INSIDE THE ARTHOUSE: THE STRANGER

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Albert Camus’ The Stranger remains one of the most enduring works of modern literature. Consistently ranked among the greatest novels of the 20th century, it has been translated into more than 75 languages and continues to resonate with readers from the Beat Generation to Gen Z.

Now, acclaimed French filmmaker François Ozon takes on the formidable task of adapting this iconic novel—and succeeds with striking clarity and control.

Shot in evocative black and white, Ozon’s adaptation remains faithful to the novel’s signature emotional detachment while thoughtfully expanding its perspective, particularly around themes of colonialism and racial injustice that Camus left largely unexamined.

Benjamin Voisin delivers a compelling, restrained performance as Meursault, embodying the character’s emotional distance with precision. Rebecca Marder brings warmth and humanity to Marie, providing a subtle but essential counterpoint.

Nearly 30 years after his debut feature SEE THE SEA first screened in U.S. arthouses, Ozon remains one of international cinema’s most provocative and versatile voices. With THE STRANGER, he has crafted a film that feels both faithful to its source and urgently relevant—well worth the price of admission.

We’re honored to welcome François Ozon to discuss his new film THE STRANGER, on INSIDE THE ARTHOUSE, starting now.

INSIDE THE ARTHOUSE: FANTASY LIFE

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Mental illness.

Movies tend to handle it one of two ways — it’s either a major problem, leading to crisis and drama. Or it’s somehow something funny, leading to laughter and comedy.

Rarely anything in between.

But in his debut feature FANTASY LIFE, writer-director Matthew Shear finds a different path. With honesty and nuance drawn from personal experience, Shear explores how dealing with anxiety, depression, and other chapters of the DSM is something that can challenge us even as we cope with the complications these issues bring to our lives.

Shear not only wrote the screenplay, but took on the responsibility of directing both himself and the cast to bring the film to completion. And what a cast! Judd Hirsch, Holland Taylor, Bob Balaban, and Andrea Martin bring warmth and depth to their supporting roles, while Alessandro Nivola and Amanda Peet — whom reviewers are calling radiant, giving the performance of a lifetime — complete the central triangle with Shear himself.

IndieWire calls FANTASY LIFE “sharp, witty, wise, and funny.” The film opened to rave reviews and strong audience response in New York, and opens nationwide on April 3rd.

We sat down with filmmaker Matthew Shear ahead of that rollout — and we’re happy to share that conversation with you, on INSIDE THE ARTHOUSE, starting now.

 

Inside the Arthouse: Miroirs No. 3

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We’re going out on a limb and saying it plainly: Christian Petzold is one of the finest and most consistently compelling filmmakers working in film today.

While his first five features never received U.S. theatrical release, he broke through to American arthouse audiences with BARBARA in 2012, introducing many to the extraordinary Nina Hoss.

He followed with PHOENIXand TRANSIT, before beginning a new creative collaboration with Paula Beer in UNDINE and AFIRE.

Now, Petzold and Beer reunite for the light and luminous MIROIRS NO. 3. Inspired by the Maurice Ravel piano suite, the film is an impressionistic meditation on one of Petzold’s central themes—recovery from trauma—told with a delightfully human touch that will leave audiences full of hope.

MIROIRS NO. 3opened March 20 in New York and Los Angeles, and will be rolling out to theatres in the weeks that follow.

We hope our conversation with director Christian Petzold inspires you to get out to see the film.

That conversation on INSIDE THE ARTHOUSE —starting now.

Inside the Arthouse: PALESTINE ’36

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Film and history.

It’s not always a comfortable pairing.

For decades, the story of Palestine in the years leading up to the creation of the State of Israel has been shaped as much by legend as by fact—through popular books like Leon Uris’s EXODUS and other works, that are, if not entirely inaccurate, certainly have presented a skewed perspective on the historical reality.

There’s a famous line near the end of John Ford’s THE MAN WHO SHOT LIBERTY VALANCE. 

“When the legend becomes fact, print the legend.”

It’s a memorable line—but it raises an uncomfortable question.

What happens when the facts challenge the legend?

In the new film PALESTINE ’36, filmmaker Annemarie Jacir provides a different take on that same place and period. The film arrives at a time when the world is re-examining what has heretofore been the accepted fact, and it provides some needed context on the era that has previously been missing in narrative cinema.

 

But beyond its role in addressing history, the film is also a stirring drama, with remarkable work being delivered both in front of and behind the camera. The film received a 20-minute standing ovation when it premiered at the 2025 Toronto Film Festival, and it was shortlisted for the Academy Award for Best International Feature.

  

PALESTINE ’36 will begin its North American release when it opens in New York City on March 20, expanding to L.A. on March 27, and beyond in the weeks that follow.

