THE DUELLISTS Guest Artistic Director

Ridley Scott’s striking Cannes prize-winning debut feature is a visually arresting tale of honor, obsession and pride. Set against the backdrop of the Napoleonic wars, THE DUELLISTS chronicles the 16-year feud between two French officers — cool-headed Armand d’Hubert (Keith Carradine) and hot-blooded Gabriel Feraud (Harvey Keitel) — after a perceived personal slight leads to an escalating series of duels, each more intense yet more meaningless than the last. Adapted from Joseph Conrad’s novella “The Duel,” Scott’s timeless portrait of interpersonal war explores how codes of masculine honor can curdle into obsession, consuming lives as empires rise and fall. With its meticulous attention to detail and the dazzling Baroque-style visuals of cinematographer Frank Tidy — evoking candlelit interiors and fog-drenched battlefields that rival Stanley Kubrick’s BARRY LYNDON in their visual elegance — THE DUELLISTS is a must-see on the big screen. –Abbie Algar