Zinedine Soualem Movies

In this political drama, Hannah Kaufman, a Jewish-American attorney, must defend Selim Bakri, a young Palestinian suing Israel for the right to live on his Left Bank ancestral land. The government's lawyer, a cocky Israeli attorney, is Hannah's lover and the father of her unborn child. Conflict ensues when Hannah and Selim also become lovers. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

When the Cat's Away is a gentle French comedy that explores the problems and anxieties of contemporary urbanites. When Chloe (Garance Clavel), a young Parisian, decides to take a long-overdue vacation, she has to find someone to look after Gris-Gris, her beloved cat. Everyone, including her gay male roommate, refuses to help her, but she finally makes an arrangement with the elderly Madame Renée (Renée Le Calm), who often watches over other peoples' cats and dogs. However, when Chloe comes back, Madame Renée tells her that unfortunately the cat has been lost, and the unlucky owner goes on a search for her dear animal friend. While looking for the cat, she meets many colorful characters who populate the neighborhood. ~ Yuri German, All Movie Guide

In this black comedy from France, a family gathers in a tavern, ostensibly to celebrate a birthday, but poking each other's sore spots turns out to be the main order of business. Henri (Jean-Pierre Bacri) runs a saloon that he inherited from his father called "The Sleepy Dad," and in the near-empty bar, he plays host to several members of the family as they mark the 35th birthday of his sister-in-law, Yolande (Catherine Frot). Henri's sister, Betty (Agnès Jaoui), is 30, single, and not very happy about it; his brother (and Yolande's husband), Phillipe (Vladimir Yordanoff), runs a growing software company; Mother (Claire Maurier) is the siblings' strong-willed matriarch; and Henri's dog is on hand, whom someone describes as "like a rug, but alive." It's not been a good day for most of them: Phillipe is convinced that his business will go out the window as a result of the ugly tie that he wore on television; Betty is depressed about the sad state of her current relationship; Henri has just learned that his wife is leaving him; and Mother is tossing caustic barbs at everyone left and right. Henri's bartender Denis (Jean-Pierre Darroussin) is the one neutral party on hand, and he provides the voice of reason in the midst of the bickering. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

In this French fantasy-comedy, a magical moonbeam turns a dog into a man's best friend. Annabelle (Caroline Cellier) is a reporter who is sent on an overseas assignment and doesn't think it would be such a great idea to bring Didier, her Golden Retriever, along, so she leaves the pooch in the care of her friend Costa (Jean-Pierre Bacri). Costa is less than excited about being handed dogsitting duties, since he has enough on his mind as it is; he's the coach of a soccer team that has been playing poorly since their star player was sidelined with an injury, and his girlfriend has just given him his walking papers. But one evening a moonbeam glides over Didier, and suddenly the dog is magically transformed into a man (played by Alain Chabat), as luck would have it for Costa, a man who happens to be a really great soccer player. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

His estranged wife is worth millions, but poor Paris resident Richard is homeless and jobless. He applied for unemployment benefits and now faces charges of fraud. To save himself from nine months in jail he must find his wife and force her to tell the courts the truth, that though she has married a politically-ambitious American governor and is filing U.S. tax returns, she is technically still married to Richard. But as she lives in America, how can he get to her? Opportunity knocks when Richard learns that she and her husband will be attending an international conference at an exclusive Paris hotel. To get in he will need a disguise. Meanwhile, at the hotel, the concierge and the director are panic stricken by the prospect of a surprise visit by an unknown auditor who is coming to check out allegations of a hotel-run prostitution ring. They immediately banish all their call girls from the premises, but one refuses to leave without a fight. She too is eventually ejected, and while in the middle of the street she has a charming encounter with Richard, who is disguised as a bum. When the seeming vagrant ambles into the hotel, the managers immediately mistake him for the auditor and instead of booting him out, the hoteliers roll out the red carpet and treat Richard like a king. While he continues his endeavors to see his wife, several other subplots add to the confusion, including one in which a naive couple from the country tries to reach the American governor in hopes of hashing out an international business deal. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

