JEAN-JACQUES ANNAUD’S NOTRE-DAME ON FIRE TO OPEN
THE 26th ANNUAL AMERICAN FRENCH FILM FESTIVAL
75 Films and Series to be Screened at the Festival Taking Place
at the DGA Theater Complex October 10-16
71 Films to be Considered for The American French Film Festival Awards
At a press conference held today at the Résidence de France in Beverly Hills, members of the Franco-American Cultural Fund (FACF) and The American French Film Festival Program Committee announced that the Opening Night film for The American French Film Festival (formerly COLCOA) will be the North American premiere of Jean-Jacques Annaud’s NOTRE-DAME ON FIRE / Notre-Dame Brûle. The film will screen October 10, kicking off the week-long Festival held at the DGA Theater Complex in Los Angeles.
Participating in the press event today were Cécile Rap-Veber, CEO, SACEM; Julie Duhaut-Bedos, Consul General of France in Los Angeles; Francois Truffart, Executive Producer and Programmer, The American French Film Festival; Anouchka van Riel, Deputy Director, The American French Film Festival; Andrea Berloff, writer/WGAW and Board Member of the Franco-American Cultural Fund; Amy Nicholson, film critic/LAFCA; and Peter Debruge, Chief Film Critic for Variety.
“Every year, The American French Film Festival presents the very best of French cinema and television, and this year is no exception. I am personally excited about the opening night selection of Jean-Jacques Annaud’s NOTRE-DAME ON FIRE as I think it perfectly embodies the Franco-American Cultural Fund’s mission,” said Andrea Berloff.
The entire lineup for the Festival was also revealed at the press event and includes 75 films and series and 20 shorts, many of which are International, North American and U.S. premiere presentations. Seventy-one of these films will be up for The American French Film Festival Awards.
“This selection of French films and series in competition for The American French Film Festival Awardsunderscores - despite the two year pandemic period - the astounding dynamism of the French production community,” said Francois Truffart. “This 26th edition of the Festival is notable for its diversity of genres, the emergence of new talent and particularly for the creativity coming from new female filmmakers.”
“As exemplified by this year’s swath of impressive films, French cinema continues to explore form and storytelling that echo Jean-Luc Godard’s freedom to experiment,” notes Anouchka van Riel. “More than ever, The American French Film Festival seeks to build bridges between two countries and tell stories with different narrative structures. This Festival is not only a showcase for French films and series, butalso a place where bicultural conversations occur on topics like remakes and young audiences. It is a celebration and an opportunity to promote understanding and build communities.”
THE AMERICAN FRENCH FILM FESTIVAL 2022 SELECTION:
OPENING NIGHT FILM, MONDAY, OCTOBER 10: NOTRE-DAME ON FIRE / Notre-Dame Brûle (North American Premiere) is a blow-by-blow recreation of the gripping events that took place on April 15, 2019 when the cathedral suffered the biggest blaze in its history. The film retraces how heroic men and women put their lives on the line to accomplish an awe-inspiring rescue. The screening will be followed by a discussion with filmmaker Jean-Jacques Annaud.
CLOSING NIGHT FILM & SERIES: SUNDAY, OCTOBER 16: THE NIGHT OF THE 12TH / La Nuit du 12 (North American Premiere presented in association with Film Movement) - Dominik Moll’s thriller about a nagging cold case where the only certainty is the night it occurred was part of the 2022 Cannes Festival selection. Festival will dedicate its annual FOCUS ON A FILMMAKER to Moll. Also the series IRMA VEP, written and directed by Olivier Assayas, co-presented with A24 and HBO, will have its world theatrical
premiere at the Festival on closing day.
CINEMA SELECTION also includes:
• BLAZING NEON / Du crépitement sous les néons (World Premiere) – Written and directed by Kevin Ossona and Fabrice Garçon. Co-written by Sherazade Khalladi.
• DIARY OF A FLEETING AFFAIR / Chronique d’une liaison passagère (North American Premiere) – Written and directed by Emmanuel Mouret. Co-written by Pierre Giraud.
• DIVERTIMENTO / Divertimento (International Premiere) - Written and directed by Marie-Castille Mention-Schaar. Co-written by Clara Bourreau.
• EVERYBODY LOVES JEANNE / Tout le monde aime Jeanne (North American Premiere) - Written and directed by Céline Devaux.
