Now showing

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France, Italia. 2009. Dir.: Jacques Audiard. 35 mm. 149 min. With Tahar Rahim, Niels Arestrup..

www.unprophete.ca
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At age 18, Malik El Djebena (Tahar Rahim) is just beginning a six-year prison sentence in this drama from THE BEAT THAT MY HEART SKIPPED director Jacques Audiard. Though he cannot read or write, Malik soon figures out the politics of the prison system, giving him a prime spot in the power struggle between two battling groups of prisoners. A PROPHET reunites Audiard with two of his stars from THE BEAT THAT MY HEART SKIPPED, Niels Arestrup and Gilles Cohen, as well as that film’s director of photography, Stéphane Fontaine, and its composer, Alexandre Desplat.

"A Prophet is one of those rare films in which the moral stakes are as insistent and thought through as the aesthetic choices."
– NEW YORK TIMES

"The newcomer Rahim is an enigma. What is he thinking? I believe that's the quality Audiard wants. He's a newly poured man, and when the mold sets, it happens inside."
– ROGER EBERT

"There’s an intensity to this film that doesn’t let up for a nanosecond, and Audiard doesn’t hit a false note. All of the actors – most completely unknown – are spot-on, the dialogue feels so real, and the result is one of the most fascinating portraits of the making of a crime boss since Scarface."
– THE GAZETTE

WINNER - 9 CESAR
Best Film
Best Director - Jacques Audiard
Best Original Screenplay
Best Lead Actor - Tahar Rahim
Best Promising Actor - Tahar Rahim
Best Supporting Actor - Niels Arestrup
Best Cinematography
Best Editing
Best Art Direction

GRAND JURY PRIZE • CANNES FILM FESTIVAL 2009
BEST FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM NOMINEE • ACADEMY AWARDS 2010
BEST FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM NOMINEE • GOLDEN GLOBES 2010
BEST ACTOR (TAHAR RAHIM) • EUROPEAN FILM AWARDS 2010
BEST FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM NOMINEE • NATIONAL BOARD OF REVIEW 2009

Original French version with English subtitles

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