Over 13,000 moviegoers attended the 2nd Franco-Mexican Film Festival in Mexico (November 18-20).
The Diana Cinepolis multiplex, which hosted the festival for the first time this year and which was entirely dedicated to French cinema over the three-day event, can pride itself on the success of this year’s event. The complex’s eight theaters, located in the heart of Mexico, programmed the French films selected several times per day to full houses.
13,000 spectators turned out at the event, filling 90% of seats at the cinema complex, enjoying a selection of 10 French feature films as well as debates with French actors and directors in town to present their films. Posters of these films were widely circulated in advertising spots during the event.
A wide-scale publicity campaign for the event had been launched in October in the local media, with a trailer of the films presented broadcast on two Mexican television channels and in all of the multiplexes in the Cinepolis theater network (Mexico’s leading operator, with 5 multiplexes in the country).
French artists took part in close to 150 interviews with journalists from the major Mexican media, who will publish their articles to coincide with the commercial release of the films.
The organizers of the event – Unifrance, the French Embassy in Mexico, IMCINE, together with support from the EFM (an association of French businesses based in Mexico) – are delighted with the success of this event. They are now applying themselves to developing and planning the 2006 edition of the event, which may possibly feature a regional film market.
The selection and delegation present at the 2004 festival:
“Après vous” by Pierre Salvadori (Gussi)
“Secret Agents” by Frédéric Schoendoerffer
“Arsène Lupin” by Jean-Paul Salomé (PWI)
“A Common Thread” by Eléonore Faucher (Cinemas Nueva Era)
“Exiles” by Tony Gatlif (Cinemas Nueva Era)
“Immortel” by Enki Bilal (PWI)
“Lila dit ça” by Ziad Doueiri (Cinemas Nueva Era)
“Monsieur N.” by Antoine de Caunes (Arthaus – Quality)
"Nid de guêpes" by Florent Emilio Siri (Alfhaville (ex - NuVision)
“Qui perd gagne!” by Laurent Bénégui
Along with Margaret Menegoz, president of Unifrance, the directors Antoine de Caunes, Pierre Salvadori, Ziad Doueiri, Jean-Paul Salomé, Frédéric Schoendoerffer and actors Marilyne Canto, Lubna Azabal, Romain Duris, Vahina Giocante, Lola Naymark, Linda Hardy, Nadia Fares and Elsa Zylberstein presented their films and met with the Mexican media.
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