Bleak Week: Cinema of Despair

Some of the greatest films from around the world, exploring the darkest sides of humanity.

The American Cinematheque is thrilled to present a weeklong festival that spotlights some of the greatest films from around the world that explore the darkest sides of humanity, as well as some of the bleakest points in human history. A harrowing, yet powerful lineup of films defined by stark imagery, unimaginable tragedies, existential fear, nihilism and shocking acts of brutality, this series features the world’s leading filmmakers who wholly embrace a cinema of despair in pursuit of unpleasant truths and raw empathy.

________________________________________________________________________

Demonlover is a 2002 French neo-noir thriller film written and directed by Olivier Assayas, and starring Connie Nielsen, Charles Berling, Chloë Sevigny, and Gina Gershon. The plot focuses on the entanglement between various corporations vying for the financial control of an interactive 3-D hentai company, resulting in a power struggle that culminates in violence and espionage.