• FALCON LAKE (West Coast Premiere) – Written and directed by Charlotte Lebon. Co-written by François Choquet and Karim Boucherka. Winner of the D’Ornano Valenti Prize, an award supported by The Franco American Cultural Fund.
• FINAL CUT / Coupez! (West Coast Premiere) – Written and directed by Academy Award-winner Michel Hazanavicius.
• FULL TIME / A Plein Temps (Los Angeles Premiere) - Written and directed by Eric Gravel.
• LIE WITH ME / Arrête avec tes mensonges (North American Premiere) - Written and directed by Olivier Peyon. Co-written by Olivier Peyon, Vincent Poymiro, Cécilia Rouaud and Arthur Cahn.
• LOVE ACCORDING TO DALVA / Dalva (U.S. Premiere) - Written and directed by Emmanuelle Nicot.
• MARIA INTO LIFE / Maria rêve (North American Premiere) - Written and directed by Lauriane Escaffre and Yvonnick Muller.
• METRONOM (West Coast Premiere) - Written and directed by Alexandru Belc.
• MOTHER AND SON / Un petit frère (Los Angeles Premiere) - Written and directed by Léonor Serraille.
• RUMBA THERAPY / Rumba la Vie (U.S. Premiere) - Written and directed by Franck Dubosc.
• SON OF RAMSES / Goutte d’or (North American Premiere) - Written and directed by Clément Cogitor. Co-written by Thomas Bidegain, Fanny Burdino, Camille Lugan and Nadja Dumouchel.
• SOULA (North American Premiere) – Written and directed by Salah Issaad. Co-written by Soula Bahri.
• SOUTH SENTINEL / Sentinelle sud (North American Premiere) – Written and directed by Mathieu Gerault.
• THE INNOCENT / L’Innocent (North American Premiere) – Written and directed by Louis Garrel. Cowritten by Tanguy Viel and Naïla Guiget.
• TWO OF KIND / Jumeaux mais pas trop (North American Premiere) - Written and directed by Olivier Ducray and Wilfried Méance. Co-written by Jean-Paul Bathany.
In addition to THE NIGHT OF THE 12TH presented with Film Movement, several films will premiere in Hollywood at the The American French Film Festival in association with U.S. distributors:
• A FAMILY FOR 1640 DAYS / La Vraie Famille (U.S. Premiere) - Written and directed by FabienGorgeart (Distrib Films U.S).
• CORSAGE (West Coast Premiere) - Written and directed by Marie Kreutzer (IFC FIlms)
• HAWA (U.S. Premiere) - Written and directed by Maimouna Doucouré (Amazon Prime)
• NOBODY’S HERO / Viens je t’emmène (U.S. Premiere) Written and directed by Alain Guiraudie. Cowritten by Laurent Lunetta. (Strand Releasing)
• RISE / En Corps (West Coast Premiere) - Written and directed by Cédric Klapisch. Co-written by Santiago Amigorena. (Blue Fox entertainment)
• RODEO (Los Angeles Premiere) - Written and directed by Lola Quivoron. Co-written by Antonia Buresi. (Music Box Films)
• THE WORST ONES / Les Pires (U.S. Premiere) - Written and directed by Lise Akoka and Romane Gueret. Co-written by Elénore Gurrey. (Kino Lorber)
The festival will also make the first theatrical presentation in North of America of the Netflix epic/drama ATHENA, written and directed by Romain Gavras.
TELEVISION SELECTION:
• CIRCLES OF POWER / Jeux d’Influence: Les Combattantes (Series - International Premiere) - Written and directed by Academy Award-Winning director Jean-Xavier De Lestrade.
• EN GARDE / Touchées (TV Movie - North American Premiere) – Written and directed by Alexandra Lamy. Co-written by Solen Roy-Pagenault, Quentin Zuttion and Alexandra Lamy.
• INFINITI S1 (Series - U.S. Premiere) - Written and Directed by Thierry Poiraud. Co-written by Stéphane Pannier and Julie Vanlerenberghe.
• MOM, DON’T LET ME FALL ASLEEP / Maman ne me laisse pas m’endormir (TV Movie - International Premiere) - Directed by Sylvie Testud. Written by Juliette Boudre, Nathalie Hugon and Lorraine Lévy.
• OFF SEASON S1 / Hors Saison (Series - North American Premiere) - Directed by Pierre Monnard. Written by Claire Kanny, Sarah Farkas and Marine Flores-Ruimi.
