It’s by way of a show at the Lido Theatre that the 14th Champs-Élysées Film Festival (founded and presided over by Sophie Dulac) will exceptionally be opened tonight, presenting upwards of 60 French and US independent films that will be screened in the various cinemas (Publiciscinémas, the Balzac, the Mac-Mahon, the Club de L’Étoile, and the Théâtre du Rond-Point) lining the famed avenue in Paris, where US filmmakers Emma Seligman and Celine Song will also be introduced as guests of honour.

Led by French filmmaker Alice Winocour (and further composed of Ramata-Toulaye Sy, Nathan Silver, Megan Northam and Félix Kysyl), the feature-film jury will assess two competitions dedicated to independent cinema, one of which consisting of six US films and the other showcasing an identical number of French works. The latter will showcase Ugo Bienvenu’s animated movie Arco (unveiled in a Cannes Special Screening and triumphant last weekend in Annecy – read our news), Léonor Serraille’s Berlin competitor Ari [+leggi anche:
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intervista: Léonor Serraille
scheda film], Louise Hémon’s The Girl in the Snow [+leggi anche:
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intervista: Louise Hémon
scheda film] (discovered on the Croisette in the Directors’ Fortnight), Pauline Loquès’ Nino [+leggi anche:
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intervista: Pauline Loquès
scheda film] (which won Théodore Pellerin Best Newcomer in Cannes’ Critics’ Week), Hubert Charuel’s Meteors [+leggi anche:
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intervista: Hubert Charuel e Claude Le…
scheda film] (which also world premiered in Cannes, within the Un Certain Regard section) and Laïs Decaster’s documentary La Peau dure (set in the world of women’s judo).

Rounded off by a medium-length film competition and two short film competitions (one for French films and the other for US titles, boasting a jury led by director Jonathan Millet), the agenda also includes a Focus on Marilyn Monroe, a section entitled "Getting Older Is Beautiful", and five premières, of films such as Sébastien Betbeder’s The Incredible Snow Woman [+leggi anche:
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intervista: Sébastien Betbeder
scheda film] (well-received in Berlin’s Panorama line-up) and another two Cannes-screened titles: The Girls We Want [+leggi anche:
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intervista: Prïncia Car
scheda film] by Prïncia Car (unveiled in the Directors’ Fortnight) and Love Letters [+leggi anche:
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scheda film] by Alice Douard (screened in Critics’ Week).

For the record, one particular section of the Champs-Élysées Film Festival will subsequently travel to an array of French cities as part of a French Tour, while the 9th edition of the US Tour (repeating the same French short, medium-length and feature film selections) will take place in autumn 2025 in New York, New Orleans, Portland, Berkeley, Chicago, San Francisco and Los Angeles.