24/04/2014 - Having already been showcased in China, French productions are also on the line-up at COLCOA in the United States and at the UK’s fifth Rendez-Vous with French Cinema

Venus in Fur by Roman Polanski

Last night saw the start of the fifth edition of Rendez-Vous with French Cinema, which has been organised by UniFrance in the United Kingdom until 28 April. On the programme are ten feature films that will be screened at the Ciné Lumière and the Curzon Soho in London, followed by venues in Brighton, Bristol, Cambridge, Canterbury, Nottingham and Oxford. Featuring among them are 9 Month Stretch [+see also:
trailer
film profile] by Albert Dupontel, Quai d'Orsay [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile] by Bertrand Tavernier and Venus in Fur [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Roman Polanski
film profile] by Roman Polanski (released on 30 May through Curzon Films World - Artificial Eye). Also of note are The Young and Prodigious T.S. Spivet [+see also:
trailer
making of
film profile] by Jean-Pierre Jeunet (released on 13 June by Entertainment One), Bright Days Ahead [+see also:
trailer
film profile] by Marion Vernoux (which will be distributed from 20 June by Picturehouse), Belle et Sébastien [+see also:
trailer
making of
film profile] by Nicolas Vanier and two films on Soda Pictures’ line-up: Violette [+see also:
trailer
film profile] by Martin Provost and Je m'appelle Hmmm... [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile] by Agnès Troublé (aka Agnès b.). The programme is rounded off by an homage to Alain Resnais, including his classic film Hiroshima mon amour and his last opus, Life of Riley [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile] (to be attended by the author and playwright Alan Ayckbourn on Saturday). Several artists will be present to accompany the films and to meet audiences, including Fanny Ardant, Dupontel (who will be joined on stage by Terry Gilliam on Monday 28^th), Jeunet (who will be presenting his film on Sunday with Helena Bonham Carter), Vernoux, Agnès b. and Emmanuelle Seigner.

French films are also in the spotlight on the other side of the Atlantic, at the COLCOA (City of Lights, City of Angels) Festival in Los Angeles, which kicked off last Monday and will come to a close on 28 April. The event is presenting a very extensive selection of 40 feature films, including several from younger generations, such as Suzanne [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Katell Quillévéré
film profile] by Katell Quillévéré, Vandal [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile] by Hélier Cisterne and La bataille de Solférino [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile] by Justine Triet. Also standing out among the titles on the programme are movies such as Dany Boon’s Superchondriac [+see also:
trailer
film profile], Chinese Puzzle [+see also:
trailer
film profile] by Cédric Klapisch, Young and Beautiful [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: François Ozon
film profile] by François Ozon, The Last Diamond [+see also:
trailer
film profile] by Eric Barbier, Me Myself and Mum [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile] by Guillaume Gallienne and François Dupeyron’s My Soul Healed by You [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile].

Lastly, French film production has just been enjoying a very fine showcase at the fourth Beijing International Film Festival, which drew to a close yesterday. After being opened by Christophe Gans’ Beauty and the Beast [+see also:
trailer
making of
interview: Christophe Gans
interview: Léa Seydoux
interview: Vincent Cassel
film profile], the event, in partnership with UniFrance, also programmed an overview of French cinema that will now start travelling around eight other Chinese cities: Chengdu, Jinan, Nankin, Shenyang, Shenzhen, Wuhan, Xian and Yinchuan. Featuring among the titles in this collection are The Past [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile] by Asghar Farhadi, Playing Dead [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile] by Jean-Paul Salomé, The Volcano [+see also:
trailer
film profile] by Alexandre Coffre, Suzanne, Vandal, Michel Gondry’s L'écume des jours [+see also:
trailer
making of
interview: Michel Gondry
film profile], On My Way [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile] by Emmanuelle Bercot and the Franco-Chinese co-production Le promeneur d'oiseau by Philippe Muyl, among others. Interestingly, the potential of the Chinese market and the possibility of it relaxing its quotas, which could be of benefit to French arthouse films, meant that a very sizeable delegation of French professionals accompanied the films to Beijing.

(Translated from French)