MyFrenchFilmFestival has launched!

Argentinean director Pablo Trapero, president of the Filmmakers' Jury, officially launched MyFrenchFilmFestival last night in Paris during a gala event at the Automobile Club, Place de la Concorde. After making his mark in the new wave of Argentinean cinema with such films as El Bonaerense and Carancho, Trapero firmly established himself as one of Latin America's greatest filmmakers with the magnificent The Clan, which released last year. For this 7th edition of the festival, Pablo Trapero has honored us by accepting to be the president of the Filmmakers' Jury.

Renowned French and foreign directors accompany him as members of the jury. From France: Bertrand Bonello, director of On War, Saint Laurent, and the recent Nocturama, and Rebecca Zlotowski, whose Planetarium had its world premiere at TIFF (Toronto International Film Festival) 2016. Other jury members are Belgian director Fabrice Du Welz, behind The Ordeal and Alleluia, which won the 2016 MyFrenchFilmFestival Filmmakers' Jury Award. Last but not least, Shlomi Elkabetz, responsible for the magnificent trilogy To Take a Wife, 7 Days, and Gett, The Trial of Viviane Amsalem, co-directed with his sister Ronit Elkabetz, completes the Filmmakers' Jury 2017.

We here outline the 2017 selection, organized around singular themes representative of the diversity of French cinema. This year, features and shorts mingle together!

Growing up in the 20th century

Growing up? Yes, but in certain conditions! Fantasies, sexual exploration, and transgression are the order of the day in the journeys and experimentations of the teenagers in the Coming of Age section.

The films in Coming of Age:

Bang Gang (A Modern Love Story) by Eva Husson
The New Kid by Rudi Rosenberg
Parisienne by Danielle Arbid
The Demons by Philippe Lesage (Out of Competition, a Canadian film presented in partnership with Telefilm Canada)
1992 by Anthony Doncque
Overpass by Patrice Laliberté (Out of Competition, a Canadian film presented in partnership with Telefilm Canada)

Families: composed or reconstituted...

From Jean-Luc Godard to François Truffaut, and not forgetting François Ozon and Arnaud Desplechin, the family home has always provided a prime setting in French cinema. From laughter to tears, a simple event can cause the family microcosm to be soldered together or shattered apart...

The films in We Are Family:

Marguerite et Julien by Valérie Donzelli
Ogres by Léa Fehner
Prejudice byAntoine Cuypers (in Competition, a Belgian film presented in partnership with Wallonie-Bruxelles Images (WBI))
In Deep Waters by Sarah Van Den Boom
A Town Called Panic: Back to School by Vincent Patar and Stéphane Aubier (in Competition, a Belgian film presented in partnership with Wallonie-Bruxelles Images (WBI))

Emotionalism in the French style

In the Love & Friendship section, groups form and break apart according to the rhythm of encounters and departures. To stay or to leave, move forward alone or accompanied, it's up to you to choose...

The films in Love & Friendship:

This Summer Feeling by Mikhaël Hers
Juliet's Band by Aurélien Peyre
The Geneva Convention by Benoît Martin
The Last Frenchman by Pierre-Emmanuel Urcun
Of Shadows and Wings by Eleonora Marinoni and Elice Meng (Out of Competition, a Swiss film presented in partnership with SWISS FILMS)

Totally crazy

With its highly colorful heroes, French cinema has always accorded a special place to tortured souls. From obsession to obsession, the Psycho section explores the imagination of characters searching for vengeance or redemption.

The films in Psycho:

A Decent Man by Emmanuel Finkiel
Faultless by Sébastien Marnier
Moka by Frédéric Mermoud (Out of Competition, a Swiss film presented in partnership with SWISS FILMS)
Group Violence by Karim Boukercha

French women

French women are a myth: bold, refined, and often ahead of their time, they feed the flames of fantasy around the globe. This special place is confirmed in the cinematic world: both present in front of and behind the camera, a broad range of French women can be encountered in A Woman’s Life.

The films in A Woman’s Life:

I'm All Yours by Baya Kasmi
Cleo from 5 to 7 by Agnès Varda (Out of Competition, a classic French film)
Flesh and Volcanoes by Clémence Demesme
Veil of Silence by Julie Gourdain
Mother(s) by Maïmouna Doucouré
4XD by Philippe Labro (Out of Competition, a classic French film)

MyFrenchFilmFestival pays homage this year to Françoise Dorléac. A true legend, the actress, who died tragically young in 1967, will be honored through a segment, unseen until now, of the short film 4XD, commissioned by Unifrance in 1964 and directed by the then novice filmmaker Philippe Labro. This gem from the Unifrance achives is offered to all film enthusiasts across the globe on MyFrenchFilmFestival

Midnight screenings (for older audiences)

For the first time, MyFrenchFilmFestival offers a demonic and off the wall section doused in blood, sex, and, most of all, humor! The Midnight Screenings are available exclusively on the festival platform.