23/09/2020 - The 25th edition of the International French-Language Film Festival will unspool from 2-9 October, graced by a fine selection of titles bearing the Cannes 2020 label

Inevitably, owing to COVID, only a restricted selection of films will be screened at the 35^th Namur International French-Language Film Festival, but we’ll nonetheless be treated to Belgian premieres of numerous works awarded the Cannes 2020 label, starting with Laurent Lafitte’s much-anticipated first film The Origin of the World [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Laurent Lafitte
film profile], and also including Emmanuel Courcol’s The Big Hit [+see also:
trailer
film profile], recently rewarded at Angoulême, which will be presented in the festival’s closing slot.

Opening the event and thrust under the spotlight by FIFF Namur is a film that’s 100% Belgian: A Moonstruck Life [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Raphaël Balboni & Ann Sirot
film profile], the first feature film by the duo composed of Raphaël Balboni and Ann Sirot who are known for their fantastical and poetic short films (With Thelma, Lucha Libre). The title boasts a brilliant trio of Belgian actors among its cast in the form of Jean Le Peltier, Lucie Debay and Jo Deseure, and will enjoy its world premiere at the festival while battling it out in the Official Competition.

Three documentaries are also gracing this very same category: the beautiful Petit Samedi [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Paloma Sermon Daï
film profile] by Paloma Sermon-Daï (Belgium), discovered last winter in Berlin, the Romanian film Collective [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile] by Alexander Nanau and a premiere in the form of the François Yang-directed Swiss film Heidi en Chine [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile]. The competition will also allow for the discovery of three films bearing Cannes’ 2020 stamp of approval: Josep [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Aurel
film profile], an animated film by the French press cartoonist Aurel, Should the Wind Drop [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Nora Martirosyan
film profile] (France/Belgium/Armenia) by Armenian director Nora Martirosyan (the title was awarded the Cannes 2020 and ACID labels) and Slalom [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Charlène Favier
film profile], French filmmaker Charlène Favier’s first feature starring Jérémie Renier and Noée Abita. Similarly set for presentation are two films which dazzled the audience in Venice: Night of the Kings [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Philippe Lacôte
film profile] by Ivory Coast director Philippe Lacôte - a co-production between France, the Ivory Coast, Canada and Senegal – and Giovanni Aloi’s first full-length film The Third War [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Giovanni Aloi
film profile], while the new film by Albert Dupontel, Bye Bye Morons [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile], is also in the running.

As for the juries, meanwhile, an explosive pair of filmmakers are set to grace the two teams, with French director Samuel Benchetrit presiding over the feature film jury and Belgian director Fien Troch helming its short films counterpart.

(Translated from French)