French films showcased in Budapest
With Audrey Tautou as guest of honour, the Corvin in Budapest is hosting the 12th edition of the French Film Festival (April 17-20), which opens today and is organised by Unifrance.
This year, the event is also being held in eight provincial Hungarian cities (Debrecen, Eger, Pécs, Miskolc, Szeged, Kesckemét, Szolnok and Györ) – two more than in 2007.
The festival will screen six French features in avant-premiere, presented by their three local distributors.
Best Hollywood will present Claude Berri’s Hunting and Gathering [+see also:
trailer
film profile]; and SPI will unveil Cédric Klapisch’s Paris [+see also:
trailer
film profile] and Olivier Jean-Marie’s Go West: A Lucky Luke Adventure [+see also:
trailer
film profile].
Budapest Film have three titles on their line-up: Nadine Labaki’s Caramel [+see also:
trailer
film profile], Emmanuel Mouret’s Shall We Kiss? [+see also:
trailer
film profile] and François Ozon’s Angel [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile] (see interview).
The programme also includes two retrospectives, on Charlotte Rampling and Ozon (at the Szinbád cinema).
For the first time, the festival will present a selection of seven shorts, including Philippe Pollet-Villard’s The Mozart of Pickpockets (Oscar 2008).
In 2007, 27 French productions and co-productions were distributed in Hungary, garnering 760,000 admissions (a 6.75% market share), thanks in particular to Gérard Krawczyk’s Taxi 4 [+see also:
trailer
film profile], Luc Besson’s Arthur and the Invisibles [+see also:
trailer
film profile] and Olivier Dahan’s La Vie en Rose [+see also:
trailer
film profile].
As well as the three major distributors of French film in Hungary (Budapest Film, Best Hollywood and SPI), Cirko Film also had five titles on their line-up, well ahead of Forum Film, Mokep, Odeon Art Video and Paradigma Film. And 2008 is shaping up to be a good season, given the success of Asterix at the Olympic Games [+see also:
trailer
film profile] (distribution SPI), which has attracted around 110,000 Hungarian viewers.
On the production side, two accredited minority French co-productions involved a Hungarian partner in 2007: Gabor Csupo’s Moon Princess (43% UK – 42% Hungary – 15% France), and Helma Sanders-Brahms’ Clara (70% Germany – 20% France – 10% Hungary).
(Translated from French)
Did you enjoy reading this article? Please subscribe to our newsletter to receive more stories like this directly in your inbox.