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FESTIVALS / AWARDS France

MyFrenchFilmFestival fires the starting pistol

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- The 10th online festival organised by UniFrance across 60 international platforms is proposing an enticing competition of ten feature films, accessible through Cineuropa and Eyelet

MyFrenchFilmFestival fires the starting pistol
The Bare Necessity by Erwan Le Duc

After the 10 million viewings recorded last year across 200 territories, MyFrenchFilmFestival will continue its digital conquest of international audiences by way of a 10th edition, unspooling 16 January – 16 February. Offering films subtitled in ten languages, available directly on the festival website, as well as on 60 VoD platforms (including the Apple TV app in 90 territories, Google Play and Amazon Prime Video, not to mention MUBI), the exhibition organised by UniFrance "is continually growing in influence and visibility", as underlined by Serge Toubiana, the president of the body responsible for promoting French film abroad, while presenting the upcoming event to the press.

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"It’s a trailblazing festival which allows us to showcase our best productions and the diversity of these works, not to mention films which don’t often enjoy distribution via the traditional routes, all the while editorialising the online presence of French film", he added. The director general of UniFrance Daniela Elstner, meanwhile, emphasised the fact that MyFrenchFilmFestival doesn’t just draw in audiences younger than the usual fans of French film to cinemas across the world, but also an entirely new range of viewers. "It also provides us with an opportunity to trial working with different platforms, to learn lessons which we can then share with our film exporters".

Ten feature films will be showcased in competition and viewers will be able to access this 2020 selection at a cost of €1.99 per film or €7.99 for the full package. Festival access for audiences in Africa, Latin America, South Korea, Poland, Romania and Russia, meanwhile, will be entirely free of charge.

Set to award a prize worth 15,000 Euros to the winning work, the filmmaker-composed jury will be presided over by American director Ira Sachs who will be supported by fellow countryman Brady Corbet, Czech national Michaela Pavlatova, Guatemala’s Jayro Bustamante and French actress Agathe Bonitzer. Two other prizes will be allocated by the audience and by the international press jury. Amongst the works in the running for these accolades are three films discovered in Cannes (The Bare Necessity [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Erwan Le Duc
film profile
]
by Erwan Le Duc, the animated title The Swallows of Kabul [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Zabou Breitman, Eléa Gobbe-…
film profile
]
by Zabou Breitman and Éléa Gobbé-Mévellec, and To The Ends of the World [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Guillaume Nicloux
film profile
]
by Guillaume Nicloux), one discovered in Venice (School’s Out [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Sébastien Marnier
film profile
]
by Sébastien Marnier), one in San Sebastian (Meteorites [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile
]
by Romain Laguna), and Jessica Forever [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile
]
by Caroline Poggi and Jonathan Vinel - which will be screening in the festival following a stint in Toronto’s Platform competition and the Berlinale’s Panorama line-up – not to mention Escape From Raqqa [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile
]
by Emmanuel Hamon, Savage [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile
]
by Vincent Mariette and two Belgian films: Olivier Masset-Depasse’s Mothers’ Instinct [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Olivier Masset-Depasse
film profile
]
(unveiled in Toronto) and Méryl Fortunat-Rossi and Valéry Rosier’s documentary Holy Tour [+see also:
trailer
interview: Meryl Fortunat-Rossi and Va…
film profile
]
. With the Wind [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Bettina Oberli
film profile
]
by Bettina Oberli will be screened out of competition.

Those 11 feature films (ten in competition and one out of competition) are accessible directly through Cineuropa thanks to our partnership with Eyelet. Please note that registering on Eyelet entitles you to 200 credits, which will allow you to watch two films for free. Here are the films:

In addition to 10 short films which are also in competition (which are free to view), the programme will likewise include a special screening of Jean-François Richet’s Ma 6T va crack-er (1997), as well as a line-up for younger viewers and three VR works. MyFrenchFilmFestival will also be accompanied by cinema screenings organised by the international network of the Institut Français.

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(Translated from French)

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