 

We had the good fortune to sit down in person with filmmaker Annemarie Jacir at the Royal Theatre so we could learn more about the film and the incredibly difficult journey it took to bring this story to the screen.

 

Our conversation with Annemarie Jacir on INSIDE THE ARTHOUSE… starting now

 

INSIDE THE ARTHOUSE: SHTTL

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According to Wikipedia, a shtetl is the Yiddish term for the small towns across Eastern Europe where many Ashkenazi Jewish communities lived before the Holocaust.

But for those of us born after the Shoah, the word carries something almost mystical. It evokes the floating villages of Marc Chagall’s paintings and the rich storytelling of Isaac Bashevis Singer—a world that feels both vivid and distant.

In his film SHTTL, director Ady Walter takes us back to one of those villages. But instead of presenting a nostalgic or quaint portrait of shtetl life, Walter reveals something far more complex: a vibrant community filled with debates over religion, politics, gender roles, economics, and identity.

In other words, a world that feels surprisingly familiar.

The film has clearly resonated with audiences. SHTTL recently became the longest-running film at New York’s New Plaza Cinema, playing continuously for more than 20 weeks.

To explore the film from multiple angles, we took a slightly different approach for this episode of INSIDE THE ARTHOUSE. Rather than a single conversation, we recorded three separate sessions with key members of the film’s creative team.

We first connected with director Ady Walter at his home in Paris, where he spoke about the challenges of recreating a lost world and bringing Yiddish culture and pre-war Jewish life to the screen.

We also spoke with Saul Rubinek, the celebrated actor and filmmaker who grew up speaking Yiddish in Montreal and brings a deeply personal connection to the material.

Finally, we sat down in person with Moshe Lobel, the film’s star. Lobel is also a Yiddish speaker, but with a particularly powerful relationship to the language and the cultural traditions depicted in the film.

There is a great deal happening beneath the surface of SHTTL, and it quickly became clear that hearing from all three voices—the director and two actors—would offer a richer understanding of the story the film tells.

We hope you enjoy this three-part conversation with filmmaker Ady Walter and actors Moshe Lobel and Saul Rubinek, on INSIDE THE ARTHOUSE.

 

INSIDE THE ARTHOUSE: CHARLIEBIRD

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Action.

It’s the word we most often associate with movies — big spectacle, big movement, big moments.

But some of the most powerful films move differently. Not through explosions or chase scenes, but through emotional tension. Through interior conflict. Through the quiet shifts that change a life.

CHARLIEBIRD is one of those films.

Winner of the Founders Award for Best U.S. Narrative Feature at the 2025 Tribeca Film Festival — and the recipient of the festival’s Best Performance award — CHARLIEBIRDannounces a striking new voice in American independent cinema.

In her feature directorial debut, Libby Ewing crafts an intimate, deeply human character drama from a screenplay by Samantha Smart, who also stars in the film. Set within a pediatric hospital ward, the story follows the evolving relationship between a music therapist and her teenage patient — two souls navigating grief, uncertainty, and the fragile work of healing.

That teenage patient, portrayed by newcomer Gabriela Ochoa Perez, delivers a breakout performance — raw, grounded, and unforgettable — earning her Tribeca’s top acting honor.

In this episode of INSIDE THE ARTHOUSE, we sit down with Libby Ewing to talk about bringing this quiet, powerful story from script to screen — and what it means for an intimate indie film to break through on one of cinema’s biggest festival stages.

Our conversation about CHARLIEBIRD starts now.

Inside the Arthouse: Rendez-Vous with French Cinema

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What’s happening in French cinema right now?

For more than three decades, Film at Lincoln Center’s Rendez-Vous With French Cinema has served as the premier U.S. launchpad for new French films — often signaling which titles will break into the American market. Now in its 31st edition, this year’s program brings 22 features to the Walter Reade Theater from March 5–15, with many filmmakers and cast members in attendance.

For distributors, programmers, and serious cinephiles, Rendez-Vous is more than a festival — it’s an early look at the next wave of French filmmaking and a bellwether for potential U.S. acquisitions.

To unpack this year’s lineup, we sat down with Florence Almozini, Vice President of Programming for Film at Lincoln Center. In our conversation, we discuss the state of film production in France, the curatorial lens behind this year’s selections, and which titles may be poised for broader U.S. distribution following their New York premieres.

If you love international cinema, this episode offers a rare behind-the-scenes look at how French films find their way to American audiences.

Listen now to our conversation with Florence Almozini about Rendez-Vous With French Cinema — on INSIDE THE ARTHOUSE, starting now.

INSIDE THE ARTHOUSE: MR. NOBODY AGAINST PUTIN

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Did you know that Henry David Thoreau once went to jail for refusing to pay taxes in protest of the Mexican-American War?

There’s a famous story—perhaps a myth—about Ralph Waldo Emerson visiting him in jail and asking, “Henry, why are you here?”

