British label Curzon Artificial Eye will add three new titles to its Blu-ray catalog: Adele Haenel's The Unknown Girl, Alexander Sokurov's Francofonia, and Alejandro Jodorowsky's Endless Poetry.
Renowned Belgian directors Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne (Two Days, One Night) continue their empathetic examinations of the compromises faced by everyday people in their psychologically complex new drama The Unknown Girl.
Rising French actor Adèle Haenel (Water Lilies, Les Combattants) stars as Jenny Davin, a talented doctor who refuses to open the door of her practice to a mysterious late-night caller. The next morning, she learns that the caller was a girl who has been found dead, and that the police have no way of identifying her. Shocked and guilt-stricken by the news, Jenny resolves to discover the name of the young girl so that she will not be buried anonymously - to ensure she doesn't disappear as if she had never lived.
Playing intelligently with the traits of traditional detective dramas, The Unknown Girl is another characteristically engaging social commentary from the two-time Palme d'Or winning Dardenne brothers - and a morally astute and compelling investigation of personal responsibility, justice and compassion.
Following his mesmerising exploration of the Hermitage Museum in Russian Ark, visionary director Alexander Sokurov turns his attentions to the turbulent history of the Louvre in his poetic, complex and captivating new film Francofonia.
Focusing particularly on the museum's occupation by Nazi forces following the summer of 1940, Francofonia tells the story of two remarkable men: Louvre director Jacques Jaujard and Nazi officer Franz Wolff-Metternich. First enemies then collaborators, their alliance was the driving force behind the preservation of the museum's treasures in the face of untold destruction throughout the rest of the world.
Exploring the relationship between art and power, Francofonia blurs the lines of fiction, documentary, memoir and video essay. Punctuated by Sokurov's own thoughtful musings and philosophies, it is a timely and poignant film, posing questions about the ownership and value of art during conflict while addressing notions of what it means to be European in times of division and conflict.
In Santiago de Chile, during the thrilling years of the 40s and the 50s, 20-year-old "Alejandrito" Jodorowsky decides to become a poet against the will of his family. He is introduced in the inner circle of the artistic and intellectual avant-garde of the time and meets Enrique Lihn, Stella Diaz, Nicanor Parra and many other promising but anonymous young writers who will become the masters of Latin America's modern literature. Totally immersed in this world of poetic experimentation, they live together as few have dared to live before: sensually, authentically, freely, madly.