America’s friendship with France goes back 250 years — the country’s money, military and navy helped the U.S. win the Revolutionary War. And American and French cinephiles have had a mutual admiration society for almost as long as cameras have rolled.
That’s why the American French Film Festivalcelebrating its 30th year, is important. Its origin is a marriage of U.S. and French organizations: presented and produced by the Franco-American Cultural Fund, a collaboration between the Directors Guild of America, the Motion Picture Assn., France’s Society of Authors, Composers and Publishers of Music and the Writers Guild of America West in association with France’s nation film org CNC.
“The festival has become really more than a showcase. It has become a bridge between two continents,” says Anouchka van Riel, festival deputy director. Its industry origins remain crucial to building and maintaining the cross-continental ties.
Take the opening night film, “In Waves.” It’s an animated feature based on a U.S. graphic novel that was bought by French producers and workshopped at the festival. The English-language film is set on Southern California’s coast and directed by Phuong Mai Nguyen, a French-Vietnamese animator; Netflix bought the film in Cannes.
“The two countries are intertwined, and we really think it’s a trend, and we’re really happy about that,” says van Riel. “The art of cinema is able to be made across continents, and that’s a story I think that’s really like coming out of these past three years at the festival, and this year confirms it as well.”
François Truffart, fest executive producer and programmer since 2004 (also the year van Riel started), thinks the festival has helped change the perception of what French films are — and notes that the audience has grown exponentially over the years. And he programs a wide range of genres and films — docs, animation, shorts, too — illustrating the breadth of cinema from French creative, producers and shingles.
“There are so many different kinds of films, but we know for sure that we’re going to have an audience for each of them. So maybe this is the biggest achievement,” he says, adding that even mounting such a large event — 60 films, shorts and series — is an achievement, given the rocky global economy.
Films set to unspool over at the fest, which ends Nov. 8, include several in the international Oscar race: Andrey Zvyagintsev’s “Minotaur,” which is France’s entry in the race, “All of a Sudden” (Japan) from Ryūsuke Hamaguchi, “Coward” (Belgium) by Lucas Dhont, Cannes Palme d’Or winner “Fjord” (Romania) from Cristian Mungiu and “Strawberries” (Morocco) from Laïla Marrakchi.
“We are in a world where it’s becoming very important for people to try to share and to understand different points of view,” Truffart says. “Always in my mind when I choose a film, I want something that is very unique, original for an American audience, but also that shares universal topics.”
He notes that audiences over the years have embraced films with a new perspective and a new approach.
The festival has been screening series since 2015, introducing some blockbuster shows over the years, and Truffart says it’s important for the festival to have a competitive element because “this is the opinion of Hollywood.” The festival also programs industry panels, talks and workshops.
Van Riel gets excited when she talks about the free screenings for local high school students. “Every morning, we have a 600-seat theater packed at the DGA with high schoolers, and they watch one film, and there’s a Q&A that follows, and it’s the most magical moment,” she says.
It helps create a new audience for the American French Film Festival and opens their world.
For the festival schedule, see: theamericanfrenchfilmfestival.org
Source: variety.com
