As is the case every year, the small Swiss town of Bienne will soon be transformed into a crossroads of French-language cinema, with the 12th edition of the Biel/Bienne French Film Festival (Festival du Film Français d'Helvétie) to be held from September 14 through 18. Around twenty special guests and sixty films will represent the colors of the French flag, as reflected in the festival's logo on the event's ever-stylish official poster.
The festival program brings together several sections, including the Grand Premieres program, which will showcase the eagerly-awaited titles From the Land of the Moon by Nicole Garcia, Heal the Living From the Land of the Moon by Katell Quillévéré, and Cézanne and I From the Land of the Moon by Danièle Thompson, as well as the Swiss Premieres section, which includes the latest films by Trần Anh Hùng, Joachim Lafosse, and Justine Triet.
In the Horizon section, audiences will have the chance to discover The Salesman by Asghar Farhadi, Polina From the Land of the Moon by Angelin Preljocaj & Valérie Müller, and The Dancer by Stéphanie Di Giusto.
The Discovery section (which includes short films in competition) will present recent films by Audrey Estrougo, Bouli Lanners, Lola Doillon, and Vatché Boulghourjian.
The festival will host a pre-opening ceremony featuring a screening of A Woman's Life by Stéphane Brizé. The Dardenne brothers are to be special guests of the Encounters section, for which they will take part in a discussion between artists and audiences on stage at the Rex Cinema.
This year, it is Ariane Ascaride who lent her talent, wit, and eloquence to the creation of the festival's now customary highly-fictionalized trailer, which you can watch here.
All further information can be found on the festival's official website.
Artistic Delegation:
- Luc Dardenne and Jean-Pierre Dardenne for The Unknown Girl
- Fiona Gordon and Dominique Abel for Lost in Paris
- Noémie Merlant and Marie-Castille Mention-Schaar for Heaven Will Wait
- Stéphane Brizé for A Woman's Life
- Joachim Lafosse for After Love
- Corentin Fila and Kacey Mottet Klein for Being Seventeen
- Valérie Müller for Polina
- Muriel Coulin and Delphine Coulin for The Stopover
- Benoît Lange for Docteur Jack
- Sophie Reine for The Fabulous Patars
Selections
Grand Premieres:
- Cézanne and I by Danièle Thompson
- Louise by the Shore by Jean-François Laguionie
- Lost in Paris by Dominique Abel, Fiona Gordon
- From the Land of the Moon by Nicole Garcia
- The Eavesdropper by Thomas Kruithof
- Heartstrings by Michel Boujenah
- Penny Pincher! by Fred Cavayé
- The Unknown Girl by Jean-Pierre Dardenne, Luc Dardenne
- The Fabulous Patars by Sophie Reine
- Heaven Will Wait by Marie-Castille Mention-Schaar
- Heal the Living by Katell Quillévéré
- Tour de France by Rachid Djaïdani
Discovery Section:
- Tramontane by Vatché Boulghourjian
- Inside the Cell by Nicolas Boukhrief
- The First the Last by Bouli Lanners
- Fanny's Journey by Lola Doillon
- Jailbirds by Audrey Estrougo
FFFH Section:
- Irreplaceable by Thomas Lilti
- Roommates Wanted by François Desagnat
- Elle by Paul Verhoeven
- Slack Bay by Bruno Dumont
- Being Seventeen by André Téchiné
- Saint Amour by Gustave Kervern, Benoît Delépine
- Up for Love by Laurent Tirard
Swiss Premieres:
- Eternity by Trần Anh Hùng
- After Love by Joachim Lafosse
- In Bed with Victoria by Justine Triet
- Fanny's Journey by Lola Doillon
- Frantz by François Ozon
- The Stopover by Muriel Coulin, Delphine Coulin
- Divines by Houda Benyamina
Horizon:
- The Salesman by Asghar Farhadi
- Polina by Angelin Preljocaj, Valérie Müller
- The Red Turtle by Michael Dudok De Wit
- The Dancer by Stéphanie Di Giusto
Clin d'œil au Cinéma Suisse (A Nod to Swiss Cinema):
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