On first Tuesdays of the month throughout the Fall and Winter, Ridgefield Independent Film Festival presents Tuesday Night at the Movies with RIFF at the Ridgefield Library. Audiences will screen and review select 2022 finalist films as they make their way to their hopeful place in the 2023 annual festival to take place May 18-21, 2023. FREE and open to the public.

October 4th: Hard Shell Soft Shell by Emma Benestan is a delightful French RomCom (in French with English subtitles) that tells the story of loved-up oyster farmer Az who thinks he’s made it. But when an elaborate proposal goes awry and his girlfriend Jess breaks his heart, Az is forced to confront his understanding of what happiness really looks like – both hers and his own.

This is a debut feature film from director, Emma Benestan:

Emma Benestan is a French-Algerian director, screenwriter and editor.

After graduating from La Fémis, she directed several short films : “Un monde sans bête” (Clermont Ferrand 2018), “Goût bacon”(70 festival selections and shortlisted for the French Academy Awards) and “Belle Gueule” (60 festival selections, winner of the CNC quality award).

In her first feature film “Fragile”, she hijacks the traditional codes of comedy with a joyfully feminist take on contemporary masculinity. The film was released in theatres in 2021 and received critical acclaim.

Emma Benestan has also worked as an editor on feature films, such as “Mektoub my love” by Abdellatif Kechiche (Venice 2017). She has also been involved on numerous projects as screenwriter, including “The Right Words” which premiered in Competition at Cannes Film Festival 2021.