Farewell, Mr. Haffmann (2024)
Director: Fred Cavayé Run Time: 115 min. Rating: TV-14 Release Year: 2022
Starring: Daniel Auteuil, Gilles Lellouche, Mathilde Bisson, Nikolai Kinski, Sara Giraudeau
Country: France, Belgium
Language: French with English subtitles
About the film:
Occupied Paris, 1941: all members of the Jewish community are instructed to come forward and identify themselves to authorities. Dedicated jeweler Joseph Haffmann , fearing the worst, arranges for his family to flee the city and offers his employee François Mercier the chance to take over his store until the conflict subsides. But his own attempts to escape are thwarted, and Haffmann is forced to seek his assistant’s protection.
It’s a risky proposition for both men, and one that Mercier’s wife Blanche is skeptical of. As the couple move in to the Haffmann home, the agreement turns into a Faustian bargain, one that will forever change the fate of all…
“riveting for its portrayal of survival under an ever-present danger…and most of all for its dark yet optimistic and painfully authentic examination of human nature.”
—Monica Reid, Far Out Magazine
About the filmmaker:
Fred Cavayé is a French director and screenwriter. Before formally entering the film industry in 2000, Cavayé worked as a fashion photographer. His debut short film, J (2000), earned him the Jury Prize at the Arcipelago Short Film Festival in Rome. Cavayé’s debut feature film, Anything for Her (2008), earned him a nomination for Best First Film at the César Awards. His other feature films include Point Blank (2010) – the basis for the 2019 American remake from director Joe Lynch – Mea culpa (2014), Radin! (2016), Farewell, Mr. Haffmann (2024), and Les chèvres! (2024).