In Person: March 16; Driving from Seattle? Check Saturday’s I-90 eastbound closures between Seattle and Mercer Island.
A delicate topic often unexplored on screen is treated with humor, irreverence, and complexity in STAY WITH US. Renowned Moroccan-born, French Jewish comedian and filmmaker Gad Elmaleh, stars as a version of himself, returning home to Paris to see his parents (portrayed by his real mother and father) after living for years in the United States. His journey comes with some shocking news: he has decided to convert to Catholicism and wants his parents’ blessing for his forthcoming baptism. Both a tale of spiritual self-discovery and an entertaining depiction of the ideological culture clash that ensues as Gad’s dumbstruck parents try to reckon with this turn of events, STAY WITH US is a delightful film about challenging matters, and a reminder that sometimes our paths aren’t always easily laid out for us or our loved ones.
Director Bio: View on IMDB
Gad Elmaleh is a French Moroccan actor and standup comedian born in Casablanca. Known as “the Seinfeld of France,” Elmaleh has performed onstage and in many films, including MAN IS A WOMAN, TRAIN OF LIFE, DOCTOR DOOLITTLE 2, COCO, DESPICABLE ME, La rafle, Woody Allen’s MIDNIGHT IN PARIS, and THE DICTATOR. From 2015 to 2018, he completed a national comedy tour across the United States, “American Dream,” which is available on Netflix. In 2006, he was awarded the Order des Arts et des Lettres by the French Ministry of Culture, and in 2017 he was made a member of the National Order of Québec.
