Third edition of the Young French Cinema program

19 OCTOBER 2016

The third installment of the Young French Cinema program will kick off in January 2017. Its objective: to offer a simple and flexible programming model for presenting a selection of contemporary French films that have not secured a distributor, through screenings held in theaters and universities around North America, some of which are accompanied by master classes and debates held in the presence of the films' directors.

The 2017 Young French Cinema program will once again shine a spotlight on a young generation of filmmakers with a global vision who create films that combine innovative visual styles and cultural influences. This year, new-generation French cinema has audaciously ventured into political territory to question our world, even, at times, to reinvent it—a theme that will no doubt appeal to American audiences and students.

Including independent works, high-profile documentaries, quirky discoveries, and exciting short films, the 2017 Young French Cinema program will showcase many of the French films that have been showcased at major international films in 2016 in order to make them accessible to American audiences outside New York and Los Angeles.

Launched in 2014 by the Cultural Services of the Ambassade de France in the USA in collaboration with Unifrance, the Young French Cinema program is also accessible in Canada via a partnership with Telefilm Canada and UniFrance. The 2017 selection also includes the independent French-Canadian film Ville-Marie by Guy Edoin.

The 20 films selected (12 feature films, including one Canadian production, and 8 shorts) are made available to commercial theaters, universities, the Alliance Française network, and nonprofit organizations. Features can be rented for a $300 booking fee per screening, or as a complete program package. Short films are also available for single screenings ($40 per screening), or as a complete program, as is the event's promotional material (brochure and trailers). This system of offering theaters screenings à la carte allows for the possibility of repeated screenings of films and presentations of the program in the form of a mini-festival.
Thanks to our sponsor Eclair, all films will be available in DCP quality on Eclair’s CineConductor, an online platform for content management. Blu-Ray media is available on request. All films in the program will be accessible for screening for the first time on Festivalscope.

94 screenings in 2016

Due to the flexibility and simplicity of the programming model, 94 screenings of films from the Young French Cinema program have been organized in 2016 in 23 cities/venues in North America since the event's launch in January.

Venues that wish to organize master classes with a director or actor from one of the films can contact UniFrance to apply for travel funding to bring the French artist to the United States.

For the 2016 program, Alix Delaporte traveled to Porto Rico and New York to present The Last Hammer Blow, while Stéphane Demoustier accompanied 40-Love to the Sherbrooke World Film Festival, Jean-Charles Hue introduced Eat Your Bones in New Orleans, and Rabah Ameur-Zaïmeche is scheduled to make the trip to New York, Boston, and Saint-Louis to accompany screenings of Story of Judas.