To mark the end of the 27th edition of the Rendez-Vous With French Cinema in New York, Unifrance and Film at Lincoln Center are delighted to announce that the 3rd Rendez-Vous Audience Award has been given to Rise by Cédric Klapisch (with a Special Mention for A Tale of Love and Desire by Leyla Bouzid), and that Anaïs in Love by Charline Bourgeois-Tacquet has received the very first Best Emerging Filmmaker Award, selected by a jury composed of six university students.
Rise, the new film by Cédric Klapisch, has received the third Audience Award (after The Dazzled in 2020 and Little Girl in 2021), while A Tale of Love and Desire was honored with a Special Mention.
Cédric Klapisch responded to the announcement of this award with the following statement: "I am very, very happy to have won the Audience Award. In Rise, my aim was to talk about dance in an inclusive way and to share my passion for dance, even with those who don't consider that dance is for them. I am deeply touched that New York audiences chose this film in particular among the 22 titles presented!"
"What a pleasure it is to present my film at the legendary Film at Lincoln Center!" stated the director Leyla Bouzid. "As Jim Jarmusch said at the opening of the Rendez-Vous, 'It is important to celebrate the beautiful things that people create.' To hear that audiences in New York were moved by my film, by the complex emotions of Ahmed and Farah, their sensuality and their desire, and by Arabic poetry, makes me all the more thrilled. Long live the magic of cinema!"
This 27th edition of the event also saw the creation of the brand new Best Emerging Filmmaker Award, a prize that seeks to draw attention to the unique cinematic viewpoint of emerging French filmmakers and their interpretation of the new and diverse identities of France.
Six university students were invited to join the Student Jury and select the Best Emerging Filmmaker among the first or second films included in the festival lineup. They chose Anaïs in Love by Charline Bourgeois-Tacquet, which will hit movie screens in the USA on April 29, followed by VOD release on May 6, distributed by Magnolia Pictures.
Charline Bourgeois-Tacquet reacted to this award with the following message: "I am very moved that my film was well received by these students, who are at once far from me (in age and geographically) and close to me (by our shared passion for cinema). I am also very touched that they could relate to the story I created, and to its cinematic form."
The jury also gave an Honorable Mention to Our Men by Rachel Lang.
Extremely positive feedback from a festival "returning to normality"
After the 2020 festival that had no delegation in attendance and was halted midway due to the pandemic, then the 2021 event that was held entirely online, expectations were high for this 27th edition of the Rendez-Vous. Despite their fears, audiences came out in force: tickets for the opening film (Both Sides of the Blade by Claire Denis) were sold out in a matter of hours, with theaters packed for many of screenings. A total of nearly 7,000 spectators showed themselves to be keen to discover the best of recent French film productions and to meet with the directors and leading cast members.
American press outlets also offered active coverage of the festival, with extensive and eye-catching articles published, notably in the New York Times, the New Yorker, and the NY Mag. And, as is the case each year, the festival provided an opportunity to highlight the fact that the mutual admiration, and the collaboration, between French and American artists is alive and kicking, with notably the presence of Jim Jarmusch as this year's festival patron. Finally, the desire to increase the appeal of the event to younger audiences is proving fruitful: the 8 master classes organized with New York universities, the Student Jury, the free screenings held in schools, and the open festival passes made available to young people all contributed to the efficiency of this rejuvenation.
In this way, thanks to the attendance of French actors and directors, as well as sales agents and producers, the festival was perceived by professionals, journalists, and audiences in New York as the symbol of a new departure, a return to normality after two highly difficult years for the movie industry in the United States. Two films even succeeded in securing US distributors at the professional meetings, and a third film has a distribution deal in the pipeline.
Media Gallery
Le jury étudiant du premier Best Emerging Filmmaker Award
