Something we're enjoying at the moment.

C'est La Chanson du Dimanche!
Deux musiciens concluent chaque semaine par une chanson decalee collant au plus pres a l'actualite politique et sociale en France. A decouvrir tous les dimanche !

Petit cheminot (La Chanson du Dimanche / saison 2-5)




Le Beaujo en Vlib (La Chanson du Dimanche / saison 2-9)

Closing party - Photos 1

6th Annual Sacramento French Film Festival

2 Chevaux Citroen - Closing night

Closing party - Photos 2

Leave all your care behind...

Clair and Tiffany, dancing at the Crest

Photos - post screening discussion

Post screening discussion with Professor Kevin Elstob

John promoting the Midnight movies

This way for sex :)

Photos - Guest filmmaker Hedi Sassi

Director Hedi Sassi on the stage of the Crest Theatre

Opening reception photo - 1

Serge Gainsbourg (Scott), Jane Birkin (Jason) & their musicians
Kent Lacin on the piano, Mark Herzig on the bass

Opening reception photos - 2

Jane Berner & Edye Kuyper busy at the box office

The mimes ! & ? enter the Crest Theatre

Opening reception photos - 3

Emmanuelle Hitzke and Steve Kao enjoy a glass of wine!

Esther Joab gives away the goody bags with a smile.

A successful first festival wekend!

The first weekend of the 6th annual Sacramento French Film Festival was a great success.

Attendees enjoyed a fabulous opening reception with wonderful food, wine and entertainment provided by DJ Christophe, magician Stephane Jardonnet and a special appearance by Serge Gainsbourg and Jane Birkin, a concert to remember! Reporter Jonathan Mumm from News 10 opened the Festival with Cecile and Connie, right before the presentation of the opening film The Witnesses. Films presentation followed all weekend to the audience's delight.

Rendez-vous on Saturday July 29th at the Crest Theatre for more fun, films and food!!!
The first film to be shown THE MAN OF MY LIFE will open the festivities at 10:30am.

Director Hedi Sassi will be in town to present his film TELL LOU I LOVE HER showing at 1pm on Saturday 28, during the short film program 2.

Other films will be LADY CHATTERLEY, THE CITY OF LOST CHILDREN, FANFAN LA TULIPE (one screening only), EXTERMINATING ANGELS (one screening only) and DANS PARIS (one screening only) on closing night.

The films will be presented in a fun atmosphere: with pre-screening drawings; post-screening discussions (after selected screenings only); a show of artworks in the lobby of the Crest Theatre and a "Midnight Breakfast" following the screening of Exterminating Angels and a closing champagne party following Dans Paris.

See you at the Crest!

French Cocktails with 'Ask' Joey

A Saturday Evening Soiree

Enjoy film fest-inspired cocktails and conversation prior to the 6pm
screening of My Best Friend at the Crest Theater. Sacramento News & Review
columnist, Joey Garcia, hosts the party at Chops restaurant (a 1/2 block
from the Crest Theater), Saturday, July 21st at 5pm. This is a free event (byo cocktails).

French director Hedi Sassi in Sacramento

The 6th annual SFFF is pleased to announce that director Hedi Sassi will be in Sacramento to present his short film, Tell Lou I Love Her (Dire a Lou que je l aime), on July 28, at 1pm in the main auditorium of the Crest Theatre.
In the moving Tell Lou I Love Her, a young girl comes home for Christmas to visit her father, a father who never knew how to express his feelings to his daughter.
Tell Lou I Love Her is Hedi Sassi s third short film, it won the Audience & Special Jury Prizes at the Ales Film Festival in 2007. Sassi is currently working on his first feature film, Je dormirai quand tu seras mort.

2007 FILM SELECTION ANNOUNCED!

The 6th Sacramento French Film Festival will open on Friday July 20th at 6pm with a fabulous opening reception, followed at 8:30pm by the acclaimed deeply moving and astonishing drama by Andre Techine, THE WITNESSES (Les Temoins), starring Emmanuelle Beart and Michel Blanc.

The Festival will close on Sunday July 29th with DANS PARIS, the witty comedy in homage to Paris and the New Wave by up-and-coming director Christophe Honore; followed by a champagne party.

