Organized by the French Embassy in collaboration with Unifrance, the 2011 Rendez-vous with New French Cinema in Rome was held from April 27 through May 1.
Twenty French films, including six titles that had already secured an Italian distributor, were screened to packed houses at the Casa del Cinema. The turnout for the event was so high that the French Embassy doubled the number of screenings held at both the Casa del Cinema and the Villa Medici.
Nothing to Declare by Dany Boon opened the festival. A host of French artists traveled to Rome for the event to support their films and take part in interviews with the major Italian media outlets: Alix Delaporte and Clotilde Hesme for Angèle and Tony, Lolita Chammah for Copacabana, Philippe Le Guay for Service Entrance, Gérald Hustache-Mathieu and Sophie Quinton for Poupoupidou, Cédric Klapisch for Ma part du gâteau, Anaïs Demoustier for Living on Love Alone, Jacques Cluzaud for Oceans, Valérie Nataf for Bas-fonds, Léa Seydoux for Dear Prudence, and Louis Garrel for Petit Tailleur.
Coinciding with the festival, a retrospective of films by Cédric Klapisch was held at the Centro San Luigi di Francia in the presence of the director and his producer Bruno Lévy, attracting enthusiastic audiences.
A film market was also held at the Casa del Cinema, offering ten private screening sessions. All of the films presented were accompanied by their sales agents. The two-day event offered an opportunity for sales agents to meet with Italian distributors in the lead-up to the Cannes Film Festival.
