Today will see Edge of the Blade [+leggi anche:
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intervista: Vincent Perez
scheda film] by Vincent Perez (which won the Audience Award in Karlovy Vary) opening the 24th edition of the Arras Film Festival, which will offer up a very wide-ranging showcase of 110 films - European movies in particular – all the way through to 12 November. An event which strikes an impressive balance between being popular (45,682 admissions last year, with a number of premieres in the presence of artistic talent), cinephile (featuring works often hailing from countries which rarely enjoy the limelight in French cinemas) and industrial (over 500 professionals and journalists from twenty or so Old Continent countries), the Arras Film Festival is set to shine even brighter this year on account of a guest of honour, Dominique Blanc, who’ll be delivering an acting masterclass, and two high-calibre European filmmakers who are set to deliver masterclasses (whilst also accompanying their latest works which won awards in Venice, Green Border [+leggi anche:
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scheda film] and Me Captain [+leggi anche:
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scheda film]), namely Poland’s Agnieszka Holland and Italy’s Matteo Garrone. Other talented film professionals set to make the journey to Arras include Fanny Ardant, Anaïs Demoustier, Damien Bonnard, Benjamin Lavernhe, Monia Chokri and Laetitia Casta.

In addition to the nine contenders for the Golden Atlas (read our article), which will be assessed by a jury led by Dominik Moll (joined by Lucie Debay, Laurent Capelluto, Solène Rigot and Laurent Poitrenaux) are eight feature films from the Visions de l’Est section: Backwards [+leggi anche:
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scheda film] by Poland’s Jacek Lusinski, Wake Me [+leggi anche:
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intervista: Marko Šantić
scheda film] by Croatia’s Marko Santic, Guardians of the Formula [+leggi anche:
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intervista: Dragan Bjelogrlić
scheda film] by Serbia’s Dragan Bjelogrlic, Phantom Youth [+leggi anche:
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scheda film] by French-Kosovar director Luána Bajrami, Polish animated film The Peasants [+leggi anche:
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scheda film] by DK and Hugh Welchman, She Came at Night [+leggi anche:
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intervista: Tomáš Pavlíček, Jan Vejnar
scheda film] by Czech filmmakers Jan Vejnar and Tomas Pavlicek, Restore Point [+leggi anche:
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intervista: Robert Hloz
scheda film] by their compatriot Robert Hloz, and Photophobia [+leggi anche:
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intervista: Ivan Ostrochovský, Pavol P…
scheda film] by the Slovakian duo Ivan Ostrochovsky and Pavol Pekarcik.

Likewise worth a mention this year is a Croatia Focus, which includes - in addition to the two afore-mentioned titles - Bosnian Pot [+leggi anche:
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scheda film] by Pavo Marinkovic, Hotel Pula [+leggi anche:
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scheda film] by Andrej Korovljev and Seventh Heaven [+leggi anche:
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scheda film] by Jasna Nanut.

Stealing focus in the European Discoveries section are the Spanish movies 20,000 Species of Bees [+leggi anche:
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intervista: Estíbaliz Urresola
scheda film] by Estibaliz Urresola Solaguren and Matria [+leggi anche:
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intervista: Álvaro Gago
scheda film] by Alvaro Gago, not to mention Elaha [+leggi anche:
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scheda film] by Germany’s Milena Aboyan, Gondola [+leggi anche:
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scheda film] by fellow German Veit Helmer, Kiddo [+leggi anche:
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intervista: Zara Dwinger
scheda film] by Holland’s Zara Dwinger, Munch [+leggi anche:
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intervista: Henrik M. Dahlsbakken
scheda film] by Norway’s Henrik M. Dahlsbakken and Scrapper [+leggi anche:
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scheda film] by English director Charlotte Regan. Standing tall in the Great Masters category, meanwhile, are King’s Land [+leggi anche:
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scheda film] by Denmark’s Nikolaj Arcel, The Zone of Interest [+leggi anche:
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scheda film] by England’s Jonathan Glazer and Poor Things [+leggi anche:
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intervista: Suzy Bemba
Q&A: Yorgos Lanthimos
scheda film] by Greek director Yorgos Lanthimos.

It’s a showcase of European cinema in all its diversity, which will also shine a light on French film production, exhibiting more than 20 feature films which are set to screen in premieres, including Borgo [+leggi anche:
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scheda film] by Stéphane Demoustier, The Deep Dark by Mathieu Turi, It's Rainning Men by Caroline Vignal (which is set to close the festival) and the four young talents on the French Perspectives agenda (Vincent Must Die [+leggi anche:
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intervista: Stéphan Castang
scheda film] by Stéphan Castang, The Fantastic Three by Michaël Dichter, La tête froide by Stéphane Marchetti and Paternel by Ronan Tronchot).

And that’s without forgetting the World Cinema section (and notably the European co-productions Goodbye Julia [+leggi anche:
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intervista: Mohamed Kordofani
scheda film] by Mohamed Kordofani, Inchallah A Boy [+leggi anche:
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scheda film] by Amjad Al Rasheed, If Only I Could Hibernate [+leggi anche:
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intervista: Zoljargal Purevdash
scheda film] by Zoljargal Purevdash and Behind the Mountains [+leggi anche:
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intervista: Mohamed Ben Attia
scheda film] by Mohamed Ben Attia), two retrospectives ("Dirty Beasts" and "The Odd Czechs"), special screenings, a young audience selection and, in terms of the professional sidebar, the 17th edition of the Professional Northern Meetings (running 8 to 10 November) and the pitching sessions for the Arras Days Development Grant (on 11 November ), with a focus on several Croatian projects the following day, to boot.