The French Film Festival of Helvetia (FFFH) took place from September 12 through 16, 2012 in Bienne.
The only film festival in Switzerland entirely devoted to French film, the FFFH plays an important role of connecting the country's linguistic and cultural regions: in 2011, 46% of the 11,000 spectators were German-speaking. Most of the films are subtitled in German, thanks to the support of uniFrance Films, which has collaborated with the FFFH since it began.
Les Seigneurs by Olivier Dahan opened festivities, at a gala prior to the opening night, in the presence of its two leads actors Joey Starr and Ramzy Bedia.
Among the other French guests who attended, we find Jean-Pierre Améris for The Man Who Laughs, Olivier Assayas for After May, Stéphane Brizé and Hélène Vincent for A Few Hours of Spring, Louis Do de Lencquesaing for In a Rush, Sophie Lellouche for Paris-Manhattan, and Christian Vincent, whose film Haute Cuisine opened the festival.
Jean-Paul Rouve was the patron of the 2012 edition, and he came to the event to present his film Quand je serai petit.
More than forty films, of which many have their Swiss premiere screenings, were presented to a young public: in 2011, half the spectators were less than 35 years old.
The festival got underway in traditional manner with its Children's Day, which was devoted this year to the animated feature by Jean-François Laquionie, Le Tableau.
