After the Locarno International Film Festival, Unifrance will be supporting French cinema at the major film festivals at the start of the fall season.
Around forty French productions and co-productions will be showcased at the 2009 Montreal World Film Festival, held from August 27 through September 7. Among these, two films feature in the Official Competition: Je suis heureux que ma mère soit vivante (I'm Glad that My Mother Is Alive) by Claude and Nathan Miller and Liberté by Tony Gatlif.
Some twenty French productions will be screened at this year’s Venice International Film Festival (September 2 through 12), including four productions competing for the prestigious Golden Lion award: 36 vues du Pic Saint-Loup (36 Views of Saint-Loup Peak) by Jacques Rivette, Mr. Nobody by Jaco Van Doarmel, Persécution by Patrice Chéreau, and White Material by Claire Denis.
The various sections of the Toronto International Film Festival, held from September 10 through 19, will include around thirty French productions and co-productions, ranging from Micmacs à tire-larigots (Micmacs) by Jean-Pierre Jeunet to Irène by Alain Cavalier, and including L'Illusionniste (The Illusionist) by Sylvain Chomet, L'Affaire Farewell (Farewell) by Christian Carion, and Un Prophète (A Prophet) by Jacques Audiard.
At the 2009 San Sebastian International Film Festival, held from September 17 through 26, an eagerly awaited selection of French films will be vying for the Golden Shell award: Hadewijch by Bruno Dumont, Non ma fille, tu n'iras pas danser by Christophe Honoré, and Le Refuge by François Ozon. This year’s festival will pay tribute to new French cinema in a thematic retrospective entitled Backwash: The Cutting Edge of French Cinema, featuring a retrospective of 40 French films that have been released in the past twelve years.
At the latter three festivals, Unifrance will provide the services of an international press attaché as well as a reception area/interview room for crew members from the French films selected at the events.
These events will be followed by upcoming festivals held in September including the Biel/Bienne French film Festival, the Helsinki International Film Festival - Love and Anarchy, the Hamburg Filmfest, the Rio de Janeiro International Film Festival, the Namur International Francophone Film Festival, the Zurich Film Festival, and the New York Film Festival. At these events, Unifrance maintains a special relationship with festival organizers concerning the selection of French films and travel arrangements for French artists invited as festival guests.
