“A villa in Italy” by French-italian filmmaker Valeria Bruni-Tedeschi provided a welcome dose of charm and comedy yesterday in Cannes. An exultant love letter to her brother, who died of AIDS several years ago, “Villa” is painfully autobiographical, in fact. Besides her brother (played by Filippo Timi) and her real-life mother (to whom former first lady Carla Bruni bears a striking resemblance) as…. her mother, Bruni-Tedeschi also puts her romantic wares on display, casting her real-life (former) lover Louis Garrel, the son of filmmaker Philippe Garrel (the two have since broken up, in 2012) . So many connections

The year is 1993. Nine Cistercian monks live in the monastery of Tibhirine in the Atlas mountains of Algeria. The monks live in good intelligence with the Muslim villagers, farming, making honey, treating patients in their clinic, teaching children. Unfortunately, the precursor—and to us now familiar—signs of fundamental Islam are entering this peaceful community. Murders of foreign construction workers, kidnappings, enforcement of hijab and exactions set the scene. The monks, though clearly in danger, refuse to leave for a less threatening environment despite entreaties from local authorities. Xavier Beauvois’s film tells this true story that takes place over three years in “Of Men and Gods,” which received the Grand Prize of the Jury at the last Cannes Film Festival.