James Huth co-scripted and made his directorial debut with this French comedy offering inventive and appealing aspects not unlike the memorable innovations that distinguished Delicatessen (1990). Crime fiction editor Claire (Michele Laroque of Ma Vie en Rose) lives in a jazzy, glass-bricked duplex apartment and works for a publisher who displays vintage pulp art on the company's line of thrillers. Attending her dinner party, on the eve of her 35th birthday, are jack-a-dandy Sacha (Antoine Basler), proper physician Charles (Michel Vuillermoz), and cool Hakim (Zinedine Soualem). When Claire surprises the assembled group by announcing that she intends to choose a husband from the trio, the men resent the idea, putting Claire in an edgy frame of mind. The fourth dinner guest, Ruitchi (Gilles Privat), isn't attracted to women, so he's the odd man out. Straight-arrow Cop Cellier (Albert Dupontel), keeps returning to the door while searching for two burglars in the neighborhood. Claire is in the kitchen cooking duck with blood sauce when an accident results in one less potential husband. As the evening wears on, a process of elimination does away with others on her list. The unpredictable story takes place almost totally in the stylish decor of Claire's apartment. ~ Bhob Stewart, All Movie Guide

Micheline, who is pregnant, lives in a home for women from which she tries to observe the world with calm and serenity. Among other women of the home who are also pregnant the frequently asked question is whether they will keep their baby or not. In her first film, director Marie Vermillard succeeds in dealing with a melodramatic subject with a balanced, almost impressionistic point of view. The actors (professional as well-as non-professional) are remarkable, particularly Alexia Monduit who plays Micheline. ~ Gönül Dönmez-Colin, All Movie Guide

Antoine Desrosieres directs this black comedy road flick about a coke-addled, misogynist stockbroker and an abandoned pregnant woman thrown together by fate. ~ Jonathan Crow, All Movie Guide

Two people with little in common enter into a brief, impulsive love affair in this comedy-drama. Pierre (Jacques Gamblin) is the leader of an improvisational comedy team known as The Unpredictables, who specialize in blending unnoticed into social functions and large gatherings, then making comic mayhem out of their surroundings. Pierre and his partners Karim (Zinedine Soualem) and Alice (Isabelle Candelier) have been hired to provide entertainment at a conference for employees of a large pharmaceutical firm, where they'll pose as waiters and create humor out of improbable dining suggestions. One guest who is quite taken with their performance is Claire (Sandrine Bonnaire), who finds herself attracted to Pierre, even though she's been happily married for eight years and has two children at home. The morning after the conference, Claire discovers she's missed her train, and bumps into The Unpredictables; Pierre helpfully offers her a ride in their van, and Claire accepts. On a whim, Claire tags along for the troupe's next gig, a performance at a wedding reception, and the more time she spends with Pierre, the more she finds herself thinking about leaving her old life behind, if only for a while. Mademoiselle was the third feature from writer and director Philippe Lioret, one of the few movie soundmen who has graduated to directing feature films. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

Based on the original '60s French comic books by René Goscinny, Astérix & Obélix: Mission Cléopâtre is the big-budget sequel to the 1999 box-office hit Astérix and Obélix vs. Caesar. Empress Cleopatra (Monica Bellucci) makes a wager with Julius Caesar (played by writer/director Alain Chabat) that her people can build a beautiful palace in three months. She chooses architect Numerobis (Jamel Debbouze) for the project, which must be completed in time or he will be fed to the crocodiles. Numerobis travels to Gaul to get help from the superpowered Panoramix (Claude Rich) and the warriors Astérix (Christian Clavier) and Obélix (Gérard Depardieu), along with their faithful pet Dogmatix. They use their magic potion to make the Egyptian slave-labor population into superheroes, thereby building the palace in no time. Meanwhile, the angry architect Amonbofis (Gérard Darmon) and Julius Caesar don't want to see them succeed. At the time of its release, Astérix & Obélix: Mission Cléopâtre was the most expensive French film ever made, with a budget of $50 million. ~ Andrea LeVasseur, All Movie Guide

French filmmakers Gérard Bitton and Michel Munz write and direct the comedy Ah! Si j'etais Riche (If I Were a Rich Man). Salesman Aldo (Jean-Pierre Darroussin) is getting divorced from his wife Alice (Valeria Bruni Tedeschi). When he unexpectedly wins ten million euros in the lottery, he has to maintain the secret until the divorce is final. Though entitled to take half of his earnings, she's momentarily distracted by an affair with his boss, Gérard (Richard Berry). Co-writer/director Michel Munz also provides the original music. ~ Andrea LeVasseur, All Movie Guide