The 8th Week of French Cinema in Berlin will take place from June 27 through July 3, 2008.
As is the case each year, French cinema is traveling across the Rhine to offer Berlin audiences a selection of fifteen recent films. This year’s films will be presented in preview screenings and German premieres in the presence of a sizeable delegation of guests.
The festival will open Friday, June 27, with a screening of 99 Francs, in the presence of Frédéric Beigbeder, author of the eponymous novel on which the film is based. A special evening featuring the film La Graine et le mulet (The Secret of the Grain) will be organized in celebration of the start of France’s presidency of the European Union. The Week of French Cinema will close with a screening of this year's Cannes Palme d’Or winner, Entre les murs (The Class) by Laurent Cantet.
The following French artists will also be in attendance during the week-long event: Cédric Klapisch and his producer Bruno Lévy, for Paris, Christophe Honoré for Les Chansons d'amour (Love Songs), Vincent Dietschy and Géraldine Pailhas for Didine, and Céline Sciamma for Naissance des pieuvres (Water Lilies). Jacques Doillon’s latest film, Le Premier venu (Just Anybody), will be presented by its lead actress, Clémentine Beaugrand.
The “Francociné” selection of French-language films, organized in collaboration with the Swiss Embassy, the French Community in Belgium, and representatives of the government of Quebec, has invited the Belgian director Benoît Mariage to present his film Cowboy, as well as the Swiss director Jacob Berger, to present his film Une journée (That Day).
This Week of French Cinema will also showcase Elle s'appelle Sabine (Her Name is Sabine) by Sandrine Bonnaire, Le Nouveau Protocole (The New Protocol) by Thomas Vincent, Les trois petits cochons (The 3 L'il Pigs) by Patrick Huard, Prête-moi ta main (I Do: How to Get Married and Stay Single) by Eric Lartigau, and Tous à l'Ouest, une aventure de Lucky Luke (Go West: A Lucky Luke Adventure) by Olivier Jean-Marie.
The Week of French Cinema is an event hosted by the French Embassy in Berlin’s Film Office and Cultural Services Department, benefiting from support each year from Unifrance and audiovisual industry partners Arte, TV5Monde, and RFI. For further information, please visit the website: www.franzoesische-filmwoche.de
