The 2017 Alliance Francaise French Film Festival Est Enorme!

By FilmInk Staff

Boasting 43 feature films and two documentaries, The 2017 Alliance Francaise Film Festival is packed-to-bursting with tantalising titles. In a fitting nothing-more-French touch, the festival will kick off with the opening night film, The Odyssey, which tells the true life story of a genuine Gallic hero: celebrity oceanographer and filmmaker, Jacques Cousteau. Directed by Jérôme Salle (Anthony Zimmer, Zulu) and starring Lambert Wilson and Audrey Tautou, this visually arresting biopic is a stunning portrait of a fascinating man, and the ocean that he loved with such unbridled passion.

And, ending on a high note, the closing night film of The 2017 Alliance Francaise Film Festival will be the uproarious romantic comedy, A Bun In The Oven from first-time director Nadège Loiseau, starring the radiant Karin Viard as Nicole, a reluctant, 49 year-old mother-to-be. But with baby on board, Nicole ironically learns for the first time how to put herself first.

Nestled between these two divergent winners is a host of the best that France has to offer, cinematically speaking. There are films from true masters of the medium (The Dardenne Brothers’ The Unknown Girl); works from dazzling up and comers (Xavier Dolan’s It’s Only The End Of The World); the latest from a comedy giant (Dany Boon in Penny Pincher); extraordinary line-ups of on-screen talent (Audrey Tautou, Bérénice Bejo, Mélanie Laurent in Eternity; Marion Cotillard and Louis Garrel in From The Land Of The Moon; Daniel Auteuil, Sébastian Koch and Marie-Josée Croze in Kalinka; Catherine Deneuve and Catherine Frot in The Midwife; Natalie Portman, Lily-Rose Depp, Emmanuelle Salinger and Louis Garrel in Planetarium; Fabrice Luchini, Juliette Binoche, and Valeria Bruni-Tedeschi in Slack Bay; Gérard Depardieu and Benoît Poelvoorde in Saint Amour); and not one but two new films starring the great Isabelle Huppert (Souvenir and Things To Come).

Get set for a feast of French film…

The 2017 Alliance Francaise Film Festival will tour through Sydney (March 7-30), Melbourne (March 8-30), Canberra (March 9-April 4), Perth (March 15-April 5), Brisbane (March 16-April 9), Adelaide (March 30-April 23), Hobart (March 30-April 8), Parramatta (April 6-9), and Casula (April 8-9). For all session, venue, and ticketing details, head to The 2017 Alliance Francaise Film Festival.