ALMATY – The latest sophisticated, vibrant and daring films from France will be showcased beginning April 23 during the sixth French film festival “Le cinéma français aujourd’hui.”
Opening of the 5th French Cinema Today festival in Arman theatre, Almaty, April 2014. Photo: UniFrance
The four-day event, offering a delightful and entertaining European escape after the lingering winter, is co-organised by UniFrance, the French Embassy and AllianceFrançaise. The films will be shown in the Arman movie theatre.
This year, the festival will include six new feature films: “Three Hearts,” a drama by Benoit Jacquot, “Jack in the Women’s Kingdom,” a comedy directed by Riad Sattouf, the drama “The Yellow Eyes of the Crocodiles” by director Cecile Telerman, “In the Courtyard” by Pierre Salvadori, “Clouds of Sils Maria” by Olivier Assayas and the comedy “Elle L’Adore” by Jeanne Herry.
Actresses Catherine Deneuve, Emmanuelle Beart and Juliette Binoche, the stars of the French cinema, have the leading roles in four of the films included in the programme.
French actor Pio Marmai is expected to travel to the city to present “In the Courtyard,” a gentle and occasionally hilarious tale about friendship where he plays a bicycle thief and drug addict named Stephane.
Telerman will also attend to promote her film, which is based on Katherine Pancols runaway bestselling novel of the same name.
The festival will also feature 20 short films to be presented in four programmes during the April 25 short film night, a regular feature of the festival.
France, the birthplace of cinema, is the third biggest film market in the world based on admissions and revenues. French cinema is also the most successful film industry in Europe with the largest number of films produced annually, according to UniFrance, which is responsible for promoting the films outside the country. Last year, French filmmakers produced nearly 170 movies, making the nation the world’s second largest exporter of films following the United States.
A survey conducted in 14 countries in April 2014 showed that more than 70 percent of viewers greatly appreciate French cinema and when it comes to intelligent dialogues, aesthetics of directing and genuine acting, Kazakh viewers are no exception. French films are the third most-viewed movies in the country after American and Russian films and represented 8.7 percent of the market share in 2013.