• PLAYDATE / L’Invitation (TV Movie - North American Premiere) - Written and directed by Fred Grivois. Co-written by Nicolas Brigaud-Robert.
• REIGN SUPREME S1 / Le Monde de demain (North American Premiere) - Written and directed by Katell Quillévéré and Helier Cistern. Co-written by Raphaël Chevènement, Nour Ben Salem, David Elkaim, Vincent Poymiro and Laurent Rigoulet. (Netflix)
• SOLDIERS S1 / Les Sentinelles (Series - North American Premiere) - Directed by Jean-Philippe Amar. Written by Thibaut Valetoux and Frédéric Krivine.
• THE AEROBICS PROJECT S1 / Toutouyoutou (Series - International Premiere) - Written and directed by Julien Party. Co-written by Maxime Donzel, Géraldine de Margerie, and Benjamin Adam.
• UNCOUPLING S1 / L’Amour Flou (Series - North American Premiere) - Written and directed by Romane Bohringer. Co-written by Philippe Rebbot, Gábor Rassov, and Lou Bohringer.
• WHAT’S WRONG WITH MY FAMILY? / Qu’est-ce qu’elle a ma famille? (TV Movie - North American Premiere) - Written and directed by Helene Angel. Co-written by Marie Deshaires and Catherine Touzet.
In addition to ATHENA (Netflix) and IRMA VEP (HBO Max), two other programs already available in theUS will be part of the competition for The American French Film Festival Awards:
• MISKINA / Miskina la pauvre (Series - Special Presentation) - Written and directed by Melha Bedia. Co-written by Melha Bedia, Yoann Gromb, Xavier Lacille, Mehdi Fikri and Paul Rotman. (Amazon Prime Video)
• PETER VON KANT (Special Presentation) - Written and directed by Francois Ozon. (Strand Releasing)
The line-up will also include a Documentary selection, a Classic Program paying homage to Jean-Luc Godard, Jacques Perrin, and Jean-Louis Trintignant, and celebrating Alice Guy, the Short Film competition with 20 new films, and the High School Screenings Program. Information on those selections can be found at www.theamericanfrenchfilmfestival.org.
This year the festival will dedicate its FOCUS ON A FILMMAKER to Dominik Moll (THE NIGHT OF THE 12TH), its FOCUS ON A PRODUCER to Charles Gillibert (NOBODY’S HERO, RODEO & the restored version of THE MOTHER AND THE WHORE), and its FOCUS ON A COMPOSER to Eric Neveux (SOLDIERS).
Everyday, from Tuesday to Saturday, festival goers will be invited to attend professional panels for free, followed by a complimentary wine and cheese reception. The complete program will be available online at www.theamericanfrenchfilmfestival.org.
THE AMERICAN FRENCH FILM FESTIVAL AWARDS
The American French Film Festival audience will be invited to vote in the three categories: Cinema, Television, and Shorts. For the 14th year, The Los Angeles Film Critics Association (LAFCA) will partner with The Festival for the Critics’ Award and the First Feature Award in the cinema category.
For the fifth year, a student jury made of high school and college students, will vote for The American Students Award. A professional jury will vote for the Best Short Film.
The complete recipient list of the 2022 Awards will be announced on Wednesday, November 2 during a special ceremony taking place in Paris with all recipients attending.
THE AMERICAN FRENCH FILM FESTIVAL AWARDS are presented in association with TV5 Monde USA and AIR TAHITI NUI.
All Films are presented with English subtitles.
TICKETS AND COVID RESTRICTIONS:
Tickets are available for advance purchase online at www.theamericanfrenchfilmfestival.org starting on September 22. The online box office and RSVP will be open until the night before each show at the festival. Tickets will be also available on site at the Directors Guild of America, 7920 Sunset Boulevard, Los Angeles CA 90046 during the event. For sold out shows, some tickets may become available 20 minutes before each screening. Please visit www.theamericanfrenchfilmfestival.org for box office hours, week-long passes, and ticket prices. Discounts are available for members of American Cinematheque, ASC, ICG, Film Independent, SAG-AFTRA and Women in Film. Limited opening night tickets available at
the Box Office. Tickets are complimentary for DGA and WGAW guild members. All screenings and events before 4 pm during weekdays are free on a first-come/first-served basis with no reservation needed.
Masks must be worn at all times in the DGA’s public spaces, including theaters, lobby and restrooms. Covid rules may change depending on state and city restrictions. Visit our website for updates.
