Clément Sibony
- 2006
An adolescent girl constantly alternating between the curious world of a child and the sophisticated realm of womanhood explores Paris and experiences the poignant pangs of growing up in director Charles Belmont's and seventeen-year old screenwriter/star Salome Blechmans' screen adaptation of Blechman's own book Le journal de bèbè. Bethsabèe Pasolini (Blechman) is a student at Claude Monet lycèe in Paris. Nicknamed Bèbè by her friends, the burgeoning young woman isn't quite prepared to take flight on her own, but can't help but feeling that she is about to move on to bigger things. Now, in between fleeting moments of flirtation with the opposite sex, treasured time spent with her family, and playful moments with close friends, the inquisitive girl with a vivid imagination finally begins to shed her first skin. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Salomé Blechmans, Clément Sibony, (more)
- 2006
A would-be nun pays a visit to an outside world that's full of surprises in this comedy-drama from France. Avril (Sophie Quinton) never knew her parents; rather than keep her, her folks left her on the doorstep of a convent, where she was raised by the nuns, led by Sister Bernadette (Miou-Miou). Avril has long intended to join the only family she's ever known at the convent, but Sister Bernadette gently but firmly suggests she should take the opportunity to see the larger world before she turns her life over to the Lord. The suggestion has been nagging at Avril for some time, and when she and her fellow novices are supposed to spend a weekend in silent meditation at the chapel, she takes the opportunity to sneak away for a few days. Avril's attempts to learn something about her parents has led her to discover she has a twin brother, and she decides it's time she met him. Avril hitches a ride to visit her brother David (Clement Sibony), catching a lift with Pierre (Nicolas Duvauchelle)} and arriving in time to discover he's about to leave for a weekend getaway. David invites Avril along, but to her surprise, he also brings along Jim (Richaud Valls), his significant other; Pierre ends up tagging along, and as Avril gets to know her brother and his boyfriend, she also notices that Pierre seems to have taken a keen interest in her. Avril was the first feature film from writer and director Gerald Hustache-Mathieu. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Sophie Quinton, Miou-Miou, (more)
- 2005
A would-be independent filmmaker moves from Super-8 to 35 mm overnight in this comedy from France. Goran (Clément Sibony) is an auto mechanic who has been given the nickname Kubrick by his pals because of his great love for movies and his desire to someday become a professional filmmaker. Karim (Micky El Mazroui) and Toxic (Dan Herzberg) are Kubrick's two best friends, willing to do anything to back him up. When Karim has a hot date one night and no place to take his girl, Toxic lets him use his apartment and ends up sleeping in a public park. The next morning, Toxic discovers a film crew has set up for a location shoot in the park, and a member of the crew, mistaking him for a driver, hands Toxic the keys to a truck full of camera equipment, sound gear, and costumes and tells him to park it somewhere else. Seizing a golden opportunity, Toxic turns the truck over to Kubrick, who with the tools at his disposal begins plotting his dream project -- a full-dress screen version of Romeo and Juliet, starring neighborhood beauty Soraya (Karina Testa) and local wise guy Billou (Lorant Deutsch) as the doomed lovers. Ze Film was written and directed Guy Jacques, who shot the film on-location in the neighborhood where he grew up. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Clément Sibony, Dan Herzberg, (more)
- 2003
French experimental-short filmmaker Pierre Vinour makes his feature-length debut with the low-budget mood piece Supernova (Experiment #1). Politician Simon Peyrelevade (Philippe Nahon) contemplates suicide as he is hit by some unearthly matter. Instead of heading home to Paris, he goes out to his family farm in the countryside. He's visited by a curious doctor (Catherine Wilkening) and his estranged son Julien (Clément Sibony). Supernova was filmed with both Super 8 mm film stock and digital video. ~ Andrea LeVasseur, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Philippe Nahon, Catherine Wilkening, (more)
- 2002
- PG13
- AddHe Loves Me ... He Loves Me Notto QueueAddHe Loves Me ... He Loves Me Notto top of Queue
