18/04/2007

Under its honorary patron, director Sylvain Chomet (Belleville Rendez-vous [+see also:
trailer
film profile]), the French Film Festival UK (FFF UK) – which kicked off April 15 and runs through May 4 in six British cities – will celebrate its 15th anniversary this year with a packed programme of 25 films in four sections.

Whereas its younger sister event, the Rendezvous with French Cinema (held in London at the end of March this year), presents films about to be released in the UK, the aim of the FFF UK (held in London, Manchester, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Aberdeen and Dundee) is to spotlight the vast majority of French films that do not yet have a British distributor in place, and which usually never make it across the Channel.

This year’s selection includes films featuring some of France’s biggest stars, such as Isabelle Huppert, Carole Bouquet, Gérard Depardieu, Mylène Demongeot, Kristin Scott-Thomas and Monica Bellucci, many of whom will travel with the directors to both England and Scotland to talk with audiences about their work.

The Panorama section includes Claude Chabrol’s (The Comedy of Power [+see also:
trailer
film profile]), Costa-Gavras’ The Ax [+see also:
trailer
film profile] as well as Bertrand Blier’s How Much Do You Love Me while the Discovery section gives pride of place to new talent, such as Emmanuelle Bercot (Backstage [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile]), Emmanuel Carrère (The Moustache), Michel Hazanavicius (OSS 117 [+see also:
trailer
film profile]) and Philippe Faucon (The Betrayal [+see also:
trailer
film profile]).

The Rétro section is this year dedicated to versatile director Christian Vincent, who will be onhand to present five of his films, including his latest, Four Stars [+see also:
trailer
film profile]. Vincent will also hold Masterclasses in Edinburgh, Glasgow and London.

Lastly, Cinéma Junior, devoted to young audiences, features The Time of the Pen-Holders [+see also:
trailer
film profile] by Daniel Duval and The Aeroplane by Cédric Kahn.

The event is organised by the festival with support from the Institut Français, the Alliance française, Scottish Screen, Unifrance and many other collaborators.