The 8th edition of the Young French Cinema program was launched in January 2021. The aim of the program remains the same as in past years: to offer a simple and flexible programming model for bringing a selection of contemporary French films that have not yet secured distributors to movie theaters and universities in North America, accompanied in some cases by masterclasses and discussions with the filmmakers.
The Young French Cinema program, presented by UniFrance and the Cultural Services of the French Embassy in the United States, will once again throw the spotlight on rising young French filmmakers whose works offer a blend of visually innovative approaches and cultural influences.
Offering a selection of independent films, high-profile documentaries, quirky discoveries, and a short film program, the 2021 edition of Young French Cinema will showcase a large number of films that were selected over the course of 2020 at the major film festivals around the world (Label Cannes, Venice, Rome, New York Film Festival (NYFF), Annecy), with the goal of making them accessible to American audiences outside of New York and Los Angeles.
In order to adapt to the restrictions imposed by the current health context due to the Covid-19 pandemic and the resulting closure of the majority of independent movie theaters in the US, North American program directors will be able to view the films presented in this year's Young French Cinema program free of charge in both online and physical screenings. For the first time, UniFrance is also offering a limited number of grants for theaters that commit to screening three or more feature films from the selection.
Furthermore, the partnership that was forged in 2020 with Kino Lorber for the short film program has been renewed this year: the New French Shorts selection will be available from May 2021 for online and physical screenings.
A complete presentation of the 2021 YFC Program is available in the attached file (see below, English version only).
The 2021 Selection
Feature films
- Gold For Dogs by Anna Cazenave Cambet
- Should the Wind Drop by Nora Martirosyan
- Skies of Lebanon by Chloé Mazlo
- The Monopoly of Violence by David Dufresne
- Faithful by Hélier Cisterne
- My Donkey, My Lover & I by Caroline Vignal
- Josep by Aurel
- Red Soil by Farid Bentoumi
- The End of Love by Keren Ben Rafael
Short films
- Genius Loci by Adrien Merigeau
- And then the Bear by Agnès Patron
- Haute Cuisine by Merryl Roche
- So What if the Goats Die by Sofia Alaoui
- Olla by Ariane Labed
- Sukar by Ilias El Faris
- By a Hair by Lauriane Escaffre, Yvonnick Muller
Due to the limited number of screenings in 2020, it has been decided that the 2020 selection will continue to be available for viewing throughout 2021.
2020 Feature films
- Particles by Blaise Harrison
- Twelve Thousand by Nadège Trebal
- As Happy As Possible by Alain Raoust
- Burning Ghost by Stéphane Batut
- Kongo by Hadrien La Vapeur
- 143, rue du Désert by Hassen Ferhani
- The Bare Necessity by Erwan Le Duc
- Delphine and Carole by Callisto Mc Nulty
- Real Love by Claire Burger
- Stars by the Pound by Marie-Sophie Chambon
2020 Short films
- The Tears Thing by Clémence Poésy
- The Distance Between Us and the Sky by Vasilis Kekatos
- Sheep, Wolf and a Cup of Tea… by Marion Lacourt
- Magnetic Harvest by Marine Levéel
- The Marvelous Misadventures of the Stone Lady by Gabriel Abrantes
- Tuesday from 8 to 6 by Cecilia De Arce
- Ahmed’s Song by Foued Mansour
- The Glorious Acceptance of Nicolas Chauvin by Benjamin Crotty
Recap of the 2020 Young French Cinema program
As was the case for many other events, the 2020 edition of Young French Cinema was severely affected by the global Covid-19 pandemic. The programming of films in the 2020 selection had only just begun when North American movie theaters were abruptly closed in mid-March, and only very few have reopened since that date.
By the end of the year, only around fifteen physical screenings had been held in Washington DC, Chicago, North Carolina, and at the Universities of Pennsylvania and Ohio.
A small number of directors were able to accompany their films to screenings held at the beginning of 2020, including Callisto Mc Nulty for Delphine and Carole and Stéphane Batut for Burning Ghost, but many visits by directors were canceled.
As a result, the following virtual screenings were organized:
- Around 80 online screenings of short films via the Kino Marquee platform
- Around 15 online screenings of YFC films selected in the Burning Bright series were organized by the FIAF, streamed via the Kino Marquee platform
- Around ten live online screenings were scheduled by theaters and festivals, notably for Stars by the Pound, The Bare Necessity, and Delphine and Carole, which were the most popular titles in 2020.
