French Film Festival UK

The Festival debut

The festival began during Britain's presidency of the EC and was one of the artistic events initiated when Edinburgh hosted the Euro-summit in 1992. It was created on the initiative of two film journalists Richard Mowe and Allan Hunter who ran the festival in tandem for a number of years. Hunter now has relinquished the reins to concentrate on other activities, including the Glasgow Film Festival and the Italian Film Festival UK, both of which he is a co-director. Mowe is now director of the French Film Festival UK, co-director of the Italian Film Festival UK and director of the distribution company CinéFile as well as continuing his journalistic activities. Ilona Morison now has joined the FFF UK team as deputy director.

1992

It was the year of Josiane Balasko, Gérard Jugnot, Indochine, Madame Bovary and then newcomer Arnaud Desplechin's La Vie des morts. The Air France photographic archive was on show.

1993

Jean Reno's mega-hit time-travelling comedy Les Visiteurs hit these shores to great success although the Festival would have to wait a few years for Reno himself to appear. Instead actor Christine Bujeau appeared in his place. Director Jean-Paul Rappeneau came and conquered with Cyrano de Bergerac and other films in his canon; there was Bertrand Blier's Un, deux, trois soleil; Coline Serreau's La Crise (including a special screening and dinner in the Royal Museum of Scotland for sponsors Paribas) and a special focus on Claude Chabrol. The festival introduced Cédric Klapisch to the British public with Riens du tout. A link was forged with the Brest European Short Film Festival ensuring a selection of new French short films. Jeanne Moreau and Claude Sautet sent messages of support.

1994

The Festival have brought Michel Deville and Aux petits bonheurs, Gérard Jugnot back again this time with Casque Bleu; The César winning Tonie Marshall was discovered with Pas très catholique as well as Philippe Lioret and his audience award-winner Tombés du ciel. Antoine Desrosières, a young directorial turk, brought his youthful proagonists Mathieu Demy and Aurélie Thierrée and A la belle étoile. The Harcourt Studio's photographic archives were on show.

1995

It was the year of Mathieu Kassovitz whom we introduced to the UK long before La Haine thrust him into the spotlight; Claude Lelouch was among the guests with Alessandra Martines; Josiane Balasko appeared on screen with Gazon Maudit; Hervé Palud and Louis Becker accompanied Un indien dans la ville and a test audience of youngsters gave their verdicts on dubbed and subtitled versions. Marion Vernoux was another discovery for Personne ne m'aime. Bernard Stora won the audience award for Consentement Mutuel and Patrick Braoudé enchanted with the original Neuf mois. We celebrated 100 years of Gaumont in a poster show.

1996

The grande dame of French cinema, Agnès Varda received a retrospective in her honour and in her presence. Patrice Leconte launched Les grands ducs. Gabriel Aghion camped it up with Pédale douce … Michel Serrault and Carmen Maura discovered Le boneur est dans le pré and pupils went to school with Le maître des éléphants with special screenings for teachers and their charges. Abel Gance's monumental La Roue featured a live score by Adrian Johnston. A restored copy of Jour de fête gave Jacques Tati a new lease of life. Didier Bourdon clowned around in Les trois frères and in person. And there were new films from Pascale Ferran, Agnès Merlet and Tonie Marshall.

1997

The real-life Lucie Aubrac made a heart-rending appearance in support of Claude Berri's Resistance epic. Bernard Giraudeau presented his breathtaking Les caprices d'un fleuve and screenwriter Éric Assous discussed his scripts for La femme défendu and Les Randonnneurs. We discovered Robert Guédiguian long before Marius et Jeanette with A la vie, à la mort – and on screen there was Godard, Kassovitz and Klapisch, Michel Piccoli made his directorial debut, Alain Chabat showed dogged determination with Didier and Philippe Muyl's Tout doît disparaître. Jan Kounen delivered Dobermann while Pascale Ferran and Pierre Trividic presented Petit arrangements avec les morts.

