18/09/2015 - The 16th edition of the initiative is sponsored by Jean-Jacques Annaud and includes a retrospective of the works of Jacques Doillon

The French Film Party is back for its 16^th edition: almost 60 movies will be screened in 18 Portuguese cities from 8 October to 29 November. Jean-Jacques Annaud is sponsoring this year’s party and will have the honour of opening it with his latest opus, the Franco-Chinese co-production Wolf Totem [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile]. Besides Annaud, who is still best known in Portugal for his 1986 film The Name of the Rose, another French filmmaker, Jacques Doillon, will also be the centre of attention thanks to a retrospective of his works hosted by the Portuguese Film Library, the highlights of which will be Love Battles [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile] (2013) and Ponette (1996).

As usual, the party will present a string of titles that have not yet been released in Portugal, in parallel with some of the most eagerly awaited premieres of this year’s French productions. Featuring among them, having already been picked up for domestic distribution, are Lolo [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Julie Delpy, Dany Boon
film profile], the new film by Julie Delpy; Mon roi [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile], which saw the return of Maïwenn following Poliss [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Maïwenn
film profile] – and which earned Emmanuelle Bercot the Best Actress Award at the most recent Cannes Film Festival; Les Anarchistes [+see also:
trailer
film profile] by Elie Wajeman; and the animated title Mune, le gardien de la lune [+see also:
trailer
film profile] by Benoît and Alexandre Philippon.

The programme also includes French Blood [+see also:
trailer
film profile], in which director Diastème tells the story of a young neo-Nazi; Fidelio: Alice’s Journey [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Lucie Borleteau
film profile] by Lucie Borleteau, with which Ariane Labed pocketed the Best Actress Award at the 2014 Locarno Film Festival; and Marguerite [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Xavier Giannoli
film profile] by Xavier Giannoli, recently unveiled at Venice.

After kicking off in Lisbon, the party will move on to Porto, Coimbra, Almada, Aveiro, Beja, Braga, Caldas da Rainha, Évora, Faro, Guimarães, Leiria, Portimão, Santarém, São Pedro do Sul, Seixal, Setúbal and Viana do Castelo.

The event is a launch pad and promotional platform for French production in Portugal, where so far in 2015, the two most successful French films have been Asterix: The Land of the Gods [+see also:
trailer
making of
film profile] by Louis Clichy and Alexandre Astier (enticing almost 81,000 viewers and grossing nearly €381,000), and The Bélier Family [+see also:
trailer
making of
film profile] by Eric Lartigau, which drew in almost 69,000 viewers and grossed close to €357,000.

(Translated from Spanish)