08/04/2008

The 9th Festival Du Film Francophone – organised by the Institut Francais d'Athenes (IFA) with the support of Unifrance – opened successfully on April 3 in Athens with Mehdi Charef’s Summer of ‘62 [+see also:
trailer
film profile] .

Fifty films by French-speaking directors from all over the world are being screened for the first time in Greece during the festival, which first runs through April 13 in Athens and will also take place in Thessaloniki from April 10-16.

Moreover, a presentation of the films screened last year in the Director's Fortnight in Cannes will be held in presence of the section's director, Olivier Père. The selection of films includes, among others: Florent Emilio Siri’s Intimate Enemies [+see also:
trailer
film profile], Guillaume Nicloux’s The Key [+see also:
trailer
film profile] and Love Songs [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile] by Christophe Honoré. Alexandre Desplat, who is half-Greek, will attend the Athens screening of Intimate Strangers, which he scored.

Another section is made up of films honoured with the Jean Vigo Award and is created by the directors of the Thessaloniki International Film Festival, who are once again collaborating with the IFA.

The screening of two silent films with live accompaniment by Olga Kouklaki is an event also expected to draw large audiences. Kouklaki is a Greek artist who has composed electronic music for the silent films Entr' acte by René Clair and Adventures of Vielard by Joseph Hep and Demos Bratsanos.

The first event of the festival took place through Greek Fashion Week, with the screening of Lagerfeld Confidentiel [+see also:
trailer
film profile].