FFF UK 2004 PRESS RELEASE


Vive le cinéma!

Ace animator Sylvain Chomet who made Les triplettes de Belleville and
has moved his production outfit to the UK, will preside over this year's
13th anniversary French Film Festival UK running from 15 November until
5 December 2004.

Chomet who lives in Edinburgh with his wife Sally, declared himself
delighted to be named honorary patron "now that I have made my home and
work place in Scotland."

He added: "Although the festival has grown enormously and spread its
wings to such English cities as London and Manchester it is still rooted
in Scotland. It has helped to forge links with France, entirely
appropriate for the land of the Auld Alliance, and I guess we're part of
that. The selection for this year's festival looks vibrant and varied -
and, of course, I am pleased to see animation represented by La
prophétie des grenouilles which was such a big hit in France."

Richard Mowe, festival director, said: "Sylvain unquestionably will
prove to be a sympathetic and supportive patron. He's an example of the
Auld Alliance in action and we're overjoyed at his participation."

One of the highlights of the Scottish Screen-supported festival will be
a tribute to one of the undisputed icons of international cinema Alain
Delon. The actor who has made more than 80 films, currently has been
enjoying a revival for a whole new audience with the re-emergence of
such titles as Le Cercle Rouge (1970), his masterwork with Jean-Pierre
Melville; Plein Soleil (1950) for René Clément and Visconti's Rocco and
His Brothers (1960) and The Leopard (1963). The selection for the
tribute embraces such classics as Mélodie en sous-sol with Jean Gabin,
La Piscine with Romy Schneider, Joseph Losey's Mr Klein and Trois hommes
à abbatre.

The critic David Thomson once described him as "the mysteriously lethal
angel in a trenchcoat and a fedora." Many of his roles introduced the
dangerous undercurrent beneath Delon's placidly handsome surface. He was
worked with most of the major French directors, among them Patrice
Leconte, Bertrand Blier, Louis Malle, and Jean-Luc Godard as well as
Melville. Currently he is retreading the boards in Paris at the Théâtre
Marigny until February 2005 playing in Les montagnes russes.

The festival will screen some of the biggest successes of the French
cinematic year such as Les Choristes with Gérard Jugnot (a cultural
phenomenon in France, scoring more than 10 million admissions and due
for a UK release through Pathé in February) in addition to cutting edge
talents with L'Esquive by Abdellatif Kechiche and Le Clan from
actor/director Gael Morel among the gems in store, as well as
documentaries, and a selection of shorts. The Panorama section will
feature films by such established names as François Dupeyron,
Jean-Pierre Améris, Francis Veber, Dominique Cabrera, Tony Gatlif and
Benoît Jacquot.

The public will have the chance to meet guest actors and directors who
will accompany their films and talk about them in a slew of stimulating
Meet the Audience sessions. Included so far are Kechiche and Morel. In
additon the FFF UK broadens its horizons to embrace Quebec with a choice
of four titles including one of the most popular successes of the year
La grande séduction, a comedy with distinct overtones of Whisky Galore
and other Ealing classics.

Thousands of students, pupils and teachers will have a chance to sample
French film as part of the popular education programme, devised
specifically with their needs in mind. Films under scrutiny are Les
choristes, Malabar Princess and Genesis (a new feature from the team who
made the hit Microcosmos). The documentary section discovers a Gallic
take on George Bush, as well as Maria de Medeiros's sly look at the
critics, Je t'aime moi non plus.

The FFF UK marks the culmination of a year in which many classics of
French cinema have been screened exclusively under the festival banner
in celebration of the 100th anniversary of the signing of the Entente
Cordiale between Britain and France and supported by the Scottish
Executive. This season continues in to December and will be part of
Edinburgh's Hogmanay Cebrations organised by Unique Events.

Besides screenings in Edinburgh (Filmhouse), Glasgow (GFT), Aberdeen
(Belmont), and Dundee (DCA) the event has expanded for the first time
to the Riverside Studios in Hammersmith in addition to the CinéLumière,
Knightsbridge, and the UGC Shaftesbury Avenue.

"Between these three screens London audiences will have the chance to
sample the whole festival - and it's probably the biggest concentration
of le cinéma français in London over three weeks that there has ever
been," concluded Mowe.

THE COMPLETE LINE-UP

TRIBUTE ALAIN DELON

MÉLODIE EN SOUS-SOL (15)

NOTRE HISTOIRE (15)

LA PISCINE (18)

MR. KLEIN (18)

TROIS HOMMES Á ABBATRE (18)

PANORAMA

A TOUT DE SUITE (18)

EXILS (15)

FOLLE EMBELLIE (18)

INGUELEZI (15)

NOTRE MUSIQUE (15)

POIDS LEGER (15)

TAIS-TOI! (12A)

CINEMA VERITE

GENESIS (PG)

JE T'AIME MOI NON PLUS (15)

LE MONDE SELON BUSH (15)

QUEBEC FOCUS

20h 17 RUE DARLING (18)

CQ2 (18)

LA GRANDE SEDUCTION (15)

QUEBEC-MONTREAL (15)

NEW WAVES

BRODEUSES (18)

LES CHORISTES (12A)

LE CLAN (18)

L'ESQUIVE (15)

JANIS AND JOHN (18)

JE SUIS UN ASSASSIN (18)

MALABAR PRINCESS (12A)

LA PROPHÉTIE DES GRENOUILLES (PG)

LES SENTIMENTS (15)

Further information - from the festival office, 12 Sunbury Place,
Edinburgh EH4 3BY, tel 0131 225 6191. Festival director Richard Mowe on
0131 556 3454, mobile 07710 762 149.

email: info@frenchfilmfestival.org.uk

websites:

www.frenchfilmfestival.org.uk
www.frenchfilmfestival.org.uk/ententecordiale
www.ententecordialescotland.org.uk

The French Film Festival UK is supported by:

CA Plus / TV5 / Total / Grand Marnier/ Point Hotel / CA Plus / Art
House Hotel / Sofitel St James London / Renault / TM Robertson /
Institut français d’Ecosse / Alliance française de Glasgow et de
Manchester/ Scottish Screen / Europa Cinemas / Ambassade de France /
Institut français, Londres / Unifrance / Pathé! / UGC Cinemas /
CineFrance / Consulat Général de France Edimbourg

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