Film selection announced

The exciting 2006 film selection will represent the best of contemporary French cinema including, for the first time in the Festival history a North America Premiere, LES BRIGADES DU TIGRE, the French UNTOUCHABLES, along with several Northern California and Sacramento premieres, including to name a few: LA MOUSTACHE a psychological thriller; LES TEMPS QUI CHANGENT a love story reuniting French stars Catherine Deneuve & Gerard Depardieu; LE PETIT LIEUTENANT a touching film noir for which Nathalie Baye won the Cesar for Best Actress; the comedy TRAVAUX (ON SAIT QUAND CA COMMENCE...) starring Carole Bouquet, and much more (see below the complete selection).

Classic masterpieces, outrageous Saturday Midnight movies as well as French and local short films with a French flavor will complete the program.
This year, after spending several days watching numerous great French short films in France, we have decided to present a larger selection of short films during two short films screenings, one on each weekend.

The first weekend (July 14-16) the classic selection will be kids friendly with LE VIEIL HOMME ET L ENFANT and LES VACANCES DE MONSIEUR HULOT, we particularly encourage you to bring your kids to the screenings the later one which contains very few dialogues!
The second weekend (July 22-23) the classic selection will bring you two films that found an echo in the recent French news: WEEKEND, one of the best film made by Jean-Luc Godard and Mathieu Kassovitz cult movie, LA HAINE.

The midnight movies will pay homage to France's most iconoclast filmmaker, Gaspard Noe.

Other events will include 2 catered receptions with live music, free breakfasts following the midnight screenings, the display of original artworks by Sacramento artists in the lobby of the Crest, and a raffle for a chance to win 2 round trip tickets to Paris on Air France!

The fantastic Opening Reception will launch the Festival on Friday, July 14th 2006 at 6pm. The reception will include appetizers, an open bar and live gypsy jazz by Le swing Hot and will be followed by the North America Premiere of French blockbuster LES BRIGADES DU TIGRE. Film screenings will continue during two weekends.
On Sunday July 23rd, a Closing Champagne Party, with music and Scopitones by DJ Christophe, will follow the closing film, the social drama VERS LE SUD, and put a fabulous end to the 5th Sacramento French Film Festival.

All films, except for the midnight movies, will be shown on the big screen of the art deco auditorium of the Crest Theatre. All films are presented in French with English subtitles.

Festival passes for the event can be purchased in advance.
A popular drawing for first-rate prizes will precede each screening and discussions with experts follow some films.

COMPLETE FILM SELECTION
7 PREMIERES
OPENING FILM, July 14: North America PREMIERE, Les Brigades du Tigre (The Tiger Brigades) by Jerome Cornuau
CLOSING FILM, July 23: Vers le sud (Heading South) by Laurent Cantet
Playing on July 15-16:
-La Moustache (The Mustache) by Emmanuel Carrere
-Les Temps qui changent (Changing Times ) by Andre Techine
-Gabrielle by Patrice Chereau
Playing on July 22-23:
-Travaux (Housewarming) by Brigitte Rouan
-Le Petit Lieutenant (The Young Lieutenant) by Xavier Bauvois

2 MIDNIGHT MOVIES - 2 cult movies by Gaspard Noe, France s most iconoclastic filmmaker
-Seul contre tous (I Stand Alone) &
-Irreversible

4 CLASSICS
Playing on July 15-16:
-Les Vacances de Monsieur Hulot (Monsieur Hulot s Holiday) by Jacques Tati (Great for the whole family, very few subtitles !)
-Le Vieil Homme et l enfant (The Two of Us) by Claude Berri
Playing on July 22-23:
-La Haine (Hate) by Mathieu Kassovitz
-Weekend by Jean-Luc Godard

The Complete Schedule will be announced later this month.

Advance sales are now open. Reserve your passes now!

Coming June 2nd : the SFFF Co-presents L'Enfant at The Crest Theatre

Coming June 2nd at The Crest Theatre - L'Enfant (The Child)
Proudly Co-presented by the Sacramento French Film Festival
$5.50 tickets Monday - Thursday for Alliance Francaise Members

Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne present another uncompromising, emotionally devastating depiction of human struggle with The Child. Winner of the Palme d'Or at the 2005 Cannes Film Festival (their second, after 1999's Rosetta), the film opens just as 20-year-old Bruno (Jeremie Renier) and his 18-year-old girlfriend Sonia (Deborah Francois) have welcomed their first child into the world. A small-time crook with no big-time leads, Bruno decides to sneak away with his son, Jimmy, and sell him for a hefty chunk of money. But when he tries to justify his actions to Sonia, assuring her that they'll have another baby, she collapses in shock. While she recuperates in the hospital, Bruno realizes that he's made a horrendous mistake, and embarks on an impassioned quest to get his son back and redeem himself to Sonia.

As in their other fictional feature films, the Dardenne brothers use handheld cinematography, realistic acting, and a music-free soundtrack to create a poetically heightened sense of reality. The result is a supremely humane work of art. Featuring another powerful performance from frequent Dardenne's collaborator Jeremie Renier, The Child also boasts an unforgettable performance from newcomer Deborah Francois, who fills the screen with an honesty rarely seen.

Kirikou and the Sorceress, Saturday May 6, Children admitted FREE

Sacramento Black Film Festival Will Feature Kirikou and the Sorceress on Saturday May 6, Children admitted FREE

Les Belles Artes Club, Inc., with funding by the Sacramento Metropolitan Arts Commission, present the 2nd Sacramento Black Film Festival.