1998

Claude and Annie Miller presented La classe de neige and other landmark films including La meilleure façon de marcher, Garde à vue, Le Sourire, and L'éffrontée. Antoine de Caunes showed his serious side in L'homme est une femme comme les autres and was present with actress Elsa Zylberstein. Patrice Chéreau also took the plane to talk about Ceux qui m'aiment prendront le train. The classic choice of René Clair's Un chapeau de paille d'italie was accompanied by a live score by Ramond Alessandrini. Patrice Leconte launched Une chance sur deux at its London premiere and Betrand Tavernier made a lasting impression with Capitaine Conan. Francis Veber caused ripples of laughter with Le dîner de cons, subsequently a huge box office hit. Danièle Doubroux tantalised with Le journal du séducteur – and there were startling debuts by Jean-François Richet (Ma 6T va crack-er), Sébastien Lifshitz with Les corps ouverts, Olivier Dahan with Déjà mort and Laurent Bouhnik with Zonzon. Claude Duty brought his shorts.

1999

Time to vive la différence: women film-makers were ready for their close-ups, among them Anne Fontaine, Valérie Lemercier, Brigitte Rouan, Diane Kurys and Danièle Dubroux – all were guests except Kurys. Jean Renoir's La carrosse d'or gleamed anew in a restored print. Michel Deville returned to form with La maladie de Sachs and first film talents included Smadi Wolfman, director Olivier Péray and producer David Kodsi (all guests) with Petits désordres amoureux as well as Stéphane Brizé, Didier Le Pêcheur and Christine Carrière. Alain Beigel (guest) revealed the talents of Emma de Caunes in Milles bornes – and accompanied his first feature, one of the year's most refreshing debuts.

2000

Bertrand Blier gathered together a who's who of French stars for Les acteurs and came to talk about them. We took a special look at les thrillers with such acclaimed titles as: Scènes de crimes (Frédéric Schoendoerffer) with Charles Berling, and André Dussollier; Le cousin (Alain Corneau) starring Alain Chabat, Patrick Timsit, and Marie Trintignant; Au coeur du mensonge / The Colour of Lies (Claude Chabrol) starring Jacques Gamblin, Sandrine Bonnaire, Antoine de Caunes and Valéria Bruni-Tedeschi; Total Western / The Hunted Man (guest Eric Rochant) starring Samuel Le Bihan, Jean-François Stévenin and Jean-Pierre Kalfon; as well as Une affaire du goût / A tasteful affair (Bernard Rapp) introduced by actor Jean-Pierre Lorît. Isabelle Huppert starred in three Les destinées sentimentales (Olivier Assayas) and in contemporary roles in two films by Benoît Jacquôt L'ecole de chair and Pas de scandale. Là-bas … mon pays / Over There … My Country (Alexandre Arcady) took a fresh look at Algeria with Antoine de Caunes playing a celebrated television journalist while Le vache et le président (Philippe Muyl, also a guest) proved a delightful film for young people about a boy's bid to save his favourite cow and was scene by thousands of school children. Other guest included Anne Villaceque for Petite Cherie, and Sabine Franel for Le premier du nom. A new company CinéFrance was established to continue the pioneering work of the festival throughout the year, and to date has released successfully Au coeur du mensonge and La vache et le président with more titles pending.

2001

The return of Josiane Balasko for Un crime au paradis; Jean-Pierre Salomé for Belphégor; Claude Miller for Betty Fisher; Thierry Lhermitte for Le prince du pacifique; Lucy Russell for L'anglaise et le duc; Thomas Gilou for La vérité 1 and 2; Mehdi Charef for Marie-Line; Fabrice Genestal for La Squale; Yves Lavandier for Oui mais … and Anne-Sophie Birot and Islid Lo Besco for Les filles ne savent pas nager; Christian Carion for Une hirondelle a fait le printemps and Pierre-Olivier Scotto and Thierry de Ganay for Le roman de Lulu. Lynda Benahouada and Mohamed Chaouch attended to support Samia.

