18/06/2002 - The best of recent productions at Yokohama - 19-23 June

Cinema will steal a little of soccer´s Japanese thunder at the Festival of French Films of Yokohama17 recently produced features and 6 shorts will be screened or have their Japanese premieres at this important event whose programme includes a tribute to Jacques Tati and the screening of his Mon oncle. The Festival is also a welcome opportunity for Far East industry operators to meet their French colleagues and hopefully do some business at the sidebar market. Yokohama has steadily attracted a growing number of film fans, journalists and operators and has the support of the French Embassy in Japan and Unifrance, the agency charged with promoting French cinema all over the world. Over the last decade, French cinema has won a strong following in Japan and sales to the Land of the Rising Sun are growing. Recent exports include The Rivers of Purple, Amélie, Vidocq, Le pacte des loups and Wasabi. In 2001, over 1.9 million of the 4.2 million pool of Japanese filmgoers chose to see a French film. The list of all the films at Yokohama and other information is contained in sito di Unifrance.

(Translated from Italian)