On May 6, 2006, at 2:00 PM, "Kirikou and the Sorceress", a French feature length animated film, will be shown at the Guild Theater. Children are admitted free. Festival passes are $15.00, individual tickets are $6.00

Location:
The Guild Theater
2828 35th Street, Sacramento

Trailer & synopsis: http://www.kirikou.net/synopsis.html

From Script to Screen: Conversations on Contemporary French Cinema, May 9 & 11

Conversations on Contemporary French Cinema at Stanford University, La Faute à Voltaire (Poetical Refugee) and L'Esquive (Games of Love and Chance)

The Division of Literatures, Cultures, and Languages at Stanford and TV5 Monde present:
From Script to Screen: Conversations on Contemporary French Cinema

A French Film Festival with screenings and discussions with:

Actress Élodie Bouchez
Jean-Michel Frodon, Editor in Chief Cahiers du Cinema

Tuesday, May 9
La Faute à Voltaire ( Poetical Refugee), by Abdel Kechiche. Screening and discussion with ACTRESS ÉLODIE BOUCHEZ and Jean-Michel Frodon, Editor in Chief of the Cahiers du Cinéma.

5-6 p.m., Interview with ÉLODIE BOUCHEZ and Jean-Michel Frodon by Cécile Alduy, Cubberley Auditorium.
6-9 p.m., Screening and discussion, Cubberley Auditorium, 485 Lasuen Mall, Stanford campus

Thursday, May 11
L'Esquive ( Games of Love and Chance).
Screening and discussion with Cécile Alduy (French and Italian Department, Stanford).
6-9 p.m., Cubberley Auditorium, 485 Lasuen Mall, Stanford campus

For more information visit http://dlcl.stanford.edu/research/frenchfilm.html .
Or contact :
Cécile Alduy, Assistant Professor, French and Italian Department, alduy@stanford.edu , or
Marie-Pierre Ulloa, mpulloa@stanford.edu

Festival Preparations in Full Swing...

The Festival staff and volunteers are hard at work lining up an excellent selection of features and shorts for you this year and recruiting talented caterers and restaurants for the opening and closing receptions.

We are also in full swing recruiting new sponsors, both corporate and individuals. Help the Festival bring you the best of new and classic French cinema by becoming a corporate or individual sponsor!

Advance passes will be on sale in June but you can get your Festival passes now - at a discount price - by becoming a sponsor of the Festival. Every year our fabulous opening night reception sells out. This is your opportunity to guarantee that you will have access to the event which will be limited to 200 tickets offered to the public.

Our individual sponsors contributions help us better estimate our budget and allow us to book even more top quality films and potentially request the latest films directly from France, providing you with the unique opportunity to be among the first to see these films in the United States.

The Beat that My Heart Skipped, winner of 8 Cesars

The Sacramento French Film Festival is proud to announce that the closing film of the SFFF 2005 and winner of our Audience Award, DE BATTRE MON COEUR S'EST ARRETE (The Beat That My Heart Skipped) by Jacques Audiard won 8 French Academy Awards (Cesar) during Saturday February 25th ceremony, including Best Film, Best Director, Best Adapted Screenplay and Best music.

If you have missed the film last July, it is now available on DVD.

French Films at the Sacramento Jewish Film Festival

The 9 th SACRAMENTO JEWISH FILM FESTIVAL to be held March 4 th - 7 th at the Crest Theatre, will present 2 new French films.

- Opening film VA, VIS ET DEVIENS (Live and Become) by Radu Mihaileanu
winner of the 2006 French Academy Awards "Cesar" for Best Original Screenplay, nominee for Best Film of the year and Best Director.
Saturday March 4 th at 8pm, screening followed by coffee & desserts
Encore screening on Tuesday March 7th at 7:30pm

- LE TANGO DES RASHEVSKI (Rashevski's tango) by Sam Garbaski, Sunday March 5 th at 1:30pm.

CACHE To Open at the Crest Theatre

CACHE by Michael Haneke with Daniel Auteuil, Juliette Binoche and Annie Girardot will open on February 17th at the Crest Theatre.
Cache swept the European Film Awards, taking home the Best Picture Award as well as the European Critics' Award. Georges (Daniel Auteuil), who hosts a TV literary review, receives packages containing secretly shot videos of himself with his family and alarming drawings whose meaning he cannot figure out. Gradually, the footage on the tapes becomes more personal, suggesting that the sender has known Georges for some time. Georges feels a sense of menace hanging over him and his family but, as no direct threat has been made, the police refuse to help…

SFFF Wins Arts Management Excellence Award

The Sacramento French Film Festival won the 2005 Arts Management Excellence Award from the Arts & Business Council, for its outstanding contribution to arts and culture in the Sacramento region. The winners were announced during the Arts & Business Council's annual awards luncheon, Prelude to the Season, on October 5th 2005.

Festival Survey Results

The 4th Sacramento French Film Festival was the most successful ever with more than 3900 seats filled, 45% more than last year.

Thanks to all of you who replied to our online survey. It is essential for us to learn more about you and to get your feedback on the Festival. We are thrilled that 95% of you either loved or liked the Festival! We will try to satisfy even more of you next year!!!

Here are some other highlights from the survey:

Our audience is mainly local with 85% of you coming from Sacramento or the Greater Sacramento region. But the Festival also attracts more and more people from out of town with some coming all the way from San Diego!

We are pleased to have many loyal patrons who come back year after year with 66% of you having attended previous editions of the Festival.

75% of the attendees came to see several films and 35% watched more than 6 films over the two weekends.