Buy your advance Passes NOW!

THE SELECTION OF PREMIERES WILL INCLUDE 5 OTHER FEATURES:

-PRIVATE FEAR IN PUBLIC PLACES (Coeurs) the latest film by veteran Alain Resnais, winner of the Silver Lion at the 2006 Venice Film Festival - nominated Best Film of the Year by the legendary magazine Les Cahiers du Cinema and the French Syndicate of Film Critics.
-MY BEST FRIEND (Mon Meilleur Ami), the latest comedy by Patrice Leconte, one of France's most renowned writer-directors, a wonderful story on love and friendship;
-FLANDERS (Flandres), the unconventional and challenging latest film by Bruno Dumont, winner of the Grand Jury Prize at the 2006 Cannes Film Festival.
-LADY CHATTERLEY by Pascale Ferran, winner of the Cesar (French Academy Award) for Best Film and Best Actress in 2007 (for leading lady Marina Hands);
-THE MAN OF MY LIFE (L Homme de ma vie), the seductive second feature of Zabou Breitman who enchanted the Festival goers with Try to remember in 2004.

OUR INFAMOUS MIDNIGHT MOVIES WILL CELEBRATE EROTICISM WITH:

-On Saturday July 21st, the quintessential erotic film, EMMANUELLE (1974)
-On Saturday July 28th, EXTERMINATING ANGELS (Les Anges exterminateurs), the latest film by Jean-Claude Brisseau, French cinema's bad boy.

THE SFFF WILL PRESENT 4 DIVERSE CLASSICS:

-ARMY OF SHADOW (L Armee des Ombres, 1969), the historical drama and masterpiece by Jean-Pierre Melville that had never been released in the U.S. before this year and was voted Best Film of the Year by several influential American film critics.
-MY UNCLE (Mon Oncle, 1958), the comedy by Jacques Tati, starring Monsieur Hulot. An excellent choice for children of all ages, very little dialog and subtitles.
-FANFAN LA TULIPE (1952) an adventure film by Christian Jaque, starring Gerard Philipe. A favorite hero of French children!
-THE CITY OF LOST CHILDREN (La cite des enfants perdus, 1995), a surprising sci-fi movie by Jean-Pierre Jeunet (the director of Amelie) and Marc Caro.

TWO SHORT FILM PROGRAMS, COMPRISING AWARD-WINNING FRENCH SHORT FILMS AND LOCAL SHORT FILMS with a French flavor, complete the 2007 program.

For more information about the films, show times and to watch movie trailers

OTHER EVENTS include free breakfasts following the midnight screenings; an exhibition of original artworks by Sacramento artists in the lobby of the Crest; and a raffle for a chance to win two round-trip tickets to Paris on Air France and two trips for two at the Grand Re- Opening of Club Med in Ixtapa, Mexico!

Classic Film Lineup for 2007

This year the Festival will feature 4 great and very diverse classics including two films suitable for the whole family.

Jacques Tati aka Monsieur Hulot is back in the hilarious comedy Mon Oncle. An excellent choice for children of all ages, very little dialog and subtitles.

Fanfan la Tulipe an adventure film by Christian Jaque, starring Gerard Philipe. A favorite hero of French children!

The City of Lost Children a sci-fi movie by the always inventive Jean-Pierre Jeunet (director of Amelie) and Marc Caro.

And last but not least, Army of Shadows the historical drama and masterpiece by Jean-Pierre Melville, a film the Festival has endeavored to bring to Sacramento since 2002! Originally released in France in 1969, it was only released in the United States in 2006 when it was voted Best film of the year by several influential American film critics.

More on these classic films when the entire program is announced.

Coming to a small screen near you

The new 30 second TV commercial for the Sacramento French Film Festival created by Mark Herzig, SFFF Short Film Program Director. Look for it on Comcast Cable TV.

The Poster is Here!! The Poster is Here!!

The Festival is extremely excited to present this year's Poster photographed by the talented Kent Lacin who has created all six of the Festival posters. Did you answer the casting call for the poster? Maybe you can find yourself somewhere in the crowd! Here is a link to a larger image of the poster.