2002

Serge le Peron for Léaud l'unique; Patrice Leconte for L'homme du train; Olivier Dahan for Le peit poucet and La vie promise; Eric Berger for Tanguy; Etienne Chatiliez for Tanguy (in London); Agnes Obadia and Jean-Julien Chervier for Du poil sous les roses; Nicolas Philibert retro at the French Institute, Edinburgh.

2003

The FFF offered a substantial retrospective – devoted to the work of Alain Corneau in his presence which also helped to "grow" the festival's influence as some screenings started in October in the run-up to the festival itself which ran from 7 to 30 November. In Glasgow the Corneau retrospective found a home at the CCA, adding yet another venue to the line-up while the Ciné Lumière devoted a weekend to the retro. In Edinburgh and Glasgow, the festival's founding cities, the response to the overall programme which embraced work by Claude Miller, Claude Chabrol, Jean Becker, Raoul Ruiz, Philippe Muyle, Jeanne Labrune, Michel Deville, Robert Guédiguian and Danièle Thompson among many, proved pleasingly buoyant and maintained the growing momentum seen over the last couple of years. Stirling Macrobert were cautiously upbeat about the participation on four titles. Sidebar activity included the stunning exhibition of photographs by Nicolas Guerin, a photographer who works for Positif, shown at the French Institute in Edinburgh and on the walls of GFT's Café Cosmo; a round table on literary adaptations in the cinema featuring Franco-Scottish input from Bernard MacLaverty, Alain Corneau and Leslie Hills at the French Institute where additional attractions included a programme of documentaries on writers as well as four portraits of directors Jean-Pierre Jeunet, Claire Denis, Jean-Jacques Beneix and Robert Guédiguian. Again the level of activity built on initiatives started in previous years. One of the resounding causes for optimism was the positive reaction to the educational programme (Moi César, Le Papillon and Vivre me tue) which proved popular with pupils, students and teachers. The strong opening weekend (and closing at London Ciné Lumière) with many guests in attendance including Alain Corneau, Nadine Trintingnant, Jean Veber, Nicolas Vannier, and Nicolas Guerin, ensured that the festival had a vibrant send-off and produced vibes that resonated over the days ahead. Distribution of guests ensured that Dundee (Jean and Louis Becker) and Aberdeen (Thomas Chabrol) shared in the bounty.

2004

The star appearance in Glasgow of Jean Reno, created a storm of interest. Guests appeared variously in London, Glasgow, and Edinburgh and included Gael Morel for Le Clan, Dominique Cabrera for Folle embellie, Abelllatif Kechiche for L'esquive, and Emmanuel Mouret for Venus et fleur. Consul general Pierre Antoine-Berniard hosted an agreeable brunch at his residence and guests of honour included director Gael Morel, Unifrance's Antoine Khalife, Sylvain and Sally Chomet, Scottish director Richard Jobson, Palme Dog promoter Toby Rose and others including the French Institute's Olga Poivre d'Arvor. Education events surrounded Les choristes, Malabar Princess, Genesis and Raining Cats and Frogs. Special teaching packs were devised by Glasgow Film Theatre's learning team in collaboration with local authorities. Such events are becoming an increasingly important of FFF activities, with teachers demonstrating an unprecedented demand and interest. The tribute to Alain Delon whose image adorned the cover of the brochure, drummed up a strong following for La Piscine, Mr Klein and Melodie en sous sol.

2005

There was a mini-celebration of le cinema francais to enable the French Film Festival UK to change calendar dates and to join forces in 2006 with the Renault French Film Season to become an all-encompassing showcase for French cinema in the UK. Titles presented comprised: Afiter You / Après vous; Just Friends / je préfère qu’on reste amis; The Art of Breaking Up / Un fil a la patte and The Ax / Le Couperet. Sadly the collaboration was short-lived and in 2007 the Festival regained its traditional November slot.

