Now in its second year, the 2012 Rendez-vous with French Cinema in Rome will be hosted by uniFrance Films and the French Embassy.
24 French films will be screened at the event held at the Casa del Cinema, the Fiamma Cinema, and the Villa Medici from April 17 through 22, 2012.
The selection of films includes six titles that have already been acquired in Italy, to be presented in premiere screenings: L'Amour dure trois ans by Frédéric Beigbeider (Italian distributor: Moviemax), Elles by Malgorzata Szumowska (Officine Ubu), Sister by Ursula Meier (Teodora), Declaration of War by Valérie Donzelli and Jérémie Elkaïm (Sacher), The Monk by Dominik Moll (Nomad), and A Happy Event by Rémi Bezancon (Italian distributor: Videa). Valérie Donzelli, Jérémie Elkaïm, and Dominik Moll will be in attendance to present their films and meet with Italian media.
This Rendez-vous event will also give Italian audiences the chance to discover sixteen new French productions that have not yet found a buyer and to meet with cast and crew from the films presented, including Tony Gatlif, Éric Guirado, Frédéric Jardin, Charlotte Rampling, and Pierre Schoeller. This year's festival pays tribute to Carole Bouquet, with the actress presenting Unforgiveable by André Téchiné.
This festival, which benefits from support by distributors, was established with the aim of reviving audience interest in French films in Italy, a country which is currently suffering economic difficulties. Attendance in Italian theaters registered a decline of 21% in the first quarter of 2012 compared to the same period in 2011. Against this backdrop, the current success of the French hit Untouchable certainly stands out. Released in Italy as Quasi Amici, the film topped 2 million admissions last weekend, now ranking as the most popular French film in Italy since 1990.
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