21/08/2023 - Eleven titles are in competition, within a very large programme that includes over a dozen world premieres, at the Francophone Film Festival taking place from 22 to 27 August

The world premiere of The Baby by Guillaume Nicloux will tomorrow open the 16th Angoulême Francophone Film Festival (FFA) which will unfold until 27 August. The event, considered by French distributor an ideal launching pad to test films that are set for a national release in the coming months in front of an audience (52,000 people in 2022), will close with Flo by Géraldine Danon (unveiled in Cannes at the Cinéma de la Plage) and offers a very large programme that includes a competition of eleven titles, judged by a jury headed by Laetitia Casta (and featuring Khaouter Ben Hania, Monia Chokri and Raphaël Quenard).

Competing for the 2023 Valois d’Or are four titles unveiled in Cannes: Along Came Love [+see also:
film review
interview: Katell Quillévéré
film profile] by Katell Quillévéré, Omen [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Baloji
film profile] from Belgian-Congolese director Baloji (winner of the Un Certain Regard New Voice Prize), All To Play For [+see also:
film review
interview: Delphine Deloget
film profile] by Delphine Deloget and Rosalie [+see also:
film review
film profile] by Stéphanie di Giusto. Also in competition and having their world premiere at the festival are La fiancée du poète [+see also:
film review
film profile] by Yolande Moreau, Iris et les hommes by Caroline Vignal, L’air de la mer rend libre by Nadir Moknèche and La vie de ma mère by Julien Carpentier. Finally, also vying for the award are First Case [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Victoria Musiedlak
film profile] by Victoria Musiedlak (discovered on the Piazza Grande in Locarno) and two Canadian feature films (Bungalow by Lawrence Côté-Collins and Le plongeur by Francis Leclerc).

19 films will be premiering at the festival, 9 of them having their world premiere: Borgo by Stéphane Demoustier, Anti-squat by Nicolas Silhol, Visions by Yann Gozlan, Gueules noires by Mathieu Turi, Le bonheur est pour demain by Brigitte Sy, Les rois de la piste by Thierry Klifa, Ma France à moi by Benoit Cohen, Sentinelle from the duo Hugo Benamozig - David Caviglioli and Testament by Canadian director Denys Arcand. Also playing are Edge of the Blade [+see also:
film review
film profile] by Vincent Perez (winner of the Audience Award in Karlovy Vary), Madame de Sévigné by Isabelle Brocard as well as the Cannes titles The Goldman Case [+see also:
film review
interview: Cédric Kahn
film profile] by Cédric Kahn, A Century of Devotion [+see also:
film review
film profile] by Frédéric Tellier, The Nature of Love [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Monia Chokri
film profile] by Monia Chokri and Marguerite's Theorem [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Anna Novion
film profile] by Anna Novion.

The section titled "Les Flamboyants" will present the documentary Madame Hofmann by Sébastien Lifshitz, the Cannes title Bonnard, Pierre et Marthe [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Martin Provost
film profile] by Martin Provost and Le voyage en pyjama by Pascal Thomas (world premiere), while the "Premiers rendez-vous" programme includes among other titles the Cannes competition entry Banel & Adama [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Ramata-Toulaye Sy
film profile] by Ramata-Toulaye Sy and two world premieres with La tête froide by Stéphane Marchetti and Comme une louve by Caroline Glorion. Also worth noting are Toni, en famille by Nathan Ambrosioni in the "coups de cœur" section, and a world premiere in the "Nouveaux regards" category for Nouveau monde by Vincent Capello.

The rest of the very rich programme also includes an homage to Swiss cinema and a Focus on French director Philippe Le Guay.

(Translated from French)