MOVIES - Sept. 9, 1987

French director Louis Malle received a standing ovation Sunday night at the American premiere of his latest film at the Telluride Film Festival. “Au Revoir Les Enfants” is an account from Malle’s childhood of a group of Jewish children hidden in a Catholic school during World War II. “Of all the pictures I’ve made, this one is completely from the heart,” a tearful Malle told the audience. “This was the traumatic event of my childhood. It has stayed with me all these years. The memory has always haunted me,” said Malle. “Au Revoir Les Enfants” and the Soviet film “Repentance” were the hits of the 14-year-old festival, a non-competitive event held each year in the former mining town in the mountains of southwestern Colorado.