Set against the history and artworks of Paris’ famed Louvre Museum, master director Alexander Sokurov (Russian Ark) embarks on a uniquely personal exploration of the profound cultural legacy of WWII's Nazi occupation of France. Using rare archives and beautifully staged recreations, Sokurov re-envisions two remarkable real-life figures: enemies-turned-collaborators Jacques Jaujard, Director of French National Museums, and Franziskus Wolff-Metternich, a German officer and art historian leading the Reich’s art collection efforts. The tentative alliance that formed between the two men would transcend nationalism and lead to the preservation of many of the world’s greatest treasures. Depicting the Louvre as a living, breathing paragon of civilization, FRANCOFONIA delivers a mesmerizing and urgent meditation on the essential relationship between art, history and culture.
