All in Lyon for FNCF congress

by Fabien Lemercier

19/09/2006 - Over 1,600 participants – ranging from exhibitors and producers to directors, actors, technical professionals and institutional members – gather in Lyon today to mark the opening of the 61st National Federation of French Cinemas (FNCF) congress. The FNCF includes almost all 5,366 French screens.

Through the evening of September 21, the event will provide the opportunity to analyse the state of affairs of the profession including, in particular, a debate on "regional policies to promote exhibition". The debate will be attended by representatives of CRRAV, France’s Centre, Rhône-Alpes, Nord-Pas-de-Calais, Britanny and Haute-Normandie regions, as well as the European Association of Towns and Regions.

On Wednesday, the annual meeting of public authorities will take place in the presence of Minister of Culture Renaud Donnedieu de Vabres and Véronique Cayla, Director General of the Centre National de la Cinématographie, who will most likely address the much commented on Goudineau report: Adieu to the Reel? The Stakes of Digital Projection (see articles parts 1 and 2).

Three preview screenings feature on the programme this year: Family Hero [trailer] by Thierry Klifa (opening December 20 through UGC Distribution - see news); Le Grand appartement [trailer] by Pascal Thomas, starring Laetitia Casta and Mathieu Amalric (Mars Distribution , December 27); and Entre adultes [trailer] (lit. “Between Adults”) by Stéphane Brizé (TFM Distribution , January 31, 2007).

As every year, programmers will be rushing to La journée des distributeurs (Distributors’ Day), which will screen an impressive 10 hours of trailers of films set for release over the coming months, one of which is the 12-minute trailer of La Môme [trailer] (lit. “The Kid”) by Olivier Dahan (opening February 14, see article).

(Translated from French)