02/10/2008

The 9th French Film Party kicks off tonight in Lisbon with the screening of Jean-Paul Salomé's Female Agents [+see also:
trailer
film profile]. It is the first day of an entire month dedicated to the diversity of recent French (co)productions, in five cities: Lisbon, Porto, Coimbra, Faro and Almada.

The event’s 25 national premières include Laurent Cantet’s highly anticipated Cannes winner, The Class [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Carole Scotta
interview: Laurent Cantet
film profile], along with Éric Guirado's The Grocer’s Son [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile], Christophe Barratier's Faubourg 36 [+see also:
trailer
film profile], Cédric Klapisch's Paris [+see also:
trailer
film profile] and two French co-productions from this year’s Cannes competition: The Silence of Lorna [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Arta Dobroshi
interview: Arta Dobroshi
interview: Jean-Pierre et Luc Dardenne
interview: Olivier Bronckart
film profile] by the Dardenne brothers and Waltz With Bashir [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile], the animated docu-fiction by Israel's Ari Folman.

The biggest surprise of this year's edition is the introduction of an Audience Award. Nine films will be competing for the €5,000 prize that will go to its domestic distributor. The winner will be announced on October 12.

The sidebar Cannes in Portugal will further pay a tribute to the 40 years of the Directors' Fortnight, while the section Paris/Lisboa will bring a series of titles shot in the two capitals to the Film Museum. Also in the Film Museum programme, a retrospective on four divas of French cinema: Jeanne Moreau, Catherine Deneuve, Simone Signoret and Anna Karina.

Along with screenings, the Party also organises other events, including the presentation of Éric Fottorino’s book Baiser de Cinéma and the exhibition Faces do French Film by Italian-born photographer Fabrizio Maltese.