Unifrance is hosting its third annual French Film Festival in Japan, to be held in Tokyo and Osaka from March 13 through 17, with Sophie Marceau as this year’s festival president.
The Festival Line-up
14 films are included in this year’s selection, one half of which have already found Japanese distributors: Inside by Alexandre Bustillo and Julien Maury (acquired by Tornado Films), Romance of Astree and Celadon by Eric Rohmer (acquired by Alcine Terran), La Chambre des Morts by Alfred Lot, The Besieged Fortress by Philippe Caldéron (acquired by Tornado Films), Didine by Vincent Dietschy, Trivial by Sophie Marceau, Female Agents by Jean-Paul Salomé, The Grocer’s Son by Eric Guirado, The Maiden and the Wolves by Gilles Legrand, Water Lilies by Céline Sciamma (acquired by Twin), Don’t Touch the Axe by Jacques Rivette (acquired by Cetera), Paris by Cédric Klapisch, La Tourneuse de Pages (The Page Turner) by Denis Dercourt (acquired by Cafe Groove-Tornado Films), and A Secret by Claude Miller (acquired by Movie Eye).
A program of 7 short films will complete the selection: Abattoir by Didier Blasco, Heureux qui comme Édouard... by Vincent Burgevin and Franck Lebon, Le Pont by Vincent Bierrewaerts, Résistance aux Tremblements by Olivier Hems, Taxi Wala by Lola Frederich, Titi by Béatrice and Hugues Espinasse, and Tony Zoreil by Valentin Potier.
Unifrance is coordinating the Japanese leg of a traveling retrospective dedicated to the director Jacques Rivette (which has already been held at the Georges Pompidou Centre in Paris and the MoMA in New York) from March 15 through April 27. Bulle Ogier and Pascal Bonitzer will present the following films at screenings synchronized with the festival program: L’Amour Fou, La Bande des Quatre (The Gang of Four), La Belle Noiseuse, Céline et Julie vont en bateau (Celine and Julie Go Boating), Jeanne la Pucelle II-Les Prisons (Joan the Maid 2: The Prisons), and Le Pont du Nord. Pascal Bonitzer will also lead a master class at the Tokyo Film School.
The Delegation
In Tokyo, Sophie Marceau will lead a delegation including Vincent Bierrewaerts, Didier Blasco, Patrick Bruel, Alexandre Bustillo, Philippe Calderon, Stéphanie Crayencour, Béatrice Dalle, Julie Depardieu, Denis Dercourt, Vincent Dietschy, Andy Gillet, Éric Guirado, Adèle Haenel, Cédric Klapisch, Christophe Lambert, Julien Maury, Ludivine Sagnier, and Céline Sciamma.
The directors and actors present at the festival will meet with Japanese media representatives in preparation for the upcoming release of their films in Japan.
Six producers and around thirty sales agents will also make the trip to the Japanese capital. The majority of these professions will then travel to Hong Kong to attend Filmart, Hong Kong’s international film and television market, which will open its doors the day after the festival’s closing ceremony.
Event Program
Film screenings will be held in Tokyo in the Toho Cinemas Roppongi Hills multiplex (operated by the Toho cinema network, a partner of the festival) and at the Eurospace Shibuya cinema complex. Films will also screen at Toho Cinemas Namba in Osaka from March 16. Q&A and autograph sessions with audiences are scheduled at the end of each screening.
A professional meeting between Japanese distributors and French sales agents will take place on March 12. As is the case each year, a film market will offer the representatives from 23 French film export companies to present their catalogues to Japanese distributors.
Media Gallery
