(Nicolas Bedos and his cast, © Lindsay Bellinger 2019)  By LINDSAY R. BELLINGER La Belle époque from French writer/director/actor Nicolas Bedos screened out of competition and the press conference was full of laughs. The director and his lively actors including the exquisite Fanny Ardant, Guillame Canet, Daniel Auteuil, and Doria Tillier really showed their love for one another throughout the conference. (Daniel Auteuil, Fanny Ardant, Nicolas Bedos, &...

 This year's selection of short films in competition hails from the world over: from Israel to Brazil, Latvia to Australia, there is a little bit of everything in these intelligent, poignant short films.Edward Housden's Australian short Muscles tells the oft-recounted story of the "other" sibling--Richard's older sister Millie dreams of being a body-builder. With the rest of the boys in her neighborhood, she amuses herself with typically "male" activities: smashing the winds...