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Boston Globe

The Boston French Film Festival returns to the MFA with a focus on authenticity

From romantic comedies to thrillers, Irving says the films showing at the festival have an 'emotional realism' that makes them affecting to audiences. Get Starting Point A guide through the most important stories of the morning, delivered Monday through Friday. Enter Email Sign Up This is especially true in the festival's opening film, 'Three Friends (Trois Amies),' a romantic comedy for adults that Irving calls 'a real treat.' The film comes from award-winning writer-director Emmanuel Mouret and revolves around three middle-aged women and their complex (and sometimes unwittingly overlapping) love lives. Irving says the film is thoughtful in its examination of complicated modern love, while still remaining lighthearted and energetic. Advertisement A scene from "Three Friends" by Emmanuel Mouret. Courtesy of the Museum of Fine Arts In the film, Mouret tells the story of what Americans (somewhat dismissively) call a mid-life crisis. But what Irving appreciates about 'Three Friends' is the tone it uses to tackle the notion of reinventing yourself in your 40s. 'What's very French about this film is that it treats midlife-questioning as a serious philosophical quandary,' Irving says. 'These complex ideas are not something to gloss over or make fun of.' Advertisement One of Irving's favorite films in the festival, 'Holy Cow (Vingt Dieux),' is a refreshing and scrappy coming-of-age comedy. The film follows 18-year-old Totone (Clément Faveau), who unexpectedly finds himself juggling the responsibilities of managing his struggling family farm and caring for his 7-year-old sister after his father's untimely death. To secure his future, Totone enters a regional Comté cheesemaking contest. The film won the Youth Award at the Cannes Film Festival in 2024. 'Holy Cow' is set and filmed in Jura, a rural agricultural region in eastern France, where director Louise Courvoisier grew up. Courvoisier cast only non-professional actors from the region; she found Faveau working at a poultry farm and attending agricultural high school. 'Its really fun, but it's also eye-opening,' says Irving, who also pointed to the real-life feel of the characters and cinematography as particular strengths of the film. Irving also highlighted ' 'Souleymane's Story' won two awards at the Cannes Film Festival in 2024, including for Best Actor for Sangare's break-out role, and the Jury Prize. Advertisement Irving says the film aligns with a new trend in French cinema: realistic thrillers about ordinary people racing against time. 'The intensity is even higher because the stakes feel authentic,' she says. 'It feels like something that could happen to you.' Abou Sangare as Souleymane in "Souleymane's Story" by writer-director Boris Lojkine. Courtesy of the Museum of Fine Arts Thought-provoking subject matter seems to be the theme of this year's festival. 'We're starting to turn to movies to numb ourselves and turn off our brains,' Irving says. 'Which is good to indulge [in] sometimes.' But she wants the festival to be a break from ethos of film acting solely as an escape. 'You have to balance that with things that will actually nourish you,' Irving says. This year's featured films, she hopes, will do just that. THE BOSTON FRENCH FILM FESTIVAL July 25 through Aug. 24 at the Museum of Fine Arts. For more information, including screening times, visit