2006

The year of the collaboration with the Renault French Film Season. The Panorama section of the Festival was devoted to titles featuring such big name stars as Carole Bouquet, Sandrine Bonnaire, Sabine Azéma, and, from the younger generation, Romain Duris and Audrey Tautou. Themes range from school rebellion (Bad Spelling, to be released by CineFile), a right royal romp which has already had considerable coverage over here (Palais Royal!, Momentum Pictures) and 1968 revolutionary fervour (Regular Lovers, Artificial Eye). Cutting-edge, new talent is celebrated in the Discovery section. Xavier Giannoli's An Adventure (Momentum Pictures) depicts a strange psychological encounter between Ludivine Sagnier and Nicolas Duvauchelle, while Mon Ange (Parasol Peccadillo) features Vanessa Paradis in her first screen role for six years, playing a hooker with a heart of gold who suddenly finds her world turned upside down. Master Classes, open to all, were scheduled with Bertrand Tavernier, the subject of the 2006 retrospective. As someone who has carved his own unique niche in French cinema as a dedicated cinéphile, producer, script-writer, and director, Tavernier has won countless international awards for his work which will be discussed at public events in London, Glasgow, Edinburgh and Dundee. He will also present his latest film Holy Lola with Jacques Gamblin and Isabelle Carré plus the cult hit Death Watch, made in Glasgow with Romy Schneider and Harvey Keitel. The festival is presided over by honorary patron Sylvain Chomet, the Oscar-nominated creator of Belleville Rendez-vous currently working on this side of the Channel – another example of Franco-British fusion in action. There were three launches – in Edinburgh (Cockles and Muscles with Jacques Martineau and Olivier Ducastel), Glasgow (Lemming with Dominik Moll) and London (Le Temps qui reste) with Melvil Poupaud. Russian Dolls had its London bow at the Cineworld Shaftesbury Avenue followed by Bertrand Tavernier's masterclass and screening of Holy Lola. The delegation comprised, among others, Marie Gillain, Melvil Poupaud, Dominik Moll, Cédric Klapisch, Olivier Marchal, Bertrand Tavernier, Olivier Ducastel, Jacques Martineau, Edouard Colin, as well as Jacques Bonnaffé and Aisa Maiga (the latter low profile pair had least to contribute to the proceedings being secondary characters in their respective films Cockles and Russian Dolls).

2007

After a year of close collaboration with Unifrance and the showcase in London designed to promote films with UK distribution in place, it was agreed that the two events should regain their separate identities in 2007. The policy change within Unifrance was communicated relatively late in the planning of the FFF UK 2007 leaving the 15th edition of the festival locked in to dates from 15 April to 6 May (not necessarily the ideal timeframe) while the Rendezvous ran earlier from 29 March to 1 April and was based only in London. The FFF UK welcomed a range of guests including Christian Vincent, the subject of this year's retro. He attended screenings in three cities (London, Edinburgh, Glasgow) as well as taking part in masterclasses at Screen Academy Scotland in Edinburgh and at the Alliance française in Glasgow. Another three-city guest was director Patrick Grandperret who presented his new film Meurtrières / Murderers. Michel Hazanavicius, the director of OSS 117 attended with actress Bérénice Béjo – and took part in two screenings at Filmhouse Edinburgh and Vue Ocean Terminal. Unfortunately they had to cut their Glasgow date because of a funeral in France. The final attendee was Claudie Ossard, one of France's most powerful producers (Amélie / Betty Blue / Delicatessen) who presented her new production Paris je t'aime with FFF UK patron Sylvain Chomet (director of one of the segments). She used the occasion to talk shop with Chomet about their new live-action feature project.

