Showtimes
Sunday, August 10
3:00pm
Ticketing
$12 /Single Ticket
$45 /Series Pass
FACETS Members save 15%
Not a Member? Sign up today!
Did you know FACETS screened Cold Water (1994) more than two decades before its official U.S. release? Catch Olivier Assayas’ breakthrough drama in a new 2K restoration as part of our 50th Anniversary series: 5 Films/5 Decades/5 Critics.
Cold Water originated as part of Tous les garçons et les filles de leur âge (All the Boys and Girls of Their Time), a bold French television project that asked nine directors—including Claire Denis and André Téchiné—to craft stories of adolescence set during their own youth. Each film was required to include a party scene, feature era-specific rock music, and be shot on Super 16mm in under 24 days. Before its TV broadcast in 1994, Assayas expanded Cold Water into a feature-length version that screened at Cannes and in select French cinemas.
FACETS showcased Cold Water the same year as part of our Festival of New French Cinema, highlighting rising auteurs in contemporary French filmmaking. Due to music licensing issues—compounded by the bankruptcy of the film’s sales agent and its French producers—the film was unavailable in the U.S. for decades and didn’t see an official theatrical release until 2018. Its delayed recognition reaffirms FACETS’ commitment to international cinema, spotlighting visionary films long before they receive wider acclaim.
Join our Film Program Director, Charles Coleman, and Chicago-based critic Patrick Z. McGavin for a post-screening conversation and audience Q&A on the legacy and impact of Cold Water.
FILM SYNOPSIS
In the tradition of The 400 Blows and Vagabond, Cold Water tells a raw and haunting story of adolescent alienation. Christine (Virginie Ledoyen) and Gilles (Cyprien Fouquet) are two troubled teenagers fleeing homes that fail to understand them. As Christine is sent to a detention center and Gilles resists his domineering father (played by Hungarian filmmaker László Szabó), the film builds to an unforgettable climax: a wild, nocturnal party in an abandoned house—shot in a single, hypnotic sequence that serves as a punk-infused counterpoint to the opulence of Visconti’s The Leopard.
Olivier Assayas, France, 1994, DCP, 95 mins. In French, Hungarian, and English with English subtitles.
IN CONVERSATON
After the screening, film critic Patrick Z. McGavin joins FACETS Film Program Director Charles Coleman to discuss the historical and cultural impact of Cold Water, with a brief audience Q&A.
Patrick Z. McGavin – Critic
McGavin is a Chicago-based writer, cultural journalist, and film critic. His reviews, essays, director interviews and film festival reports have been published at the New York Times, Hollywood Reporter, Chicago Tribune, Chicago Sun-Times, Chicago Reader, In These Times, Playboy, RogertEbert.com, Screen International, and CineMontage. He also publishes original reviews and interviews at his film and culture Substack newsletter: “Shadows and Dreams.”
Charles Coleman – Host
Charles Coleman is FACETS Film Program Director and has more than twenty years of experience in programming. He has taught film courses at the University of Chicago and given lectures at the Chicago Public Library and the Art Institute. He is responsible for bringing to Chicago rare, one-of-a-kind screenings that range from retrospectives of acclaimed filmmakers to the most recent films by up-and-coming directors.
5 FILMS/5 DECADES/5 CRITICS
A new FACETS’ 50th Anniversary series curated by Charles Coleman and hosted by local film critics, “5 Films/5 Decades/5 Critics” digs through our 50-year history to present bold arthouse and independent gems that we’ve discovered and championed over the years.