To which Thoreau replied, “Why aren’t you?”

Civil disobedience has always carried that same moral challenge. From Thoreau to Gandhi to Martin Luther King Jr., individuals have wrestled with what to do when their government engages in actions they believe are morally and ethically wrong.

Few, however, have confronted that dilemma with the humor, daring, and sheer audacity of Pavel “Pasha” Talankin—the unlikely hero at the center of the extraordinary documentary MR. NOBODY AGAINST PUTIN.

Winner of a Special Jury Award at the 2025 Sundance Film Festival and now nominated for the Academy Award® for Best Documentary Feature, the film tells the story of Pasha, a school videographer in a small Russian mining town who quietly opposes Russia’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine.

An open advocate for a more democratic Russia, Pasha does not support the war.

Yet his job suddenly requires him to film classroom lessons promoting state propaganda justifying the invasion.

He is on the verge of resigning.

Then, in a twist worthy of a John le Carré thriller, Pasha connects with Denmark-based filmmaker David Borenstein. Together, they devise a bold plan: use the very footage Pasha is required to submit to authorities as a window into the machinery of propaganda—revealing to the world what Putin’s government is doing from the inside.

The result is surreal. The tone shifts from humor to suspense to genuine danger in an instant. And it makes for one of the year’s most unforgettable films. Join us for our conversation with co-directors David Borenstein, Pavel Talankin, and Executive Producer Robin Hessman 

This episode is part of our Oscar Spotlight Series, featuring in-depth conversations with this year’s Academy Award–nominated Documentary Feature filmmakers. On INSIDE THE ARTHOUSE, starting now. 

INSIDE THE ARTHOUSE: COME SEE ME IN THE GOOD LIGHT

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“Dying is easy. Comedy is hard.”

That classic show business adage comes to mind when reflecting on the Oscar-nominated documentary COME SEE ME IN THE GOOD LIGHT.

Directed by Ryan White, the film follows celebrated poet Andrea Gibson after a cancer diagnosis reshapes their daily life. But this is far more than a story about illness. At its core, COME SEE ME IN THE GOOD LIGHT is a love story — centered on Gibson and their wife, poet Megan Falley — and on the way humor becomes an act of resilience.

Rather than turning away from the gravity of the situation, the couple meets it head-on with comedy, poetry, and profound partnership. The result is an intimate, deeply moving documentary that feels unexpectedly luminous. Given the circumstances it depicts, the film is remarkably light and life-affirming — a testament to the trust Ryan White and his small crew built as they embedded themselves in their subjects’ lives.

Since premiering at the 2025 Sundance Film Festival, COME SEE ME IN THE GOOD LIGHT has earned rave reviews and an outpouring of audience admiration. The film has now been honored with an Academy Award nomination for Best Documentary Feature.

This episode is part of our ongoing INSIDE THE ARTHOUSEOscar Spotlight series, featuring in-depth conversations with each of this year’s Oscar-nominated Documentary Feature filmmakers.

Join us for our conversation with director Ryan White about COME SEE ME IN THE GOOD LIGHT, on INSIDE THE ARTHOUSE — starting now.

INSIDE THE ARTHOUSE: THE PERFECT NEIGHBOR

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Oscar®-nominated director Geeta Gandbhir joins our Academy Award Documentary Spotlight to discuss THE PERFECT NEIGHBOR and the making of this year’s Best Documentary Feature nominee.

“Get off my lawn.”

It’s something many of us heard as kids after wandering onto a neighbor’s property. Back then, it rarely escalated beyond a shouted warning.

But in post-pandemic America, rising social isolation, fear of crime, expanding “stand your ground” laws, and easy access to firearms have created a far more volatile landscape — where minor conflicts can turn tragic.

In her Oscar-nominated documentary THE PERFECT NEIGHBOR, director Geeta Gandbhir examines one such devastating case.

Constructed almost entirely from police body camera footage, THE PERFECT NEIGHBOR unfolds with the tension of a thriller and the inevitability of a tragedy. What begins as a neighborhood dispute reveals deeper issues of race, fear, gun laws, and systemic failure — culminating in a loss that feels both shocking and heartbreakingly predictable.

Nominated for the Academy Award® for Best Documentary Feature, THE PERFECT NEIGHBOR is one of the most urgent and talked-about documentaries of the year.

On this episode of INSIDE THE ARTHOUSE, Geeta Gandbhir discusses the ethical responsibility of building a film from police body cam footage, the broader cultural climate that shaped this tragedy, the challenges of documentary filmmaking in an era of viral violence, and what she ultimately hopes audiences take away from the film.

This conversation is part of our ongoing series featuring all of this year’s Oscar-nominated documentary filmmakers.

Join us for our interview with Geeta Gandbhir about THE PERFECT NEIGHBOR, on INSIDE THE ARTHOUSE, starting now.