Summer series of new French-language films kicks off at Alliance Française Vancouver, August 19 and 20
Visions Ouest Productions and the Alliance present true-life sports comedy Le Rêve américain and compelling walking documentary Á pied, with English subtitles
Le Rêve américain (The American Dream)
Le Rêve américain screens August 19 at 7 pm and Á pied screens August 20 at 7 pm at Alliance Française Vancouver
VISIONS OUEST, THE folks who bring you the Rendez-Vous French Film Festival, and Alliance Française Vancouver are rolling out the first two new French-language movies in a compelling August summer series that features everything from biopics to documentaries.
The offerings kick off on August 19 with Le Rêve américain (The American Dream), the true story of French basketball agents Bouna Ndiaye and Jérémy Medjana, two underdogs who, with zero connections or money, ended up making a name for themselves in the NBA, one of the world’s most competitive leagues.
Directed by France’s Anthony Marciano, the comedy-filled biopic stars two friends in real life—actors Jean-Pascal Zadi and Raphaël Quenard—and their chemistry helps drive a film that’s as much a buddy flick as a sports feature. The story is stranger than fiction, starting with the fact that when Ndiaye and Medjana met by chance on a basketball court in the mid-1990s, Medjana was working in a video store and Ndiaye was cleaning at Orly Airport. Today, they manage some of France’s greatest players, including Nicolas Batum and Victor Wembanyama.
The next night at Alliance Française, the Quebec documentary Á pied promises to get you up and moving. Titled Made to Walk in English, Vali Fugulin’s new film centres on the fact that humans have never walked as little as they do at this point in history, and focuses on the ones who celebrate stepping out as a form of healing and expression.
With gorgeous landscapes around the globe, many shot from the bird’s-eye view of drones, the documentary looks at everyone from a Brazilian food vendor who treks the hills of favelas to an elderly Japanese woman who slowly navigates pedestrian streets, connecting with her neighbours.
There’s an Indigenous surgeon, and there’s acclaimed Montreal dance artist Louise Lecavalier too—all interwoven with scientific insights that create a new appreciation for an act that’s fundamental to life, but that humans have taken for granted. In short, this one will have you setting your pedometer for 10,000 steps. 
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