He Loves Me ... He Loves Me Not is a black comedy with a dramatic twist. Talented art student Angélique (Audrey Tautou) is wildly in love with Loïc (Samuel Le Bihan of Brotherhood of the Wolf), a married cardiologist whose wife, Rachel (Isabelle Carré) is expecting their first child. She sends him mash notes and gifts, and tells her friend, Héloïse (Sophie Guillemin of With a Friend Like Harry...) that, despite appearances, Loïc plans to leave his wife. Angélique also ignores the attentions of her lovesick friend, David (Clément Sibony), who begins to resent the way Loïc treats Angélique. As Angélique grows less discreet in her affections, Loïc's home life begins to fall apart. His wife grows suspicious, and then miscarries. His career is jeopardized when a patient accuses him of assault. All the while, Angélique is desperate to be by his side. About 40 minutes in, writer/director Laetitia Colombani's film reverses perspective, showing the preceding events from Loïc's (very different) point-of-view. ~ Josh Ralske, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Audrey Tautou, Samuel Le Bihan, (more)
What do three hitmen, a lost foreskin, and the pope have to do with each other? This wacky French comedy answers this question and many more. Set during the 1997 papal visit to Paris, 23-year old father Jonas (Clemont Sibony) is given his son's foreskin in a wad of tissues after the bris and solemnly told to bury it in three days without fail. Three days later, Jonas suddenly remembers his sacred duties while playing keyboards at a bar mitzvah and tries to leave. Unfortunately, the bar mitzvah boy's father comes to believe that Jonas has been flirting with his drunk and buxom wife Sophie (Emmanuelle Devos) and orders him murdered by three of his crack hitmen. Later, when Jonas tries to comfort Nina (Rona Hartner), a Romanian hell-bent on seeing the pope, he unwittingly gives her the exact wad of tissues that contain the foreskin. Tracking down Nina and finding a suitable place to bury the foreskin in the urban scrawl of Paris proves to be no easy task. ~ Jonathan Crow, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Clément Sibony, Rona Hartner, (more)
In this French horror film, which many critics compared to both Scream and The Blair Witch Project, a group of young actors have been hired to stage a production of Little Red Riding Hood at a mansion far away from the city. When they arrive, the players learn that they're all alone at the estate except for the wealthy owner of the house, his young son, and a servant. They are also visited by police, who warn them that a violent criminal is on the loose and may be hiding somewhere nearby. As the evening wears on, the actors are murdered one by one, and the survivors fight for their lives as they try to find out who the killer is and what he wants from them. Promenons-Nous Dans Les Bois, the first film from director Lionel Delplanque, stars Clotilde Courau, Clement Sibony, Vincent Lecoeur, Alexia Stresi, and Maud Buquet. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Clotilde Courau, Clément Sibony, (more)
Bernard Stora directs this coming-of-age drama about a single-minded soccer player sidetracked by love. Laurant (Jalil Lespert) lives in a crowded little abode with his mother, a pair of half-brothers, and an Arabic-speaking grandmother. Laurent's soccer-playing prowess has garnered the attention of scouts from a professional team in Nantes. Believing that sex only distracts an athlete's focus, he has never bothered much with girls until he meets Fabienne (Mireille Perrier), the sexy single mother of one of his mates. Soon, a May-December relationship blooms between the two. ~ Jonathan Crow, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Chantal Banlier, Yasmine Belmadi, (more)
- 1998
With echoes of Rebel Without a Cause, Boogie Nights and Less Than Zero, this French drama keeps pace with some fast-moving 20-year-olds, as seen from the point of view of ambitious Laure (Zoe Felix). She narrates as the film flashes back to a period spanning April 20 to July 14. Go-Karter Andrea (Clement Sibony) learns that rich dudes David (Benoit Magimel) and Romain (Romain Duris) are launching a Nice photo agency, so he approaches Laure, a topless model interested in "moving up" in the world of porn. Andrea and Laure move into David's enormous family mansion, a hedonistic heaven replete with drugs, swimming pool, sports cars, and much promise. Soon Laure gets an intro to international porn kingpin Mallo (Carlo Brandt) who demands a hardcore audition. As the drugs and guns pile up, it's not long before the steamy becomes seamy. Source music includes Nina Simone's "Take Care of Business." ~ Bhob Stewart, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Romain Duris, Benoît Magimel, (more)
In this comedy, layers and layers of personal lies provide the glue that holds a trendy, shallow group of Parisians together. The story centers on Ada, a deeply indebted, but promising young fashion designer who has just purchased an apartment with her lover and holds a housewarming party to celebrate. The bulk of the story unfolds episodically as assorted neurotic characters come to call and begin to intermingle. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Helena Bonham Carter, Romane Bohringer, (more)