2008

The introduction of a Preview section devoted to showcasing films with UK distribution already in place (as a way of filling the gap left by the demise of the 2008 Unifrance London Rendezvous) also produced dividends. In particular the take-up for Priceless (top performer) and A Secret. The line-up of guests included Lola Doillon attending the openings in Edinburgh and Glasgow with her first film Just About Love, Jean Becker and Jean-Pierre Darroussin supporting Conversations with My Gardener in Scotland and London, and Lebanese film-maker Danielle Arbid in attendance for A Lost Man. Daroussin and also accompanied The Premonition, his first film as a director with actress Valerie Stroh. Lionel Bailliu worked tirelessly at master classes built around his feature Fair Play and his short film Squash at Screen Academy Scotland and Stirling University as well as the Alliance Francaise in Glasgow. London additionally welcomed Pierre Salvadori, Serge Bozon and Barbara Carlotti, and Damien Odoul. The only guest who failed to appear was Melvil Poupaud, who had to return at the last moment to the States for re-shoots on his new film. Award-winning photographer Fabrizio Maltese appeared in Edinburgh and Glasgow to publicise his exhibition Faces of French Cinema at the Institut franìais. He was accompanied by his editor Boyd van Hoeij.

2009

The 17th edition featured two contrasting tributes to diverse but legendary figures: Jacques Tati and Jean Eustache. A new documentary The Magnificent Tati premiered in Edinburgh and Glasgow, presented by its director Michael House while Tati expert Professor David Bellos from Princeton University introduced all major screenings of Tati's oeuvres. The focus on Jean Eustache, curated by Edinburgh University, was presented by Eustache expert Jerome Game and Professor Keith Reader from Glasgow University. Panorama gathered titles featuring the crème de la crème of French stars among them Gérard Depardieu, Nathalie Baye, Josiane Balasko, Catherine Frot, André Dussollier, Gérard Jugnot, Jean-Pierre Darroussin, Fabrice Luchini, Chiara Mastroianni, and Emmanuel Mouret as well as a clin d'oeil on novelist Françoise Sagan. The Discovery section, among a wide selection, showcased Guillaume Depardieu's final moving performance and an arresting new Swiss film Another Man whose director Lionel Baier was in attendance with the support of the cultural department of the Swiss Embassy. Director and sailor Pierre Marcel presented his documentary Tabarly (the Gallic master mariner Eric Tabarly). Top French titles due on UK screens later in that year included the Cannes Film Festival award winner A Prophet by Jacques Audiard and Welcome by Philippe Lioret. In addition to regular cities (Glasgow, Edinburgh, London, Manchester, Warwick, Aberdeen, Inverness, Dundee) we welcomed to the fold Dumfries, Durham, Cambridge, St Andrews and Stirling. The Rhône-Alpes region around Lyon active in film locations, tourism and commerce held a special gala evening as part of the celebration.

2010

The festival welcomed more than 20,000 spectators. An even wider geographical selection was on offer through the addition of the Horizons label, warmly embracing the world of Francophonie and its varied cultures thanks to the input of TV5 Monde. After the memorable Jacques Tati tribute and retrospective in 2009 the festival maintained the link by focussing on the work of Pierre Étaix in his presence and in particular the restored copy of Le grand amour. With his roots in the circus, he helped Tati on many of his films, developed multiple skills and carved his own film career working with everyone from Robert Bresson to Jerry Lewis. A close-up on a key figure in French cinema, André Techiné whose concerns have involved identity, sexuality and roots, was mounted in association with Stirling University's Bill Marshall. The new films cover titles from major directors such as Bertrand Tavernier, Rachid Bouchareb, Jean-Jacques Beneix and Costa-Gavras, to the newer generation of Christophe Honoré, Stephane Brizé, Cédric Kahn, and Zabou Breitman.

