The 30th French Film Festival in Yokohama, organized by Unifrance, opened on Thursday, December 1, 2022, with a strong artistic and professional delegation in attendance. Supporters and friends of the festival were also present in the magnificent, recently renovated Minato Mirai Hall in Yokohama, where a full house of 800 spectators had gathered.
A musical introduction performed at the piano by the Japanese composer Hiroko Sebu, who paid tribute to the great themes of French cinema, launched the evening, attended by many French talents who traveled to the event: Chloé Alliez, Martin Bourboulon, Antonia Buresi, Bruno Collet, Audrey Diwan, Violette Delvoye, Romain Duris, Frédéric Even, Héloïse Ferlay, Éric Gravel, Pascal Greggory, Mikhaël Hers, Louise Mercadier, Melvil Poupaud, Lola Quivoron, Alain Ughetto, Sarah Van Den Boom, Anamaria Vartolomei, and Benjamin Voisin. They were accompanied by the producers Olivier Delbosc, Édouard Weil, Mathieu Courtois, and Pierre Guyard.
Daniela Elstner, Executive Director of Unifrance: "What a thrill to be together in the beautiful and spacious Minato Mirai Hall, transformed tonight into a magnificent cinema. I would like to express our thanks to the Japanese spectators who have come out in such great numbers to celebrate the 30th anniversary of the French Film Festival. You have been loyal to our cinema for so long and this festival is for you."
The Mayor of Yokohama, Takeharu Yamanaka: "It is a great honor and pleasure for me, as Mayor of Yokohama, to host the 30th anniversary of the French Film Festival in Japan. This festival, of which Yokohama is the nerve center, is a major cultural event between Japan and France.."
After a speech by Mr. Philippe Setton, Ambassador of France in Japan, Martin Bourboulon, the director of Eiffel, the opening film, accompanied by its star Romain Duris, and the festival's muse Yuriko Ishida, declared the festival officially open, Romain Duris added to the Japanese audience: "Japan is a country that makes me dream. Thank you for being here, thank you for your curiosity about French films."
Finally, before the screening got underway, Yukiko Tanigawa (Kino Films), Eiffel's distributor in Japan, expressed her affection for the film: "We are honored to distribute this work, which pays tribute to a monument known to all Japanese and which embodies the essence of Paris. We sincerely hope that this special screening will create bridges between Japan and France. We are also very pleased to be able to welcome director Martin Bourboulon and his film's actor Romain Duris to Japan on this occasion."
In addition to the official screening, the launch continued with a drive-in session, where viewers were able to experience Eiffel from the comfort of their Nissan electric vehicle.
The festival will continue until December 4 in various theaters in the Minato Mirai district of Yokohama. Japanese spectators will be able to vote for their favorite film at the end of the screenings and thus nominate the Audience Award of the 2023 festival.
Master classes focusing on the acting profession and the links between literature and cinema will take place with Anamaria Vartolomei and Benjamin Voisin, while Eric Rohmer's cinema will be explored in another with the participation of Pascal Greggory, Melvil Poupaud, and the Japanese filmmaker Kōji Fukada.
Rounding off the event, a special program highlighting French stop-motion animation productions (around the directors Alain Ughetto, Bruno Collet, Sarah Van Den Boom, Heloïse Ferlay, Frédéric Even, Louise Mercadier, Chloé Alliez, and Violette Delvoye, and the producer Mathieu Courtois) is also scheduled, in partnership with the Institut Français in Tokyo.
The photo below brings these talents together, in the presence also of Koji Yamamura, director and artistic director of Hiroshima Animation Season, Kayo Kurita (Hiroshima Animation Season), Masako Kudo, general manager of Child Film, Honami Yano, director, Yamashita Yasushi (Wow Wow Plus), and Yuichi Ito, director and professor at the Osaka University of Arts
--> Discover below a portfolio of the highlights of the opening
Media Gallery
Yuriko Ishida, muse du festival
Anamaria Vartolomei et Audrey Diwan pour 'L'Evénement'
Antonia Buresi et Lola Quivoron pour 'Rodeo'
elvil Poupaud et Pascal Greggory pour 'Un beau matin'
Mikhaël Hers et le producteur Pierre Guyard pour 'Les Passagers de la nuit'
Le producteur Olivier Delbosc, Benjamin Voisin et Alexis Cassanet (Gaumont) pour 'Illusions perdues', avec Daniela Elstner (Unifrance)
Sur le toit du Minato Mirai pour la séance drive-in
