Film festivals in the Far East welcome French films

The Taipei Golden Horse Film Festival - 2009 took place November 5 through 23. An important array of French films were selected thise year.
4 new films were given preview screenings before their theatrical release: Demain des l'aube (distributed 12/11 by Swallow Wings) in the presence of Vincent Perez and Denis Dercourt, Afterwards (distributed 12/4 by Catchplay) in the presence of Gilles Bourdos, Villa Amalia (distributed 12/4 by Joint Entertainment) in the presence of Benoit Jacquot and Isabelle Huppert, to whom the festival paid tribute through a retrospective composed of seven films, and I Come with the Rain I Come with the Rain (distributed 12/06 by Catchplay) in the presence of Trần Anh Hùng, invited to the festival for a tribute to the cinematographer Mark Lee Ping Bing.

All up, 15 recent French features were presented in the festival's different sections and 6 short films completed the program. The Taipei Golden Horse Film Festival presents Asian films in its competition section and Tsai Ming Liang's Face, a French-Taiwanese coproduction, was nominated in five categories, including Best Film and Best Director. It was awarded Best Artistic Direction, along with Best Set Decoration and Best Makeup.

For its ninth edition, the Kaohsiung Film Festival once again took over the Vie Show multiplex from October 16 through 29, 2009. Since its inception, the festival has offered an eclectic programme with a focus on the best of genre films. This year, KFF selected a record number of French films, with three specifically French titles and two coproductions: Martyrs by Pascal Laugier, OSS 117: Lost in Rio by Michel Hazanavicius, and in a special "Cannes Caméra d'or" sidebar, Seaside by Julie Lopes-Curval, Jellyfish by Etgar Keret and Shira Geffen, and Salaam Bombay by Mira Nair.

Catchplay, Martyrs' distributor, who had encountered some difficulties with the local censor's office with regard to the film's release, took advantage of Pascal Laugier's presence to organize press meetings and 2 screenings during the festival. These efforts paid dividends, for the film was approved by the censor for a release in 2010.

The 2009 Hong Kong Hong Kong French Film Festival - 2009 presented 38 features and 20 shorts at its 38th edition, and received Unifrance's support for this selection. It opened Friday, November 27 in Hong Kong, in the presence of numerous guests and journalists. Here, Isabelle Huppert and Benoît Jacquot met, among others, Raymond Chow, the legendary producer who discovered Bruce Lee. The opening film Ne te retourne pas* was released December 10, distributed by Deltamac.
Isabelle Huppert was the surprise guest at the opening night reception and willingly gave interviews to the media, and signed autographs and photos for the guests before heading back to Paris. Benoit Jacquot stayed a few days to present Villa Amalia to festival audiences, give a few interviews and a masterclass to the final year film directing students at the Hong Kong art school.

Anna Mouglalis and Jan Kounen arrived the day after Benoit Jacquot left and had a very busy schedule, with the preview presentation of Coco Chanel & Igor Stravinsky and interviews with all the local media. The film's theatrical release is planned for the beginning of January. It is being distributed by Deltamac.