A special double feature of two delightful comedies from the the Academy Award-winning director of The Artist, an acclaimed stylist at ease in seemingly any genre, in advance of the release of his new film Godard Mon Amour

OSS 117: Cairo, Nest of Spies (2006, 99m, 35mm, France)

Hazanavicius broke out with his second feature by reviving novelist Jean Bruce’s long-running titular spy protagonist, who had been portrayed in three movies in the 1960s. Here, though, OSS 117 is playfully refitted as bluff and politically incorrect, firing first and not asking questions later. Genre clichés are razzed as the French secret agent tracks fugitive Nazis in the Middle East of 1955, and lead actors Jean Dujardin and Bérénice Bejo both began fruitful collaborations with the filmmaker.

In French with English subtitles

Q&A with Michel Hazanavicius

Followed by:

OSS 117: Lost in Rio (2009, 101m, 35mm, France)

Following the first movie’s success, the filmmaking team reunited three years later for a sequel—but cheekily vaulted their French spy OSS 117 forward by 12 years, with star Jean Dujardin having even more fun showing his manly-man character buffeted by swingin’ 1967. The hunt for another Nazi in hiding (played by Rüdiger Vogler, of Wim Wenders films) takes OSS 117 and Mossad agent Louise Monot into South America, with delightful movie references throughout.

In French with English subtitles

Introduced by Michel Hazanavicius