A Night of Films by Julius-Amédée Laou
The Old Sorceress and the Valet
Los Angeles Filmforum, Black Revivalist, and CaribbeanLens Film Festival
A Night of Films by Julius-Amédée Laou
Wednesday June 24, 2026, 7:30 pm
At 2220 Arts + Archives, 2220 Beverly Blvd. Los Angeles CA 90057
Pre-recorded introductions by the filmmaker!
NOTE THE CHANGE IN DAY
There will be a 15 min intermission in between films.
Tickets: $15 general, $10 students/seniors, free for Filmforum members.
Los Angeles Filmforum, Black Revivalist, and CaribbeanLens Film Festival are proud to present a double feature of films by French-Martinican playwright and filmmaker Julius-Amédée Laou. We’ll be screening Laou’s 2003 film French Wedding, Caribbean Style along with his 1987 film The Old Sorceress and the Valet. Both films will feature a pre-recorded introduction by the filmmaker!
In French Wedding, Caribbean Style, a supposedly joyful interracial wedding descends into chaos when long-buried prejudices and family secrets rise to the surface. Shot on self-reflexive MiniDV by the bride’s cocky younger brother, what begins as a lighthearted summer affair turns nightmarish as scandal threatens to destroy the unlikely couple’s big day.
The Old Sorceress and the Valet follows Eugénie and Armand, an elderly couple who have lived in Paris since 1921 as part of the wave of post-war immigration from Martinique. Eugénie, a former dancer with Josephine Baker’s Black Revue, has become a professional quimboiseuse, practising black magic for a white clientele. Armand, who had been a servant, is retired. Now, they are both old and bitter, still quarreling with each other. One day, they set out arm-in-arm for one last walk through the metropolis, confronting their past, their stifled dreams, and long-kept secrets.
Julius-Amédée Laou, born on February 9th, 1950, is a distinguished filmmaker, playwright, theatre director, and writer. Hailing from Paris with Martinican roots, Laou made his mark with the short films Open Mic Solitaire and Mist Melodies in Paris. He later expanded his cinematic vision with two notable feature films: The Old Sorceress and the Valet (1987) and French Wedding, Caribbean Style (2004).
A compelling voice representing the Caribbean diaspora, Laou masterfully blends sharp-witted comedy to unveil the stark contrasts of a Black individual's experience in France. His films, imbued with fervent outrage, range from the fiery and thought-provoking to the tranquil and comical. Laou has also authored more than thirty stage plays, including Never call me Negro! (1982) and Ordinary Madness of a Daughter of Ham (1984). The latter was adapted into a film by Jean Rouch.
Program curated by Camm Harrison.
Thanks to Julius-Amédée Laou, Guillaume Launay of TALITHA, and Steve Macfarlane for their support in making this event possible.
French Wedding, Caribbean Style
French Wedding, Caribbean Style (Zouk, Mariage et Ouélélé)
Directed by Julius-Amédée Laou
2002, color, sound, 89 min. In French with English Subtitles
Starring Dieudonné, Loulou Boislaville
Through the story of an old West Indian couple who arrived in Paris in 1921, this film reveals the existence and the discreet but lively presence of a West Indian community in metropolitan France between the two world wars.
“Laou’s second feature film depicts an interracial wedding held in the summertime, shot on self-reflexive MiniDV by the bride’s cocky younger brother. Before long, a scandal emerges that threatens to tear the happy couple’s union apart, exposing the racism of the groom’s parents and the messy fissures beneath the ensemble’s happy façade. While the subject matter may sound familiar, Variety accurately called the film “a far cry from the ethnic feel-good wedding pics inundating domestic shores.” Indeed, Laou offers up an emotional roller-coaster, a no-holds-barred depiction of white racism and an acidic comedy of manners (and prejudices).” – BAM, https://www.bam.org/film/2023/french-wedding-caribbean-style
The Old Sorceress and the Valet (La vieille quimboiseuse et le majordome)
The Old Sorceress and the Valet (La vieille quimboiseuse et le majordome)
1987, color, sound, 88 min.m In French with English Subtitles
With Jenny Alpha, Robert Liensol, Jacques Martial
Laou’s feature debut follows Eugénie (Alpha) and Armand (Liensol), an elderly couple wandering the streets of Paris. Their bickering reveals long-kept secrets about Armand’s time as a majordomo and Eugénie’s life before she was a quimboiseuse, or practitioner of black magic. The result is an often-hilarious, ultimately breathtaking panorama of a relationship, a generation of immigrants, and an ever-changing city. – BAM, https://www.bam.org/film/2023/the-old-sorceress-and-the-valet-open-mic-solitaire