Trailerama: White Material

It’s back to Africa for Claire Denis (Chocolat), this time in the company of Isabelle Huppet and–wait for it–Lord Greystoke himself, Christoph Lambert. Huppert is the coffee grower who finds herself in the middle of a civil war and hence a lot of colonial baggage. The trailer seems to up the adventure quotient, but close ups of coffee beans and the mesmerizing guitar soundtrack suggest that this is yet another indulgence in the sensory richness of Denisland. What better guide than that radiant thesping force of nature, Huppert? This is the French director’s first film with tyro screenwriter Marie N’Diaye.

Trailerama: 35 Rhums (35 Shots of Rum)

Claire Denis’s rootless cinema alights on a Parisian train driver and his family. Her films are immersive experiences that trailers don’t do justice. What we see is an interracial city ignored by most of the French national cinema and a use of gesture that transcends language. And is that the Commodores’ “Night Shift”? This could be something very special.