French and American media representatives met at Club Unifrance today, in the presence of directors Agnès Varda and Claire Denis, to launch the "On Set With French Cinema" program.
Unifrance and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs have got together to organize a brand new program entitled "On Set with French Cinema," in partnership with 8 of America’s most highly regarded universities on the East and West coast, MOMA in New York and the American Cinematheque in Los Angeles.
For this first-time event, seven French directors chosen by the universities involved – Claire Denis, Agnès Varda, Olivier Assayas, Costa-Gavras, Cédric Klapisch, Patrice Leconte and Claude Miller – will offer "their cinema lessons" to MFA (Master of Fine Arts) students in October and November, 2003.
Each director will travel to 3 universities in New York or Los Angeles to share his or her experiences as a movie director, screenwriter and director of actors, and will present 5 feature films. Each university will therefore receive an average of 3 filmmakers for several days at a time, thus presenting a powerful opportunity to raise the profile of French films among an influential audience.
This project has received an immediate response from the American universities, which have made the decision to incorporate the "On Set with French Cinema" program as part of the university curriculum for 2003.
THE NEW YORK PROGRAM
Universities: New York University, Columbia University, City University of New York, School of Visual Arts.
Claude MILLER - October 20 through 25
Olivier ASSAYAS - October 27 through November 1st
Cédric KLAPISCH – November 3 through 8
Claire DENIS – November 10 through 15
THE LOS ANGELES PROGRAM
Universities: University of Southern California, University of California, American Film Institute, California Institute of the Arts.
COSTA-GAVRAS – October 6 through 11
Patrice LECONTE – October 13 through 18
Agnès VARDA – November 17 through 21
Contact: Florence Charmasson
Tel: (33) 1 47 53 27 03 - (33) 6 60 90 91 75
Email:
Florence Charmasson
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