Exterminating Angels at Midnight

Our Midnight movies will be erotic this year and conclude with coffee and pastries from Coffee Works. In addition to the classic, Emmanuelle shown on Saturday, July 21st, Exterminating Angels (Les Anges exterminateurs, 2006) the latest film by Jean-Claude Brisseau, French cinema's bad boy, will be shown on Saturday, July 28th. More information on this film when the entire program is announced.

The Erotic Classic Emmanuelle Selected as one Midnight Movie

Remember Baise moi ? How about Trouble every day, or Irreversible?
Did you prefer Anatomy of Hell or Secret Things?
This year the Festival presents the sexiest Midnight Movies we've ever shown !

We are pleased to announce that the quintessential erotic film, Emmanuelle (1974) will be one of our Midnight Movies this July!

Emmanuelle needs no introduction: it launched the vogue of soft-porn movies of the 1970s! Emmanuelle (one-time wonder Sylvia Kristel) joins her diplomat husband in Thailand, where she will search for physical pleasure in the arms of several partners, men and women. The film is based on a semi-autobiographical novel by Emmanuelle Arsan that was banned for several years in France. After the triumph of the movie, numerous sequels (from Europe, the United States and Asia) followed, none are as good as the original!

SFFF, 2007 Dottie Award Winner

Hourra pour le SFFF !

On March 8th, 2007 the Sacramento French Film Festival won the Dottie Award for Best Website in the Entertainment, Restaurant and Night Club category! Many thanks to Laurent Auffret who created the wallabout design template that the SFFF website is based on and all the contributors and editors of the website; and thanks to John Downs our webmaster extraordinaire!

GO TEAM!

SFFF, 2007 Dottie Award Finalist

Five years of tuning and tweaking seem to have paid off. The Sacramento French Film Festival website has been selected as a finalist in the Entertainment, Restaurants & Nightclubs category of the 2007 Dottie Awards. This is the 10th year the Dottie Awards have recognized Northern California’s best websites with winners in 16 different categories, Top Dot and Peoples Choice Award. The Festival organizers are thrilled to have their humble website selected as one of the finalists for 2007.

Something we're enjoying at the moment.

Youtube has provided us endless hours of entertainment lately and a glimpse into the present and past of French popular culture. Here are some of our favorite finds:

Philippe Katerine - Louxor j'adore


Here is a bad translation:
I adoreeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee to look at dancing people
ah I often go back to the louxor bar to look at dancing people
I adore, I adore, I adore, I adore, I adooooooore
teachers, pediatric nurses, administrators, graphic designers, bakers, truck drivers, police officers, farmers, housewives, nurses, advisers in orientation, surgeons, mechanics, unemployeds
I adoreeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee to look at dancing people
and from time to time I cut the sound......
and I give the sound and I recut the sound......
and I give the sound and I recut the sound.......
and I give the sound
I adoreeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee
people stop dancing, wonder, become cross, and start to encircle me
and I feel in danger then I say to them
take me, do anything to my ego,
hang me from my feet like the last time
I adoreeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee
to look at dancing people,
I find it fascinating in the louxor bar to look at dancing people
I adore, I adore, I adore, I adore, I adoreeeeeeeeeee
and I cut the sound......
and I give the sound
and I recut the sound....
and I give the sound
I adoreeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee I adore, I adore, I adore, I adore
and I cut the sound I adore I adore and I cut the sound


Nouvelle Vague - Dance With Me / Bande a part by Jean-Luc Godard

France Gall - Les Sucettes

Bonne annee !

Bonne annee a tous ! Happy new year to all of you!
We wish you a year full of happiness and good (French) movies. We will do what we can to fulfill that last wish! See you next July at the Crest Theatre!

Audience Awards 2006

Le Petit Lieutenant (The Young Lieutenant), the magnificent and moving thriller by Xavier Beauvois, won the Audience Award of the 5th SFFF. Le Poulet the hilarious 1962's short by Claude Berri still delights 2006 audience: it won the Short Film Audience Award this year. Thanks to all of you who cast your votes!