The 10th edition of the festival French Cinema Today in Kazakhstan will take place in Almaty, the country's cultural capital, from April 11 through 14.
2019 marks the tenth consecutive year that UniFrance, with support from the French Embassy in Kazakhstan, has hosted this festival whose goal is to promote the commercial release of French films in this country that still remains little known.
With a population of 18 million, Kazakhstan today counts 292 new movie theaters and 17.6 million spectators annually—and the current growth in movie screens combined with the country's economic recovery since the recession of 2015–2016 promise far higher figures in the years ahead.
With around thirty new French titles released in Kazakhstan each year (all of which are acquired from French sales companies by Russian distributors, due to the fact that the national theatrical market remains dependent on the Russian market), French cinema ranks as the 4th most popular in the country, after American, Russian, and Kazakh films. It is for this reason that UniFrance actively supports the hard work and commitment of local Kazakh distributors to back French films, particularly the efforts made by Baourjane Choukenov, distributor and exhibitor with the Arman cinema chain, which is a partner of this initiative.
The following six films are included in this year's festival selection (all of which will be released in commercial theaters after the event):
As is the case each year, this selection of films presented in preview screenings will be accompanied by a short film program:
- Pauline Enslaved de Charline Bourgeois-Tacquet
- Taste It de Stéphane Baz
- Fatiya de Marion Desseigne-Ravel
- Riviera de Jonas Schloesing
- Bavure de Donato Sansone
- Speck of Dust de Léopold Kraus
- Los Días de los muertos de Pauline Pinson
- By a Hair de Lauriane Escaffre, Yvonnick Muller
- Embraced de Justine Vuylsteker
