The Franco-American Cultural Fund Announces Complete Lineup For COLCOA Film Festival, Eric Barbier’s "Promise Of Dawn" Open’s Festival

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Category: Entertainment News

Published on Friday, 06 April 2018 18:41

The Franco-American Cultural Fund announced today the program for the 22nd COLCOA FRENCH FILM FESTIVAL, which will run April 23-30 at the Directors Guild of America in Los Angeles. The event will showcase a record number of films.

The annual City of Lights City of Angeles, Film Festival will feature 86 films, television series, digital series and VR programs. 75 of these will be in competition for the COLCOA Awards, including several World, International, North American, and U.S. Premieres. COLCOA is considered the largest festival dedicated to French films and series worldwide.

"Through its different competitions, we are proud to dedicate this year's programming of COLCOA to women, both in their role in the making of the films and series, and their central roles in the majority of the stories selected this year," stated François Truffart, COLCOA Executive Producer and Artistic Director. "Concretely, we will also introduce a new series called Women Make History. We will dedicate a day to first films made by female writers and directors; our Focus on a Filmmaker day will be offered to writer, director, actor Mélanie Laurent; and one of our panels will address the role of women in the French film industry."

COLCOA CINEMA

An exclusive lineup of 37 new features and documentaries will compete for the COLCOA CINEMA AWARDS, beginning on Opening Night (Monday, April 23) with the North American Premiere of writer/director Eric Barbier's PROMISE AT DAWN. This adaptation of French author Romain Gary's autobiography and celebration of his mother gathers, in the title roles, Pierre Niney and Charlotte Gainsbourg.

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The cinema competition will close on Monday, April 30, with the North American Premiere of Cedric Kahn's new drama, THE PRAYER. The film recently had its triumphant world premiere at the Berlin Film festival where newcomer Anthony Bajon won the Best Actor Award.

The line-up includes new features from established writers/directors, including Mathieu Amalric (BARBARA), Yvan Attal (LE BRIO), Daniel Auteuil (THE OTHER WOMAN), Xavier Beauvois (THE GUARDIANS), Samuel Benchetrit (DOG), Christian Carion (MY SON), Alain Chabat (CHRISTMAS AND CO), Dany Boon (FAMILY IS FAMILY), Albert Dupontel (SEE YOU UP THERE), Emmanuel Finkiel (MEMOIR OF WAR), David and Stephane Foenkinos (JEALOUS) Yann Gozlan (BURN OUT), Naomi Kawase (RADIANCE), Mélanie Laurent (DIVING, THE ADOPTED), Philippe Le Guay (NAKED NORMANDY), Eric Toledano & Olivier Nakache (C'EST LA VIE!), Laurent Tirard (RETURN OF THE HERO) and Nicolas Vannier (SCHOOL OF LIFE).

The festival will also present the work of newcomers such as writer/director Fillipe Barboza (GABRIEL AND THE MOUNTAIN), writer/director Modi Barry & Cédric Ido (CHÂTEAU), writer/director Hubert Charuel (BLOODY MILK), writer/director Charles de Meaux (THE LADY IN THE PORTRAIT with Chinese star Fan Bing Bing), writer/director Elsa Deringer (LUNA), writer/director Marie Garel-Weiss (THE PARTY IS OVER), writer/director Julien Hallard (LET THE GIRLS PLAY), writer/director Xavier Legrand (CUSTODY), writer/director Nawell Madani (STAND UP GIRL!) writer/director Dominique Rocher (THE NIGHT EATS THE WORLD) and writer/director Léonor Seraille (MONTPARNASSE BIENVENÜE).

Actors Camélia Jordana (LE BRIO), Vanessa Paradis (DOG), Nahuel Perez Biscayart (SEE YOU UP THERE), Melville Poupaud (THE LADY IN THE PORTRAIT, BEYOND SUSPICION), Antony Bajon (THE PRAYER) and veteran w/d Francis Veber (20th anniversary of THE DINNER GAME) will be in attendance at the festival, with additional talent to be announced shortly.

The popular COLCOA High School screening program will run for five days during the festival. More than 3,000 Southern California students and teachers are invited to attend free screenings and conversations, as well as participate in a student film critic contest.

Celebrating its 11th year, this program is produced in partnership with ELMA (European Languages and Movies in America), with the support of AATF-SC (American Association of Teachers of French – Southern California). In addition, master classes will take place at several film schools across the city with the support of the Cultural services of the French Embassy in the US and ELMA.

Other exciting programs offered throughout the festival include: After 10 series (April 24~28); COLCOA Classics (April 24~28); COLCOA Documentaries (April 24~29); World Cinema Produced by France, including two French-Italian co-productions (April 25); Focus on a Filmmaker, dedicated to writer/director Mélanie Laurent (April 26); Films Noir Series (April 28); French NeWave 2.0, exploring first films directed by women (April 28); and the Happy Hour Talks, a series of panels presented in association with Variety (April 24-28) that is free to the general public. Panel will include a discussion about distribution and promotion revolution in the digital area on April 25, Place of Women in the Industry in France on April 27 and a focus on composer Laurent Perez Del Mar on April 28.

COLCOA DIGITAL SERIES & VIRTUAL REALITY

As a symbol of the globalization of production and the venue of a new generation of producers and filmmakers, digital series has become a format in its own right for the industry, involving both independent and studio creators. For the second year, COLCOA is proud to introduce, in association with TITRAFILM, its competition of four programs presented as North American Premieres before being released by Studio+ in the U.S.: RED CREEK, TANK 2, BIARRITZ SURF GANG and CABEZA MADRE. Similar to the Short Film Competition, audience members will have access to free screenings of the competing digital series and will vote for the COLCOA Digital Series Awards. (See attached detailed program.)

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Also, for the second year at COLCOA, audience members will have the opportunity to explore the VR Corner at the festival during the weekend of April 28, supported by FRENCH IMMERSION, a new program launched by The Cultural Services of the French Embassy. 

As the market for VR continues to expand, five films representing a cross-section of the medium will be featured: BATTLESCAR examines the punk rock scene of New York narrated by Rosario Dawson, I SAW THE FUTURE showcases the futuristic (and accurate) predication of the digital age by Arthur C. Clarke, who co-wrote 2001:  A SPACE ODYSSEY , THE LITTLE PRINCE brings one of the most beloved and bestselling novels to life, PLANET ∞ takes viewers on a journey from a decayed planet to one that is overtaken by rain forming an ecosystem populated by giant carnivorous tadpoles and UTURN examines the gender gap from both sides with interwoven stories that allow the viewer to embody either a female or male character.  (See attached detailed program.)