The 8th edition of French Cinema Today in Kazakhstan will take place in the cultural capital of Almaty, from April 22 through 24, 2017.
Unifrance, with support from the French Embassy in Kazakhstan, will organize, for the eighth consecutive year, an event aimed at promoting French films releasing commercially in this little known country.
With a population of almost 18 million inhabitants, Kazakhstan today boasts 260 brand new theaters and a potential of 12 million spectators, but the growth of cinema screens and the economic recovery now beginning after the serious crisis of 2015-2016 promises far higher figures in the years ahead.
With thirty new French titles releasing in Kazakhstan each year (all bought from French sales agents by Russian distributors due to the domestic market still being completely subservient to the Russian market), French cinema occupies fourth position in terms of that the most seen in the country, after American, Russian, and Kazakhstani cinema. It is for this reason that UniFrance will be at the event to support the in-depth work carried out by the country's distributors in favor of French films, and more particularly that of Baourjane Choukenov, the distributor and exhibitor director of the Arman theater chain and partner of this operation.
The reinforced support of the French Embassy will allow, for the first time, the festival to travel from the country's largest city, Almaty, to its capital Astana.
The six films of the selection (which will then be released commercially):
- In the Forests of Siberia by Safy Nebbou (in the presence of Safy Nebbou and Evgueni Sidikhine)
- Mr Stein Goes Online by Stéphane Robelin (in the presence of Stéphane Robelin and Yaniss Lespert)
- Dalida by Lisa Azuelos
- My Life as a Courgette by Claude Barras
- If I Were a Boy by Audrey Dana
- The Midwife by Martin Provost
