Directed by Stefan Liberski • Drama • With Benoit Poelvoorde, Camille Cottin • 2025 • 110 minutes
"Tabula rasa and vita nova," exclaims artist Jean-Yves Machond (Benoît Poelvoorde). "A clean slate and a new life." Leaving Brussels and his job as a professor to settle in Normandy, Machond searches for inspiration, convinced he still has something to say with his art.
The small town of Étretat, with its scenic cliffs, sea views and beaches, is the ultimate embodiment of Impressionism. But ever the serious artist, the rambling Machond hesitates to call himself a simple "painter." Once moved in, he is introduced to the local artistic community, including the warm-hearted painter Bagnoule, who knows all the goings-on about town and the charming gallery owner Cécile (Camille Cottin), who disrupts his concentration with vague promises of love.
Complete with sliding houses and curious hedgehogs, Machond's new life proves anything but ordinary. THE ART OF NOTHING follows his quest for inspiration and, ultimately, happiness.
Up Next in July's Top 30 Films
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My Motherland (w/ Fanny Ardant)
Directed by Benoît Cohen • Drama • With Fanny Ardant, Nawid Elham, Pierre Deladonchamps • 2025 • 91 minutes
Celebrated actress Fanny Ardant stars as “France”, a well-to-do widow living alone in her Parisian apartment. When she hears on the radio that an NGO is pairing homeless refugees with thos...
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Time Regained
Directed by Raúl Ruiz • Drama • With Catherine Deneuve, Emmanuelle Béart, Vincent Perez • 2018 • 163 minutes
Raúl Ruiz’s most ambitious literary adaptation and considered his greatest cinematic achievement. An Official Selection at both the Cannes and New York Film Festivals and starring an out...
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Borgman
Directed by Alex van Warmerdam • Drama • With Jan Bijvoet • 2013 • 113 minutes
A dark suburban fable exploring the nature of evil in unexpected places, BORGMAN follows an enigmatic vagrant who enters the lives of an upper-class family and quickly unravels their carefully curated lifestyle. Charm...
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