Funny Félix (Drôle de Félix)
Jacques Martineau & Oliver Ducastell, directors.
France, 1999, 35mm, 97 min.
French with English subtitles.
Official Web site: www.mongrelmedia.com

This deceptively breezy film begins to charm right from the start, with its glorious opening shot of the smiling Felix riding his bike along the boardwalk of Dieppe, the dullish town in northern France, where he lives contentedly with his boyfriend Daniel.

Always happy, Felix is addicted to a trashy morning soap opera and blithely chugs bottles of water with his daily dose of protease inhibitors. When he's laid off from work, Felix hatches a plan to shake up his too comfortable life. He decides to travel to Marseilles to track down the father he's never met. Arranging to hook up with Daniel one week later, Felix sets out, backpack in tow, to walk and hitch to southern France.

Crossing paths with a variety of people, Felix surprises himself with what he learns about the nature of families. This sweetly engaging and humorous film manages to tackle a myriad of difficult issues--xenophobia, AIDS, racism and homophobia - without resorting to preachiness or cliché. An award-winning film and a road-trip you won't want to miss.

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