STRANGER BY THE LAKE | L’INCONNU DU LAC

FRANCE | 2013 | COLOR | DCP | 100’ | FRENCH

Under the scorching sun of the French summer, the shores of a secluded lake provide a refuge for a group of men to have sex in secret. When Franck falls madly in love with the attractive but dangerous Henri, he witnesses a heinous crime. Yet, instead of walking away, he chooses to immerse himself in a dangerous game of obsession, silence and deadly eroticism. Hitchcock meets Bresson in one of the 21st century’s finest cinematic moments, and Alain Guiraudie directs an evocative, sensual existential thriller, in which nature is transformed into a setting of pleasure and terror, exploring with relentless audacity the blurred boundaries between desire, voyeurism and self-destruction. Thodoris Karamanolis
Film unsuitable for audiences under 18

DIRECTOR: Alain Guiraudie
SCREENWRITER: Alain Guiraudie
DoP: Claire Mathon
EDITOR: Jean-Christophe Hym
PRINCIPAL CAST: Pierre Deladonchamps, Christophe Paou, Patrick d'Assumçao

ALAIN GUIRAUDIE
French film director and screenwriter born in 1964. Raised in a rural farming family, he worked as a night guard before transitioning into cinema with his 1990 debut short. He is highly celebrated for his bold exploration of LGBTQ+ themes, dark humor, and working-class realities, often set against rural French backdrops. “Stranger by the Lake” won Best Director in the Un Certain Regard section at the Cannes Film Festival.

FILMOGRAPHY
2024 Misericordia
 2022 Nobody’s Hero
 2016 Staying Vertical
 2013 Stranger by the Lake
 2009 The King of Escape
 2005 Time Has Come
 2003 No Rest for the Brave
 2001 That Old Dream That Moves
 2001 Sunshine for the Poor