[Note: This event has ended.]
After its special screening at the 2022 Toronto International Film Festival and winning the 2023 Beijing Film Festival’s Best Actress award for Line Renaud’s performance, Driving Madeleine (French title: Une belle course) will be released in the United States starting January 12, 2024 in Los Angeles and New York City.
In addition, the French comedy-drama will be screened here in Northern California from January 26-February 1, 2024 at the Orinda Theatre and on January 27, 2024 at the Jarvis Conservatory in Napa Valley as part of the annual International Film Showcase.
Synopsis of Driving Madeleine:
A seemingly simple taxi ride across Paris evolves into a profound meditation on the realities of the driver, whose personal life is in shambles, and his fare, an elderly woman whose warmth belies her shocking past. Charles (Dany Boon) is a taxi driver in Paris, and he is having a very bad day. Some pressing personal debts are due, he’s in danger of losing his driver’s license to numerous traffic infractions, and his marriage, like Charles himself, is strained to the point of snapping. A quick fare in the suburbs seems like an easy distraction.
Enter Madeleine (Line Renaud), an immaculately groomed 92-year-old woman, who informs Charles that the trip today will not be a direct one. She is moving into a care home and would like to make some stops along the way, predicting that this might be her last car ride through the city.
Driving Madeleine reminds us that inside every seemingly benign elderly woman we might pass on the street is a warrior, a nurturer, and a spirited adventurer.
Watch the trailer for Driving Madeleine:
To find theaters near you and ticket information, visit: Driving Madeleine | Cohen Media Group
About the International Film Showcase
The International Film Showcase, an arm of the Lamorinda Film and Entertainment Foundation (LFEF), began in January 2011 presenting (for one week a month) a local area premiere of an acclaimed international film not available on home media or television. 🎞 Visit the International Film Showcase website for tickets and showtimes.
Bonjour: A Francophile Blog 
Sounds like a poignamt film. I like Dany Boon and have watched a few of his films, but I know him as a comedian; I imagine this film is a more somber one, but worth watching all the same!
LikeLiked by 1 person
I think it’ll be a touching and nostalgic ride through Paris!
LikeLiked by 1 person
I can’t wait to watch this film but I think I’ll need tissues with me!
LikeLiked by 1 person
I think this film would make me laugh or cry, or both. I look forward to the views of Paris!
LikeLiked by 1 person