JIM’S STORY
(Le Roman de Jim)
CINEMA COMPETITION
RENOIR THEATRE
Drama
FRIDAY NOVEMBER 1
8:05 pm (Screening ends at 10:20 pm)
Followed by a conversation with writer/director Jean-Marie Larrieu, editor Annette Dutertre and actor Karim Leklou
Presented in association with:
PYRAMIDE INTERNATIONAL
ELMA
LAFCA
VARIETY
North American Premiere | France | 2024 | Drama | 101 min | In French with English subtitles
Directed by: Arnaud Larrieu, Jean-Marie Larrieu
Written by: Arnaud Larrieu, Jean-Marie Larrieu
Based on the Book by: Pierric Bailly
Produced by: Kevin Chneiweiss (SBS Productions), Arte France Cinéma
Cinematography: Irina Lubtchansky
Film Editing: Annette Dutertre
Original Score: Bertrand Belin, Shane Copin
Cast: Karim Leklou (Aymeric Bailly), Laetitia Dosch (Florence Pelletier), Sara Giraudeau, (Olivia), Bertrand Belin (Christophe), Noée Abita (Aurélie), Andranic Manet (Jim, 23-year-old), Eol Personne (Jim, 7 and 10-year-old), Suzanne de Baecque (Léa)
International Sales: Pyramide International
More an observer than a partaker of life, affable Aymeric looks at the world through the lens of his hand-me-down Canon camera. After bumbling through his youth and a brief stint behind bars, Aymeric runs into Florence, a former supermarket coworker who happens to be six months pregnant. He blithely stumbles into a love affair with her and is at her side when baby Jim enters the world. As they raise the boy together over the next seven years, Jim is the center of Aymeric’s life… until the boy’s biological father suddenly reappears. Peppered with stunning negative photographic images, this powerful film from the Larrieu brothers is as emotionally understated as it is visually lush. Graced with masterfully-crafted performances from the entire cast, it is a searing look at the very nature of fatherhood, as it tracks 27 years in the life of an earnest, kind-hearted man and the pivotal relationship that shapes his journey.
Born in Lourdes just one year apart, Arnaud and Jean-Marie Larrieu – a.k.a. the Larrieu brothers – began making short films as a team in 1987, when they were in their early twenties. They’ve gone on to co-write and co-direct eleven feature films to date, beginning with Summer’s End (1999) and Roland’s Pass (2000). A Real Man (2003) won a Holden Award for Best Script – Special Mention at the Torino Film Festival. To Paint or Make Love (2005) premiered in competition in Cannes. That was followed by the documentary Les Fenêtres sont ouvertes (2005); Le Voyage aux Pyrénées (2008); Happy End (2009), which won the Carnet Jove Jury Award and the José Luis Guarner Critics’ Award at the Catalonia International Film Festival; Love is the Perfect Crime (2013); 21 Nights with Pattie (2015), which won the Best Screenplay Award at the San Sebastian Film Festival; and Tralala (2021). Jim’s Story had its world premiere, out of competition, at this year’s Cannes Film Festival, and went on to win the Grand Prize at the Brussels International Film Festival in July.
