The 9th edition of French Cinema Today in Kazakhstan will take place in Almaty, the cultural capital, from April 12 through 15.
UniFrance is organizing, for the ninth consecutive year, an event aimed at promoting French films releasing theatrically in this country, which remains little known to many people.
With a population of almost 18 million inhabitants, Kazakhstan today has 292 brand new cinemas and 14.5 million spectators, but the growth in the number of screens and the economic recovery now underway after the serious crisis of 2015-2016 augur well for a rise in figures in the years ahead.
With thirty new French titles released on Kazakhstan screens each year – all bought from French sales agents by Russian distributors, the national market still being completely subordinate to the Russian market – films from France hold 4th place in terms of the nationality the most seen, after America, Russia, and Kazakhstan. For this reason, UniFrance comes to support the in-depth work undertaken by the country's distributors in favor of French cinema, and in particular by Baourjane Choukenov, a distributor and exhibitor (Arman cinema chain), who partners this event.
The six films in the selection (which will all release theatrically later):
- My Brilliant Divorce by Michèle Laroque
- Everyone's Life by Claude Lelouch
- (Girl) Friend by Victor Saint Macary
- Taxi 5 by Franck Gastambide
- Mrs. Hyde by Serge Bozon
- Mektoub, My Love : Canto Uno by Abdellatif Kechiche
his selection of premiere screenings is complemented, each year, by a program of short films:
- Grandpa Walrus by Lucrèce Andreae
- Marlon, by Jessica Palud
- The Winkles by Alice Vial
- The Stroke by Morgane Polanski
- Delectable You by Axel Courtière
- Kapitalistis by Pablo Muñoz Gomez
- Negative Space by Max Porter & Ru Kuwahata
- French by Josza Anjembe
- Garden Party by Florian Babikian, Vincent Bayoux, Victor Caire, Théophile Dufresne, Gabriel Grapperon, Lucas Navarro
