The New Internationals

A Jewish Frenchwoman is torn between her love for two Black men from disparate backgrounds in the insightful latest from Faladé (Black Cloud Rising). It’s 1947 in Paris when Cecile Rosenbaum, who avoided persecution during WWII by pretending to be Catholic, meets a Senegalese French agitator at a camp for young communists. She introduces Cecile to Sebastien Danxomè, the grandson of the last precolonial ruler of Dahomey in West Africa (present-day Benin). Cecile begins dating Sebastien and helps him study for a grueling university entrance exam to study architecture. Frustrated by how Sebastien keeps their relationship secret from his family, and by his defense of his ancestors’ role in the slave trade, Cecile drifts toward Mack Gray, a Black American soldier stationed in France who lands Cecile a job working for the Americans. Faladé draws out the psychological pressures faced by his characters, as Cecile navigates a strained relationship with her father, a womanizing war profiteer, while Sebastian strives to restore honor to his family’s name and Mack struggles with his drinking. The plot, mainly driven by the love triangle, often loses steam, but Faladé unflinchingly portrays the messy legacy of colonialism and the implications of crossing the color line. This nuanced historical is worth a look. Agent: Eric Simonoff, WME. (Jan.)