Paris 36

Shot between October 2008 and March 2009, this documentary gives us the lowdown on the current state of affairs for French films around the world. The film follows the travels of a host of French actors and directors participating in around a dozen promotional initiatives organized by Unifrance, including French film festivals, international film festivals, previews and premiere screenings, press junkets, and so forth.

Among artists featured are Laurent Cantet, who was in New York to present his film Entre les murs (The Class), Agnès Varda taking part in interviews in Paris, Juliette Binoche as president of the Tokyo French Film Festival, Cédric Klapisch introducing his film Paris in Moscow, Josiane Balasko promoting her film Cliente (Client aka A French Gigolo) in Rome, Dany Boon promoting Le Code a changé (Change of Plans) in Brussels, and Gérard Jugnot presenting Faubourg 36 (Paris 36) in Australia.

These artists offer us their off-the-cuff comments and impressions during breaks between interviews, photo sessions, press conferences, at gala dinners, premiere screenings, meetings with audiences, and other promotional events.

This 60-minute documentary, which was made possible thanks to the participation of the CNC and Canal+, takes us backstage at these cultural and promotional initiatives around the world and gives us an insight into one of the aspects of Unifrance’s day-to-day work in support of French cinema.