Lost In Frenchlation

A period film with all the juicy modern Paris architecture gossip! In this episode of Lost in Frenchlation, hosts ARBL Murray (Alex Brook Lynn) and Manon Kerjean are excited to delve into the film L'Inconnu de la Grande Arche or The Great Arche with director, Stéphane Demoustier.
The film takes place in the 1980s and is based on the true story about the building of The Great Arch at La Défense in Paris. It was to be a great achievement among The Grands Projects of socialist President Francois Mitterrand, It was to become a part of the great views of Paris and to add to the sight line from the Arc de Triomphe. A Danish Architect, named Johan Otto von Spreckelson won a design competition and was awarded the project. His insistence on perfection and his clear vision butted up against the compromises needed in French bureaucracy, and of course in the mid eighties the realities of private interest eroding the sanctity of public projects. Under the weight of circumstance one man goes mad with his ambitions for lasting art and architecture.
The film is based on the 2016 novel Le Grande Arche by Lawrence Cossé.
Please consider donating to World Radio Paris so we can continue to make these radio shows and podcasts https://worldradioparis.org/donate/
For more information on Lost in Frenchlation, visit https://lostinfrenchlation.com

In this episode of Lost in Frenchlation, hosts ARBL Murray (Alex Brook Lynn) and Manon Kerjean sit down with filmmaker Vladimir Rodionov at the Luminor Theater during a special Valentine’s Day screening of his romantic comedy Anges & Cie (Angels & Company / Angels Inc.).
Set in a world where everyone has a personal angel, the film treats love like a workplace: angels are assigned “clients,” they follow you through every awkward, intimate moment, and they try (sometimes badly) to steer your life from above. At the center are two almost-lovers who keep colliding and missing each other, while their angels clash like rivals in a buddy comedy. But what happens when a few angels go off-script and decide to let love get messy on its own?
Vladimir breaks down the long road of making a first feature (nearly a decade from idea to release), why he’s obsessed with “high concept” premises you can sum up in one sentence (“what if angels were real?”), and how he built a world where angels operate like a bureaucratic company: hovering behind you, influencing choices, and sometimes giving truly terrible advice.
The conversation goes deeper than the rom-com label: intuition vs. destiny, “signs” that kept him going while the film was hard to finance/cast, whether a darker sequel could exist, and how love can be a surprise that pulls you outside your bubble. They also talk about modern romance in the age of apps (love as an “algorithm” vs. chaos), how movies shape the way we understand love, and what French cinema offers beyond couple-dom: friendship, empathy, and stories for anyone spending Valentine’s Day solo.

Please consider donating to World Radio Paris so we can continue to make these radio shows and podcasts https://worldradioparis.org/donate/
For more information on Lost in Frenchlation, visit https://lostinfrenchlation.com

Welcome to Lost in Frenchlation a show about contemporary French cinema with a smattering of history. Today we are at the Cinéma du Panthéon in the 5th arrondissement of Paris with Arnaud Desplechin talking about his film Deux Pianos as it screens. The film stars Charlotte Rampling, Nadia Tareskavich, and Francois Civil.
Deux Pianos is about a piano prodigy, Mathias, who has been away for a long time, he returns to Lyon to play music with his mentor Elena (Charlotte Rampling). He runs into the love of his life Claude, he hasn’t seen her for many years. She has a young child and is married to Pierre. When Pierre suddenly dies questions about who the son’s father really is comes up, Mathias wonders if he will stay and try to make a family with the young widow or continue on his path toward musical brilliance and a solitary life.
This is the second time we have had Arnaud on our show and as always we are able to delve into the mechanics of making films and crafting art and story. Arnaud shares with us his childhood experiences with the young widows in his family, how he feels about motherhood, and his writing process with partner Kamen Velkovsy.
I’m Alex Brook Lynn (Also Known as ARBL Murray) with Manon Kerjean talking with our only recurring and favorite guest Arnaud Desplechin.

Please consider donating to World Radio Paris so we can continue to make these radio shows and podcasts https://worldradioparis.org/donate/
For more information on Lost in Frenchlation https://lostinfrenchlation.com

Today on Lost in Frenchlation we talk to the renowned director Diane Kurys about her most recent film Moi qui t’aimais (Me who loved you.) Diane has had a truly incredible career. In this episode she shares with us the story of her parents falling in love as Jews in Europe during the holocaust, how that influenced her films about the nuances of love and commitment, and of course we talk about what it was like to write and direct a film about the complicated marriage of two French Entertainment Icons, Simone Signoret and Yves Montand.
Moi qui t’aimais is the story of a famous love affair between French entertainment royalty: Simone Signoret and Yves Montand. They had a wild and deep, but also fraught love. They were married from the 50s until her death in 1981. During that time they became one of the most influential couples in France.
Find out more about the cinema club Lost In Frenchlation on https://lostinfrenchlation.com/
You can listen to the full episode on Apple Podcasts and Spotify
Donate to World Radio Paris Here: https://worldradioparis.org/donate/

On November 13th, at L’Arlequin cinema, Manon Kerjean screened Revoir Paris for the 10th anniversary of the Paris terrorist attacks. Revoir Paris is set during the attacks of 2015.
During the screening, Manon and ARBL Murray (Alex Brook Lynn) were able to interview the filmmaker who captured that fateful day so remarkably, Alice Winocour. Alice talked to us about the impetus to make the film, using sound design to help the audience feel the memory fragmentation and trauma of the characters.
Alice also talks about how she immerses herself in a subject entirely while making a film and what it means to have represented this story, the story of so many victims, and of Paris itself.
Find out more about the cinema club Lost In Frenchlation on https://lostinfrenchlation.com/
You can listen to the full episode on Apple Podcasts and Spotify
Donate to World Radio Paris Here: https://worldradioparis.org/donate/