It is with great honour that Sabzian and Bozar welcome the incomparable French actress Isabelle Huppert to Brussels for the State of Cinema 2025. For eight years now, the international film journal Sabzian has invited a guest to write a State of Cinema and to choose a related film. In this manner, once a year, the art of cinema is held up to the light: an invitation to reflect on what cinema means, could mean, or should mean today.
Since her debut in the early 1970s, Isabelle Huppert has embarked on a unique, storied and prolific journey through the diverse territories of cinema. Her discerning choices embody the contours of a personal, meticulously considered chapter of film history, expressing a boundless fascination with the many faces of the art form. Following her breakthrough in Claude Goretta’s La dentellière (1977), she has consistently challenged herself as an actress, working with filmmakers such as Claude Chabrol, Jean-Luc Godard, Diane Kurys, Maurice Pialat, Michael Cimino, Michael Haneke, Paul Verhoeven, Mia Hansen-Løve, Hong Sangsoo, and many more. She has appeared in over 150 titles, continually expanding her sphere of activity from Franco-European arthouse films to the wider landscape of international cinema.
We’ll start the evening with Isabelle Huppert’s film choice, Fallen Leaves (2023), by Finnish filmmaker Aki Kaurismäki. Set in modern-day Helsinki, it follows Ansa and Holappa, two lonely souls in search of their first love, who meet by chance in a local karaoke bar. Their path to happiness, however, is fraught with obstacles – from lost phone numbers and mistaken addresses to alcoholism and even a charming stray dog.
The screening will be followed by a conversation between Isabelle Huppert and film critic Jean-Michel Frodon. The two previously had an exchange that resulted in a text – the State of Cinema 2025 – which will later be published on the website of Sabzian. With this text as their point of departure, they will continue their dialogue at Bozar.
Tickets are available on the website of Bozar.
Image: Isabelle Huppert as Michèle in Elle (Paul Verhoeven, 2016). © 2016 SBS Productions, Twenty Twenty Vision Filmproduktion, France 2 Cinéma & Entre Chien et Loup
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