French Film Festival
Image: Masquerade film still
The French Film Festival returns this year with a curated program consisting of 38 of the best quality and most popular French language films produced last year.
This is the highly respected and most popular European Film Festival in Australia, evident from the incredible 153,000 tickets sold to enthusiastic spectators who attended the festival last year.
“The festival is so popular, I believe, because the quality of these films are very high and it’s not only a window on France but on Europe. Also because we speak about other European countries including Portugal and Greece,” enthused Karine Mauris, Artistic Festival Director. “The diversity of people living in France with different heritages are also reflected in these movies.”
The opening night movie is Masquerade and surrounds a dancer with high hopes who suffers a debilitating injury. He loses his mojo and decides to seduce older and much wealthier women to provide for his luxurious lifestyle. But what happens when he meets a beautiful young woman?
For audiences who’d like to watch something completely different Final Cut should deliver plenty of screams of horror, especially for the squeamish, as zombies rule in this outlandish comedic blood fest.
Family tensions and romance collide in The Innocent, a hilarious comedy that should have lovers of comedic movies laughing hysterically throughout.
“The people in this movie are not the most beautiful people on Earth, but it’s such a funny movie! It was a great success in France, very simple and very French!”
Two Tickets To Greece which tells the story of 3 estranged women who reunite in Greece is another comedy that should be a crowd-pleaser and Mauris implores audiences to put this on their must-see list.
And why should moviegoers who have never been to this film festival come along and watch a couple of movies?
“Audiences can learn a lot about France by watching these movies. It’s a way of travelling quietly and there are so many wonderful and talented actors and actresses in these films. I also think that it’s very important to include the young generation in this film festival so there are several movies for younger and family audiences.”
HOT PICKS
NOVEMBER – An action packed thriller which had 2.5 million people in France scrambling to see it. The biggest and craziest box office hit seen in cinemas in ages.
NOTRE-DAME ON FIRE – A documentary-style revisit to the blaze which destroyed most of the Notre-Dame cathedral in 2019. The steps in handling this emergency are meticulously explored.
THE BIG BLUE – 25th anniversary screening of what is perhaps the most beautiful movie produced in France in over 30 years. A movie that must be seen on the big screen.
March 7 – April 5
Screening at all Palace Cinemas
www.affrenchfilmfestival.org
