Greece's Francophone Film Festival celebrates its 10th anniversary

The 10th Francophone Film Festival in Greece will be held from April 1 through 10, 2009, in Athens and Thessalonica.

Hosted by Unifrance, the French Embassy and the French Institute in Athens, this anniversary festival will feature premiere screenings of a wide selection of French-language films, as well as professional meetings and special evening events.

More than 60 films will be presented in the historic city of Athens. Among these titles are premieres of Le Bal des actrices (The Actress’ Ball, aka All About Actresses), Coluche, l'histoire d'un mec, Espion(s), Les Femmes de l'ombre (Female Agents), La Fille de Monaco (The Girl from Monaco), Home, J'ai toujours rêvé d'être un gangster (I Always Wanted to Be a Gangster), Lady Jane, Les Liens du sang (Rivals), Mesrine 1 & 2, Le Premier jour du reste de ta vie (The First Day of the Rest of Your Life), Séraphine, Vilaine (Ugly Melanie), and Le Voyage aux Pyrénées.

An Audience Prize and a Jury Prize awarded by a jury of French-speaking students will be presented at the close of the festival.

This 10th anniversary festival will also celebrate the 40th anniversary of Costa-Gavras’s film Z, with large scale celebrations held in Athens. This special tribute will be one of the highlights of the festival, with the French Ambassador to Greece, Christophe Farnaud, to present an honorary award to the director on April 1.

The festival will also pay tribute to Josiane Balasko, with premiere screening of her film Cliente (Client) scheduled in Athens.

Other guests at the event include Victoria Abril, Nicolas Bary, Édouard Baer, Rémi Bezançon, Antoine de Caunes, Léa Drucker, Nicolas Engel, Zoé Félix, Déborah François, Robert Guédiguian, Ursula Meier, Jacques Perrin, Manuel Poutte, Serge Regourd, and Nicolas Saada.