A look back, in photos and videos, at the 17th Rendez-vous with French Cinema, which took place March 1 through 12.
Only a few days after The Artist's historic triumph in Hollywood, the 17th edition of the Rendez-vous with French Cinema in New York opened Thursday, March 1 in a festive mood honouring French film, with 1,000 spectactors packing the Alice Tully Hall in the Lincoln Center.
The Intouchables, presented as the Gala Opening, played to an audience of 1000, who attended the film's premiere North American screening at the Lincoln Center's Alice Tully Hall. The French delegation was joined on stage by distributor Harvey Weinstein.
Over ten days, 25 features (a record), of which 9 had already found an American distributor, played to full houses at the Walter Reade Theater in the Lincoln Center, IFC Center in Greenwich Village, and the Brooklyn Academy of Music (BAM).
Stunning media coverage attracted New Yorkers of all ages to come and see on stage Audrey Tautou, François Cluzet, Carole Bouquet, Mathieu Amalric, Vincent Lindon, Chiara Mastroianni, Tahar Rahim, Jean-Pierre Darroussin, and Pascal Cervo.
The French directors who crossed the Atlantic to support their latest films were Éric Toledano and Olivier Nakache (Untouchable), Ismaël Ferroukhi (Free Men), Mathieu Demy (Americano), Muriel Coulin (17 Girls), David Foenkinos and Stéphane Foenkinos (Delicacy), Jean-François Laguionie and screenwriter Anik Le Ray (Le Tableau), Rabah Ameur-Zaïmeche (Smugglers' Songs), Laurent Achard (Last Screening), Frédéric Louf (18 Years Old and Rising), Nicolas Klotz (Low Life), and Benoit Jacquot (Farewell, My Queen).
Journalist Michel Ciment joined the French delegation for a special celebration of the 60th anniversary of Positif. Madame Sophie Seydoux from the Fondation Pathé was also present in New York to mark the theatrical release of the completely restored version of Marcel Carné's masterpiece, Les Enfants du Paradis.
Thanks to a partnership between uniFrance Films and Emerging Pictures, a major network of independent digital theaters, several films from the selection were simultaneously screened in forty cities across the United States, allowing spectators to participate live via Twitter in the question and answer sessions that followed the screenings at the Walter Reade Theater.
Video subjects made by Frédéric Murarotto for "La quotidienne du cinéma" on TPS STAR:
Media Gallery