2011

Daniel Auteuil supported in person his remake Marcel Pagnol's classic The Well-Digger's Daughter (as actor and director) while Daniel Armogathe, President of the Marseille Cinematheque shared his Pagnol insights at screenings of the film in Edinburgh and Glasgow, part of a delegation from Marseille. Following the previous recent celebrations of Jacques Tati and, in 2010, Pierre Étaix, we saluted in their presence a Belgian burlesque duo in the same tradition Fiona Gordon and Dominique Abel and their Cannes hit The Fairy. The Belgian flag also was flown by Bouli Lanners (The Giants) and Dominique Reding's Robert Mitchum is Dead, all organised by Edouard Notte, lecturer in French language and literature at Edinburgh University in collaboration with WBI (Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Francophone Community). The delightful opening choice of Romantics Anonymous starring Isabelle Carré and Benoît Poelvoorde was directed by Jean-Pierre Améris who accompanied his film at most screenings. There were superb documentaries such as Oceans, Special Flight, Think Global and a portrait of Charlotte Rampling (The Look) through animation (Zep's colourful Titeuf and A Cat in Paris) to significant new works by Alain Cavalier, André Techiné, Philippe Claudel, Danielle Arbid (who accompanied her controversial Beirut Hotel) as well as The Women on the 6th Floor's Philippe Le Guay. Scots actor Jamie Sives demonstrated the Auld Alliance in action and teamed up with director Vincent Vizioz for Temblay-en-France.

Classic cinema was not neglected with Jean Delannoy's collaboration with Jean Cocteau Love Eternal and Fantomas by Louis Feuillade, the first great master of feature length film-making, accompanied with a live electronic score by two cult Parisian DJs Jean-Yves Leloup and Éric Pajot (aka RadioMentale) in Dundee and The Hippodrome, Bo'ness.

2012

The 20th Anniversary of the festival between 8 November and 2 December in over 12 cities including London, Edinburgh and Paris. The guests of the festival were: Chantal Akerman, Pierre Jolivet, Eric Lange, Sophie Lellouche, François Pirot and Noémie Lvovsky with a piano recital by Jason Kouchak held at the ambassadors residence in Paris. This year, the festival has screened in preview the movie Asterix and Obelix: On Her Majesty with great actors like Gerard Depardieu, Catherine Deneuve, Dany Boon or Valérie Lemercier. A retro was made in honor of Chantal Akerman and his film Almayer's Folly. The Horizons unveiled panorama feature films like All Our Desires by Philippe Lioret, My Worst Nightmare Anne Fontaine with Benoit Poelvoorde or happiness never comes alone with Sophie Marceau. Under Discovery, Headwinds of Lespert or first name Mathieu Delaporte and Alexandre de Patellière were broadcast. There was a special Quebec Cinema Showcase that highlights Québec film culture. The animated films The Suicide Shop and Ernest and Celestine made strong impression. While a classic item made rediscover old films such as Borsalino with Jean-Paul Belmondo.

2013

The guests of this edition were: Anouk Aimée , Daniel Auteuil, Jean-Pierre Améris , Sylvain Chomet , Gregory Monro , Benazeth Catherine and Yolande Moreau. A slideshow is dedicated specifically to the immortal Louis de Funes and his films such as The crossing of Paris of Claude Autant-Lara and the megalomania of Gérard Oury. The Horizons panorama made discover films like capital with Gad Elmaleh , or The Man Who Laughs with Gerard Depardieu. The view was also discover a beautiful hilarious movie Me, Myself and Mum featuring the incredible personable actor- director Guillaume Galienne.

2014

This year, the Horizons panorama in the brochure included the hit movie Belle and Sebastian by Nicolas Vanier or he tells the friendship between a boy and a dog, all our strength From Nils Tavernier or man that is loved too with Guillaume Canet by André Téchiné . The section contains the Discovery Domestic Life Isabelle Czajka Heirs of Marie- Castille Mention – Schaar or even Alone with François Cluzet. The animated portion still has its success this time Day of the Crows by Jean-Christophe Dessaint or Loulou , the incredible secret of Gregory by Eric Omond Solotareff. A tribute to World War I was done with different films on this theme.