rose wine were going down…Read more En Route: The sweet life in Perigord