Inferno and The Hedgehog win top prizes at The American French Film Festival (ex-COLCOA) - A week of French Film Premieres in Hollywood
The Franco-American Cultural Fund announced today that Henri-Georges Clouzot’s Inferno was awarded the Col•Coa Critics Award by the Los Angeles Film Critics Association jury at the 14th City of Lights, City of Angels. The documentary film was written by Serge Bromberg and co-directed by Bromberg and Ruxandra Medrea. It will be released in the United States by Flicker Alley.
“Now in its 14th year, City of Lights, City of Angels serves as an increasingly prominent platform for showcasing contemporary French cinema in the United States and an important stop for the directors, writers, producers and actors whose works are shown,” stated LAFCA Jury President Jean Oppenheimer. Los Angeles Film Critics Association is both honored and proud to support Col•Coa and to help further the interests of French cinema in the United States. This is particularly important during these times of financial uncertainty, when specialty distributors are struggling to bring U.S. audiences the best in international cinema.”
The Critics Special Prize went to Rapt, written and directed by Lucas Belvaux while The Father of My Children, written and directed by Mia Hansen-Løve won a Special Mention. The Father of My Children will be released by IFC Films.
Éric Elmosnino, who portrayed French icon Serge Gainsbourg in Gainsbourg : Je T’aime…Moi Non Plus, written and directed by Joann Sfar, received a Special Mention for his acting.
The Hedgehog, written and directed by Mona Achache, walked away with the Col•Coa Audience Award. The Audience Special prize went to the opening film, Heartbreaker. Written by Laurent Zeitoun, Jeremy Doner and Yoann Gromb and directed by first time helmer Pascal Chaumeil, the romantic comedy will be released by IFC Films.
The Audience Special mention went to Farewell and the First Feature Award was given to Silent voices, written and directed by Léa Fehner. Farewell will be released by NeoClassics Films on July 23rd, 2010.
Written and directed by Simon Lelouch, 7.57 am-pm won the Col•Coa Short Film Award while The Man in the Blue Gordini, written and directed by Jean-Christophe Lie, won the Animated Short Award. Written and directed by Edouard Salier, Four won a Special Prize.
The week-long festival set an attendance record of 14,957 at the Directors Guild of America, site of the festivities. 28 features and 20 shorts were competing for the 2010 COL•COA Awards.
City of Lights, City of Angels is funded by the Franco-American Cultural Fund, a unique partnership of the Directors Guild of America (DGA), the Motion Picture Association (MPA), France’s Society of Authors, Composers and Publishers of Music (SACEM) and the Writers Guild of America, West (WGAW), with the vital support of L’ARP (France’s Association of Authors, Directors and Producers) the Los Angeles Film and TV Office of the French Embassy and uniFrance.
