The Beginnings of French Masters

Short films from the directing beginnings of famous French filmmakers.

All the Boys Are Called Patrick
Charlotte et Véronique, ou Tous les garçons s'appellent Patrick, Jean-Luc Godard, FR, 1959, 21 min., OV + SS

A playful film and an early work of Godard, written by Éric Rohmer is a story of two friends who on the same day fall in love with the same boy.

Left Unfinished in Tokyo
Laissé inachevé à Tokyo, Olivier Assayas, FR, 1982, 22 min., OV + SS

A mysterious story of a young writer who gets involved with Tokyo’s underworld and in order to free herself from them she needs to smuggle secret documents into Paris.

All to the March
Tous à la manif, Laurent Cantet, FR, 1994, 29 min., OV + SS

The later winner of the Palme d’Or has been dealing with social realism since the beginning of his career. In this film he focuses on a (typical French) café where students meet and organize a strike while others have to still work there.

White Nightmare
Cauchemar blanc, Mathieu Kassovitz, FR, 1991, 11 min., OV + SS

One night of violence in the streets foreshadows Hatred (La Haine) that Kassovitz filmed four years later. This film doesn’t lack humor or clumsy characters.