For the second year running, Film Europe—the major distributor in the Czech Republic and Slovakia—is holding a festival in Slovakia of preview screenings of French films that they have acquired and which are scheduled for upcoming release in theaters around the country.
This Crème de la Crème Festival is currently being held in Bratislava and 13 provincial cities from March 12 through 18. 8 French films are to be presented in preview screenings: Two Days, One Night, Violette, Diplomacy, Love Is the Perfect Crime, Love at First Fight, Clouds of Sils Maria, 3 Hearts, and Goodbye to Language. Audiences will also have the chance to see a program of 9 less recent films, some of which were released by companies other than Film Europe and which are guaranteed to attract additional spectators to the event: Jimmy P. (Psychotherapy of a Plains Indian), 17 Girls, Camille Claudel 1915, La Vie en rose, Robert Mitchum is Dead, Tour de Force (which opened last year's festival in the presence of Laurent Tuel), Haute Cuisine, Blue is the Warmest Color, and Another Woman's Life.
This festival with a highly innovative concept and format obviously benefits from support from the French Embassy, the Institut Français, and Unifrance, although this year's event is being held without the presence of French actors and directors. Despite registering 170,000 admissions for French films in 2013 (with 41 new titles hitting the screens!) and despite French productions capturing 4.5% of the market, Slovakia was unfortunately not considered a priority destination for artists accompanying the international release of their films.
Nonetheless, considering the buzz that this event attracts, as well as the enthusiasm shown by audiences and local media outlets, Bratislava—which is located just a stone's throw from Vienna—could well be seen as the place to be in the near future.
The event's official website: http://cremedelacreme.filmeurope.eu/
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