Animated feature “In Waves,” directed by Phuong Mai Nguyen, opens the American French Film Festival Nov. 3 as the fest celebrates its 30th anniversary.“In Waves” made its debut at the Cannes Film Festival earlier this year, where it was the first animated feature to kick off Critics’ Week. Adapted from AJ Dungo’s graphic novel, the feature is a love story between a shy teenage boy and the girl who teaches him how to surf and how to live, before she succumbs to cancer. The English-language voice cast includes Will Sharpe and Stephanie Hsu.
The opening night screening is presented in association with Netflix. The festival runs Nov. 3-8 at the DGA complex in West Hollywood. That intimate, autobiographical work found its second life across the Atlantic, where French-Vietnamese director Phuong Mai Nguyen and Silex Films optioned it, assembled a French production and spent years translating Dungo’s linework into a fully animated feature.
Netflix has now brought the finished film back to American audiences as the U.S. distributor, closing a circle that began on a California beach and passed through French animation studios before returning home. It is precisely this kind of journey — an American story reimagined through French artistry and craft, then returned to its origins — that sits at the heart of what TAFFF exists to celebrate,” says Cécile Rap-Veber, president of the Franco-American Cultural Fund (originator of TAFFF) and CEO of French org SACEM. The film has an organic tie to the festival.
In 2024, TAFFF and the Writers Guild of America West presented the workshop “Bringing Graphic Worlds to Life,” in which Dungo and “In Waves” producer Priscilla Bertin explored the journey from page to screen. But the festival also recognizes the artistry of the small screen. The 12 TV series competing for the TAFFF Audience Award and Jury Award have been announced, and they are: “Alice: Pioneer of Cinema,” directed by Virginie Verrier and Guillaume Lonergan and written by Tim Loane, Claire LeMaréchal and André Gulluni.
The series stars Bérénice Bejo and explores the life of artist and entrepreneur Alice Guy. Starring Catherine Frot, Claudia Tagbo, Ornella Fleury, Gérémy Crédeville and Marc Riso, the series follows the story of six teenagers as they navigate a new school year at the Hive, which specializes in eating disorders. Series centers on Laura, a small-town pharmacist and mother who runs a support group for abuse victims.
When authorities and the judicial system fail to protect the women and a group member is murdered, Laura takes matters into her own hands. A comedy starring Audrey Lamy as the director of a French prison who mothers her blundering team of guards and inmates. Natacha Krief and Édouard Sulpice star as two very different people with nothing in common except that they’ve both experienced a rough day, followed by a night together that was as joyful as it was boozy.
Extract — continue reading at the source.
