SAN FRANCISCO INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL TO SCREEN NINE FRENCH FILMS SELECTED BY GUEST PROGRAMMER MICHEL CIMENT




Films Highlight the Best and Brightest of Recent French Cinema

The San Francisco Film Society, presenter of the 46th San Francisco International Film Festival (April 17 - May 1), has announced ten exciting and provocative French films by guest programmer, Michel Ciment.

Ciment, editor of the influential film magazine, Positif, who was appointed guest programmer last fall, has selected ten films he feels will add a unique edge to the Festival. Roxanne Messina Captor, executive director for the Festival, said, "There is a hunger for French films in San Francisco. This year it will be amply satisfied by Michel Ciment's selection of films representing the best of contemporary French cinema, each with a distinct directorial vision."

Ciment's selection features the ambitious series TRILOGY: ON THE RUN, AN AMAZING COUPLE and AFTER LIFE directed by Lucas Belavaux. Each film in the trilogy represents various genres, however, each film will deal with the same events seen through the eyes of different people. The two North American premieres chosen are FEAR AND TREMBLING, directed by Alain Corneau, the story a young French woman returning to Japan, the country of her birth and HIS BROTHER directed by Patrice Chareau, the tale a man who returns to his childhood home to deal with the death of his brother. Emmanuelle Bercot's CLEMENT, a U.S. premiere, is the story of a free-spirited woman and her affair with a teenager. In addition to the premieres Ciment has also selected, Marina de Van's IN MY SKIN, a grueling tale of one woman's descent into self-mutilation; ALMOST PEACEFUL, directed by Michel Deville, about Jews in 1946 trying to adjust to normalcy after catastrophe; UNTOUCHED BY THE WEST, the story of one of the last free men living in the Sahara at the beginning of the 20th century; THE MAN ON THE TRAIN starring French pop icon, Johnny Hallyday, director Patrice Leconte's tale of simple life choices. Said Ciment, "The reason I chose these films is that they offer a more personal, focused and telling approach of recent French cinema. The directors are among the brightest and best of French cinema and come from a great diversity of backgrounds. Two of the films are directed by women (Emmanuelle Bercot and Marina de Van) whose first features reveal daring and provocative styles and subjects."

In addition to the films Ciment has selected for the Festival, there will be another ten French films shown including: Catherine Breillat's SEX IS COMEDY, story of a female director trying to direct a difficult sex scene with two young actors; a new print of Jules Dassin's story of a Greek village conducting a passion play, HE WHO MUST DIE (1957); SPANISH APARTMENT, a joyous romance featuring the star of AMELIE, set in a chaotic home for international students living in Barcelona; JET LAG, starring French favorites Juliette Binoche and Jean Reno in a fun romantic comedy of two obsessives delayed in a Paris airport and SWING about a ten year old boy and his love for manouche jazz.

The films selected by Michel Ciment are sponsored by TV5 Monde, French Cultural Services, Consulate General of France in San Francisco and the French Foundation.

The 46th San Francisco International Film Festival runs April 17-May 1, 2003 at the AMC Kabuki 8 Theatres "The Home of the Festival", the Castro Theatre, the Pacific Film Archive Theater in Berkeley and the CinéArts at Palo Alto Square in Palo Alto. Advance ticket packages and Festival passes go on sale beginning February 17. Individual tickets for San Francisco Film Society members will be available beginning March 25, with individual tickets for the general public available starting March 31. To purchase tickets and for ticket information log on to www.sffs.org or call 925-275-9490. The Main Box Office, located in the atrium of the AMC Kabuki 8 Theatres at 1881 Post Street will open for Film Society members on March 25 and for the general public on April 1. There will also be a Satellite Box Office at Crocker Galleria, 50 Post Street, second floor, opening on March 26. For up-to-date Festival information log on to www.sffs.org or call 415-931-FILM.

The 46th San Francisco International Film Festival (April 17-May 1, 2003) is presented by the San Francisco Film Society, a nonprofit organization whose goal is to lead in expanding the knowledge and appreciation of international film art and its artists by showcasing the most compelling, thought-provoking international films, special tributes, major restorations and today's brightest stars.