Indoor, open-air screenings at French Film Festival, June 1-12

The latest French films will be screened in indoor cinema halls and open-air cinemas in Bucharest and ten other Romanian cities in the 26th edition of the French Film Festival in Romania, June 1-12.

"Nos yeux grand ouverts"/"Our eyes wide open" is the theme for this year's edition.

The Young Talent - Feature Film Competition brings to the fore, as every year, new voices of French filmmaking in five remarkable debut feature films that will compete for the Audience Award: a 1,000-euro scholarship offered by the French Institute to the winning filmmaker, as well as financial support provided by TV5 Monde to the Romanian distributor who will choose to bring the film on the screens in local cinemas, Agerpres reports.

Among the national premieres confirmed in this section are two films selected for Semaine de la Critique: "Bruno Reidal" (Bruno Reidal, Confessions of a Murderer) by Vincent Le Port, and "Les Amours d'Anais" (Anais in Love) by Charline Bourgeois-Tacquet.

For the second year in a row, the Young Talent Competition - Short Film has picked five productions with a special festival performance. A jury of three young film critics - Dora Leu, Calin Boto and Andreea Chiper - will pick the winner of this section. The prize consists of a stay at the Residence de Poche / Pocket Residence of the French Institute in Romania in Bucharest: an ideal setting for the winning director to develop a feature film project.

Screened for the first time in Romania in the Panorama of the films of the year, the classic section that brings together the recent successes of French cinema, will be the absurdist comedy "Viens je t'emmene" (Nobody's Hero) by Alain Guiraudie, and "L'evenement" (Happening) by Audrey Diwan, winner of the Golden Lion at the Venice Film Festival 2021.

This year's edition brings an important European cinematographic component marking the French presidency of the Council of the European Union. The section Regard vers l'Europe/Looking at Europe will celebrate filmmaking co-operation in Europe and the key role of France in that, offering significant Franco-European co-productions for each decade since the 1960s.

Among the selected films are "La Grande Bouffe" (The Big Feast) by Marco Ferreri, a film from the golden era of Franco-Italian co-productions, and "Possession" (Possession) by Andrzej Zulawski. Special guest of the section is French-Tunisian producer Said Ben Said, who will come to Bucharest to introduce the film "Elle" (Elle) by Paul Verhoeven, winner of the 2017 Cesar Award for Best Film.

The French Film Festival is organised by the French Institute of Romania in the cities of Bucharest, Cluj-Napoca, Iasi, and Timisoara.