An event organized by UniFrance in collaboration with the French Embassy in China, the 17th French Film Panorama in China will open in Beijing on December 3. The festival, which is usually held in June, will be held in this period of the year for the first time as movie theaters were closed from January to July due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
The eight feature films in this year's Panorama lineup, all titles proposed by Chinese distributors, reflect the diversity of the French movie industry by presenting a combination of established directors, up-and-coming filmmakers, and well-known actors (including Fanny Ardant, Juliette Binoche, Emmanuelle Bercot, Catherine Deneuve, Virginie Efira, Adèle Exarchopoulos, Daniel Auteuil, Guillaume Canet, and Kad Merad, among others). This year's selection also explores the full spectrum of French cinema, ranging from comedies to animated films and family dramas.
Panorama lineup 2020
- The Big Hit by Emmanuel Courcol
- Happy Birthday by Cédric Kahn
- I Lost My Body by Jérémy Clapin
- La Belle Epoque by Nicolas Bedos
- The Truth by Hirokazu Kore-Eda
- The Salt of Tears by Philippe Garrel
- Sibyl by Justine Triet
- All Hands on Deck by Guillaume Brac
Ambassador 2020
Representing China this year is the celebrated actor Huang Xiaoming, who is the ambassador of the 2020 event. The star of films by John Woo, Chen Kaige, Peter Chan, and Feng Xiaogang (to name but a few directors), Huang also coproduced the Franco-Chinese film Long Day's Journey into Night directed by Bi Gan. He will be presented with the prestigious "Chevalier des Arts & Lettres" by S.E. Laurent Bili, France's Ambassador to China, during the Panorama's opening ceremony.
Due to the current circumstances and the health constraints imposed by the pandemic, the film crew members from the productions presented this year will be accompanying their films virtually (as it is not possible to be physically present), thanks to pre-recorded video messages that will introduce the films to Chinese audiences prior to screenings.
A traveling festival
Film screenings will be held in theaters in the cinema networks owned by our festival partners, Lumière Pavilions and Broadway Cinemas, as well as at the Prosperous Era in Sanya. The French Film Panorama will travel to ten cities from December 2020 to January 2021, with each city holding an opening ceremony to launch the festival. The cities taking part in the 2020 Panorama are Chengdu, Dalian, Guangzhou, Kunming, Beijing, Sanya, Shanghai, Shenzhen, Wuhan, and Xi'an.
Two masterclasses will be held in collaboration with the Beijing Film Institute. For one of these masterclasses, Fanny Ardant will take part in a discussion with Nicolas Bedos and Serge Toubiana, and for the other, Jérémy Clapin will talk about his work as a director of animated films. The masterclasses will also include screenings of La Belle Epoque and I Lost My Body, as well as Q&As with students.
A French Cinema Award to be presented to Lumière Pavilions
During the festival's opening ceremony in Wuhan, a city that has paid a heavy price for the Covid-19 outbreak, a French Cinema Award will be presented to Lumière Pavilions, who have for many years made an important contribution to expanding the visibility of French films in China by hosting film screenings for the French Film Panorama and by programming numerous French films in their cinemas. Jane Shao, president of Lumière Pavilions, will receive the award—a trophy created by the Maison Daum, which was founded in 1878. With this trophy designed by Jean Lamore, the Maison Daum wishes to offer a magical work representing the wings of a white crystal angel, which serves as a veritable symbol of the pure emotion of aesthetic pleasure.
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