The 2011 Tel Aviv French Film Festival opened last Saturday, with some twenty French titles to be screened at the event held until April 16.
Hosted by the French Embassy in Tel Aviv together with the Israeli distributor Eden Cinema and Unifrance, the 2011 French Film Festival will welcome a number of French guests, including the actress Isabelle Huppert, who will be honored with a tribute featuring four of her films (Coup de Torchon, Loulou, Merci pour le Chocolat, and The Piano Player). Isabelle Huppert will also present her new film Copacabana by Marc Fitoussi, accompanied by Lolita Chammah.
Mathieu Amalric will be in Tel Aviv for the event to represent his film On Tour, while Michel Ciment will present the documentary about his work entitled Michel Ciment le cinéma en partage.
In 2010, French films attracted 400,000 spectators in Israel, marking an impressive 80% rise in attendance over the previous year. As a result, French films' market share should rise to 5% in Israel, which remains the best-equipped country in the Near and Middle East in terms of movie facilities. The three most popular French films in 2010 were The Concert by Radu Mihaileanu (over 100,000 admissions!), Arthur 3: The War of the Two Worlds by Luc Besson, and My Afternoons with Marguerite by Jean Becker.
