Top 20 Alternative Picks for Cannes 2012: Sébastien Lifshitz’s Les Invisibles

Les Invisibles – Sébastien Lifshitz

Buzz: Sébastien Lifshitz is a criminally under-recognized name in French cinema, likely because of his films’ subjects being openly gay or transsexual. Not coincidentally, the only documentary in his filmography before this one is Claire Denis: Vagabond, in which he interviews the master French filmmaker whose style is closely linked to his own. It’s been three years since Lifshitz’s Plein Sud all but skimmed over North American festivals and cinemas, so it’s nice to have him back in the spotlight.

The Gist: [This documentary examines] men and women born L’Entre Deux Guerres of the two World Wars (1918 – 1939). They have nothing in common other than being gay and choosing to live openly at a time when society rejected them. They loved, fought, and desired. Today, they tell of this rebellious life, torn between the desire to keep people like the others and the obligation to invent a freedom to flourish.