19/06/2003 - A meeting with Marie-Pierre Macia, the delegate-general of Paris Cinéma, scheduled to run from 2-15 July 2003. An ecletic and popular programme that gives pride-of-place to European productions

Marie-Pierre Macia, the delegate-general of the 1st edition of Paris Cinéma (2-15 July 2003, is a veritable whirlwind of energy. It would be difficult to improve on the truly excellent programme that this former chief selector of Directors’ Fortnight in Cannes put together. There are 23 feature films in competition, including international hits like Good Bye Lenin! [+see also:
trailer
interview: Wolfgang Becker
film profile] and Facing Windows [+see also:
trailer
interview: Ferzan Ozpetek
film profile], the French premieres of 27 films and lots of tributes. Macia has not forgotten about the needs of the film industry either, and the programme includes a series of meetings for operators from all over Europe. Let us give you an overview of what this event will be like.

Why organise yet another summer film event in Paris ?
Marie-Pierre Macia : "The festival is the brainchild of the mayor of Paris whose said: "Organise a major event that will bring together all film industry professionals"... Paris is one of the world’s favourite film locations." The founder-members (Daniel Toscan du Plantier, Michel Reilhac, Pascal Rogard, Costa Gavras, Claude-Eric Poiroux and Patrick Brouiller) consulted with professionals and decided that the summer was the best time to stage such an event. In Europe, the summer months traditionally coincide with a significant drop in film attendance. This is also when American blockbusters hog almost all available programming slots thus resulting in an overflow of titles in the autumn."
Describe how you came up with this great programme.
"Paris Cinéma wants to change people’s filmgoing habits in the summer and also be an engine that propels the film industry by premiering films that will subsequently be distributed in the autumn. Right from the start we decided to opt for the most ecletic and popular selection possible; ranging from 100 per cent auteur-driven features that were presented in Cannes, to the latest work of people like Michel Boujenah and Claude Duty. This sort of selection can only benefit the Paris Cinéma audience since the scheme was boarded by local cinemas, enabling people to see the films they wanted to see at their usual film theatre. Paris Cinéma is a popular event whose goal is to teach a whole new generation of people to know and love cinema. Some of our target audience has never even heard of some of the filmmakers taking part in this event.
It was our hope and desire to focus the programme on Europe and put the Continent right at the heart of debates. One of our goals is to run a a brainstorming about European cinema and ask the right questions about our relationship with the United States.

Why the focus on Italian cinema?
"I will never stop saying that Italian cinema is alive and well. Over the last three or four years we have witnessed the emergence of several great new filmmakers. At Paris Cinéma we will screen Ferzan Ozpetek’s Facing Windows [+see also:
trailer
interview: Ferzan Ozpetek
film profile] and Giada Colagrande’s stunning Open my Heart in competition. Our programme also includes a retrospective of 50 years of popular Italian comedy with a line up that includes the work of the new generation, people like Gabriele Muccino and Paolo Virzì. Ettore Scola will be a special guest of the Parisian event and we also intend re-proposing the Antonioni Retrospective that was first seen at the last edition of the Venice Film Festival. I was stunned by the quality of the restored prints and by Cinecittà Holding’s restoration and I was determined that the review would be seen in Paris. "