As is the case every year in May, Unifrance’s activities this month focused on the Cannes Film Festival, with facilities provided at Club Unifrance.
In May, Unifrance provided support for the presentation of 64 French films at 5 feature film festivals: the Stockholm French Film Festival, the Cannes International Film Festival, Cannes Directors’ Fortnight, Cannes Critics’ Week, and the Seattle International Film Festival.
Unifrance provided travel assistance for 2 artists and 40 films presented at 6 short film festivals: the Oberhausen International Short Film Festival, Trickfilm – the Stuttgart International Animated Film Festival, Anifest – the Trebon International Animated Film Festival, the Cannes International Film Festival, the Seoul International Short Film Festival, and La Cittadella del Corto – Trevignano International Short Film Festival.
Festivals/Awards
CANNES FILM FESTIVAL (FEATURE FILMS AND SHORT FILMS)
Entre les murs (The Class) by Laurent Cantet – Palme d’Or
Catherine Deneuve was honored with the 61st Cannes Film Festival Prize
Le Silence de Lorna (The Silence of Lorna) by Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne – Best Screenplay
Les Trois Singes (Three Monkeys) by Nuri Bilge Ceylan – Best Direction
Johnny Mad Dog by Jean-Stéphane Sauvaire – Most Promising Director in the Un Certain Regard Section
Les Bureaux de Dieu (God's Offices) by Claire Simon – SACD Prize
Snow by Aida Begic – Critics’ Week Grand Prize
Eldorado by Bouli Lanners – FIPRESCI Award and “Regard Jeune” Award
La Sangre brota (Blood Appears) by Pablo Fendrik – OFAJ/TV5 Monde Award, given by young critics.
Une leçon particulière by Raphaël Chevènement – Unifrance Grand Prize for a Short Film
Taxi Wala by Lola Frederich – Unifrance Special Prize for a Short Film
OBERHAUSEN SHORT FILM FESTIVAL
Kempinski by Neil Beloufa – Arte Award for Best European Short Film
Senko by Yuki Kawamura – Ecumenical Jury Prize
TREVIGNANO INTERNATIONAL SHORT FILM FESTIVAL
Corps étrangers by Naël Marandin – Grand Prize
Taxi Wala by Lola Frederich – Special Jury Prize
Support for commercial release
Unifrance supported the release of 5 films abroad in May by providing travel grants to 7 artists:
Sophie Marceau for the release of Les Femmes de l'ombre (Female Agents) in the U.K.
Abdellatif Kechiche for the release of La Graine et le mulet (The Secret of the Grain) in the U.K.
Jérome Laperrousaz for the release of Made in Jamaica in Japan
Juliette Arnaud and Alexandre Arcady for the release of Tu peux garder un secret? in Belgium
Emmanuel Mouret and Virginie Ledoyen for the release of Shall We Kiss? in Quebec
Interviews with foreign media in France
The following artists met with 4 Argentinean journalists at a press junket organized by Unifrance from May 26 through 29: Isabelle Czajka and Anaïs Demoustier for L'Année suivante, Fabien Onteniente for Disco, Michèle Laroque for Enfin veuve (A Widow At Last), Cédric Klapisch for Paris, Carmen Castillo for Calle Santa Fe, Lambert Wilson for Dante 01, Olivia Bonamy and Catherine Marchal for MR73, Luc Jacquet for Le Renard et l’enfant (The Fox & The Child), and Anne Consigny for Le Scaphandre et le papillon (The Diving Bell and the Butterfly). Guillaume Canet participated via videoconferencing, representing Ensemble c’est tout (Hunting and Gathering).
