
THE BLACK PHARAOH, THE SAVAGE AND THE PRINCESS
Other movies

THE LEGEND OF THE VAGABOND QUEEN OF LAGOS
Director: James Tayler
The Agbajowo Collective bring a lively mix of legend and community struggle to a fable grounded in Nigeria’s real-life mass evictions. In 2017, the state government and corrupt police colluded to burn out and bulldoze the waterside shanty town of Otodo-Gbame, leaving thousands homeless. Those who resisted were beaten, jailed or worse. In the fictionalised version - called Agbojedo - young mother Jawu, living in the floating slums on the lagoon that gives Lagos its name, is compelled by the spirit of the great warrior king Egbaezen to stand firm against these forced evictions, unifying her poor but loyal community behind her in an epic multi-genre adventure containing a stash of extorted money and a magical African Grey parrot.

LUMIÈRE, LE CINÉMA
Director: Thierry Frémaux
A contemporary film collating works shot by Louis and Auguste Lumiere from the earliest years of cinema, superbly preserved and restored by the Lumiere Institute in Lyon. Cannes Film Festival director Thierry Frémaux provides an informative commentary as toddlers squabble, a magician performs a trick and a train pulls into a station; the score is by Gabriel Faure, a composer favoured by the Lumiere brothers themselves. More than a hundred short films of 50 seconds each, provide a window both into ordinary life around the turn of the 19th century – not only in France but in places as far-flung as Japan and Algeria - and the wonder felt at the Lumieres’ astonishing invention, the cinematograph, a miracle whose magic continues.

MY WAY
Director: Thierry Teston
Many people are unaware that the iconic song My Way, most famously recorded by Frank Sinatra but covered by everyone from Pavarotti to Sid Vicious and Robbie Williams, was based on the melody of a French tune. In 1967, composer Jacques Revaux and singer Claude Francois wrote Comme D'habitute while sitting by Francois’ swimming pool. Not long after that, it made its way to the United States, where Paul Anka wrote the words that Frank Sinatra would make famous; since then, it has crossed eras, borders and generations. In commemoration of 50 years of My Way, the directors assemble archival footage, interview musicians and unearth new anecdotes to piece together the tune's history, with the song personified by Jane Fonda's narration.