Editor

FRENCH FILM FESTIVAL UK 2003

Every November the French Film Festival UK provides a unique and
eclectic close-up of film-making from France, a wonderful opportunity to
discover the genuine pulse of le cinéma français.

With the 12th edition (Edinburgh Filmhouse, Glasgow Film Theatre,
Aberdeen Belmont, Dundee Contemporary Arts, Stirling MacRobert, and an
enhanced London presence at the Ciné Lumière and other venues) the
festival looks set to provide yet another exceptionally strong line-up
after last year’s record-breaking edition.

So what’s in store for 2003 - dates 14 November until 1 December? One of
France’s most eminent directors ALAIN CORNEAU will be a special guest.
He occupies a unique place in le cinéma français because his films
cannot be classified under one genre but embrace film noirs, detective
stories, musicals, historical and adventure films and comedies.

He will present in person his latest film Fear and Trembling, a blackly
humorous adaptation of Amélie Nothomb’s best-selling novel, and
featuring an extraordinary performance from Sylvie Testud as a dreamy
and romantic young French woman who returns to Japan - country of her
birth - only to find herself overwhelmed by the mysterious and absurd
machinations of the Japanese business world. The retrospective of his
work will comprise:

- Le Cousin
- Fort Saganne
- Nocturne Indien
- Police Python
- Serie Noire
- Tous les matins du monde.
- La menace
- Le choix des armes

Details of the Corneau event will be given in a special leaflet
available during the Edinburgh International Film Festival in August.
Many of the titles will screen in the run-up to the start of the
festival to enable audiences to capture the full flavour of his work
before his visit.

The legendary Jean Becker will attend gala presentations of his new film
Effroyables jardins / Strange Gardens starring André Dussolier and
Jacques Villeret in an adaptation of the best seller by Michel Quint, a
touching tragi-comcedy also featuring Thierry Lhermitte and Benoit
Magimel. Becker, son of another legend Jacques Becker, was also
responsible recently for The Children of the Marshlands and A Crime in
Paradise (shown at last year’s FFF). Becker and Amélie co-writer
Guillaume Laurant wrote the screenplay.

A classic treat will be provided by the original swashbuckling romp
Fanfan la Tulipe, directed by Christian-Jacque with Gérard Philipe and
Gina Lollobrigida in the roles taken by Vincent Perez and Penelope Cruz
in the 2003 version which opened this year’s Cannes Film Festival.

Many of the great names of French cinema will feature in photographs as
well as on screen. Renowned photographer Nicolas Guerin’s work will be
seen in the galleries of the French Institute, Glasgow Film Theatre, and
Dundee Contemporary Arts. Guerin who works for Positif and has had his
work exhibited at the Cannes Film Festival, will attend and provide a
special portfolio for GFT of Cannes 2003.


A Round Table to discuss literary adaptations in the cinema will be held
at the French Institute with Alain Corneau in attendance among other
speakers while a special series of screenings of documentaries about
writers, including Sylvie Germain, Georges Perec, Françoise Sagan and
Jean Cocteau, will be shown at lunch times at the French Institute in
Edinburgh.