By Travis Johnson
Three giants of French cinema are heading our way to help celebrate the 29th Alliance Française French Film Festival.
Novelist, screenwriter and director David Foenkinos is renowned for his novels Delicacy, which he made into a film starring Audrey Tautou, and most recently Charlotte, a novel inspired by the life of Charlotte Salomon, a German-Jewish artist who was killed at Auschwitz when she was five months pregnant. His latest movie, Jealous (Jalouse), which he wrote and directed with his brother Stéphane, is screening at the festival.
Actor Laurent LaFitte, the star of See You Up There, which screens at this year’s festival, is known for his work in such films such as Elle, Little White Lies, The Love Punch (opposite Pierce Brosnan and Emma Thompson), Bright Days Ahead, Boomerang, and Papa ou Maman.
Esteemed writer Philippe Mangeot co-wrote the 2017 Cannes Grand Prix Jury Prize-winning film BPM (Beats Per Minute), which will screen as part of the Festival’s inaugural LGBTQI program. He was also a member and former president of Act Up-Paris, a militant association fighting against AIDs, and in 1997 he founded the journal Vacarme, where he was editor-in-chief from 1999-2004.
The three will present a selection of special Festival screenings in Sydney and Melbourne (Sydney only for Foenkinos).
The 2018 Alliance Française French Film Festival runs from February 27 – April 8 in cities around Australia. For more information, head to the official site.
