French Film Festival in the Czech Republic: the program!

12 NOVEMBER 2009

Audiences at the 12th French Film Festival in the Czech Republic will have the chance to discover 50 French films from November 19 through 25 in Prague and eight provincial cities.

Five eagerly anticipated titles will be presented in preview screenings: Micmacs à tire-larigot (Micmacs), screened as festival opener in the presence of Jean-Pierre Jeunet and Julie Ferrier, Le Petit Nicolas in the presence of Laurent Tirard, A Town Called Panic, Antichrist, and Un Prophète (A Prophet) in the presence of Tahar Rahim.

The festival’s competition features ten new French films selected by Czech journalists: A l'origine (In the Beginning), Le Bal des actrices (The Actress’ Ball), Le Code a changé (Change of Plans), Elève Libre (Free Student), Joueuse (Queen to Play), Léger tremblement du paysage (A Faint Trembling of the Landscape), Le Premier Jour du reste de ta vie (The First Day of the Rest of Your Life), Stella, Séraphine, and Welcome. Audiences will vote on their favorite film, with an award granting a contribution of €10,000 to support the winning film’s distribution in the Czech Republic.

The Panorama section, which was inaugurated last year, gives co-productions center stage, and includes Les Bureaux de Dieu (God’s Offices), Jaffa, Pour un instant la liberté (For a Moment, Freedom, aka Ein Augenblick Freiheit), Simon Konianski, and La Vida Loca.

The ten films selected in the French Cinema Successes section will be presented at the Palace Cinema multiplex in Prague and the CineStar multiplexes in provincial cities. The following titles will be screened: 35 Rhums (35 Shots of Rum), Coco avant Chanel (Coco Before Chanel), Faubourg 36 (Paris 36), Home, Un homme et son chien (A Man and His Dog), JCVD, Louise Michel, Mesrine: L'instinct de mort (Mesrine: Part 1 – Death Instinct), Mesrine: L'ennemi public n°1 (Mesrine: Part 2 – Public Enemy No. 1), and Ricky.

Following the success of last year’s Short Film Evening, this year’s program will be extended for the first time to include three cities outside Prague. The following 14 films make up the selection: L'Année de l'Algérie, La Baie du renard (in the presence of Grégoire Colin), Décroche, Deus ex machina, Le Feu, Le Sang, Les Étoiles (in the presence of Caroline Deruas), Parasite, Pig, Le P'tit Bal, Une pute et un poussin, Le Secret de Salomon, Tony Zoreil, La Vita nuova, Viejo Pascuero, and La Vis.

A new festival section to be launched this year will give moviegoers the chance to discover or rediscover three French classic films by François Truffaut and three classics by Alain Resnais screened in Blu-ray format.

The Czech Republic boasts the highest movie attendance rate in Central and Eastern Europe (1.26 cinema visits per person in 2008) with local films claiming the highest share of the home market (39.5%). In addition to these figures, the appeal of American films has declined, in 2008 registering results far lower than in past years. French cinema holds strong in 2nd position among films from foreign countries (4.3% of the market in 2008 against 4.5% in 2007), behind the USA (50.4%), but ahead of the UK (1.7%) and Germany (0.7%). All up, the 18 French productions and co-productions released in 2008 registered 494,978 admissions (against 472,594 in 2007). Including films released in 2007 but still screening in 2008, French films attracted 547,961 spectators in 2008 (569,279 in 2007). The first three quarters of 2009 have already seen 17 new French titles hit Czech screens. The best performance to date in 2009 (as at September 30) is credited to Coco avant Chanel (76,300 admissions), followed by The Duchess (64,300), Transporter 3 (26,500), and Mesrine: L’ennemi public (17,800). In 2009, 10 Czech distributors have so far shared the 17 films released.

The 2009 French Film Festival in the Czech Republic is organized by the French Embassy and has been actively supported by Unifrance since its inception.