FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE THE FRANCO-AMERICAN CULTURAL FUND ANNOUNCES LINE-UP FOR THE 20 th COLCOA FRENCH FILM FESTIVAL, 9 DAYS OF FILM AND TV PREMIERES IN HOLLYWOOD NORTH AMERICAN PREMIERE OF MONSIEUR CHOCOLAT OPENS THE FESTIVAL LOS ANGELES, CA March 29, 2016 - The Franco-American Cultural Fund, celebrating its 20 th anniversary this year, today announced the program for the 20 th COLCOA FRENCH FILM FESTIVAL that will run April 18-26 at the Directors Guild of America in Los Angeles. The festival will showcase a record 70 films and television series among them 64 in competition for COLCOA Awards - including four World Premieres, seven International Premieres, 19 North American or U.S. Premieres, 17 West Coast Premieres - and 21 new shorts. COLCOA, is now the world s largest event dedicated to French films and television. This 20th anniversary deserves a spectacular, strong program that reflects the diversity of French production, as well as the creativity and dynamism of French filmmakers and producers, stated François Truffart, COLCOA Executive Producer and Artistic Director. More than ever, we are about to involve audiences in a journey that will stir them, make them laugh, cry, tickle their curiosity, and help them remain optimistic, while recognizing the urgent world zeitgeist.
20 years is an achievement for any film festival in Hollywood. This would not have been possible without the commitment of the Franco-American Cultural Fund - a unique partnership of the DGA, the MPA, la SACEM and the WGA West creator of the festival in 1996 and supporter of its subsequent development. We also salute French sales companies, official supporters, sponsors, and U.S. distributors, whose loyalty and trust have given the festival its continuing excellence, he added. COLCOA will open Monday, April 18 th with the North American Premiere of Monsieur Chocolat, a biopic about the first French black clown, co-written by Cyril Gely, Olivier Gorce, Gérard Noiriel, Roschdy Zem, directed by Roschdy Zem, and starring Omar Sy and James Thiérrée. The film will be presented in association with Gaumont, which celebrates its 120 th anniversary. The festival will close its competition on Monday, April 25 th with the World Premiere of Up For Love, the new romantic comedy written and directed by Laurent Tirard, starring Academy Award winner Jean Dujardin and Virginie Efira. Call My Agent (Season 1), the most popular French TV series of the year, about a talent agency with actors playing their own roles, will close the COLCOA TV Competition. Two other TV series, shown for the first time in North America, will be part of the program, presented in association with TV France International and TITRAFILM: The Disappearance, a drama co-written by Marie Deshaires and Catherine Touzet and directed by Charlotte Brändström; and The Secret of Elise, a supernatural drama written by lsa Marpeau, Marie Vinoy, Marie Deshaires, and Catherine Touzet and directed by Alexandre Laurent, Samir Boitard, Mathieu Simonet, and Mehdi Meskar. The first two episodes of each series will be shown to the COLCOA audience. To complete the competition, five TV movies will premiere at COLCOA: the North American Premiere of Borderline, a thriller co-written and directed by Olivier Marchal, the International Premiere of Carpets and Chaos, a comedy co-written and directed by Nader Takmil Homayoun, the International Premiere of Stolen Babies, a drama written by Julie Jézéquel and directed by Golden Globe winner Alain Berliner; the International Premiere of The Wall-Crosser, a fantasy written and directed by Dante Desarthes, based on Marcel Aymé s book; and the North American Premiere of Woman Under the Influence, a drama written and directed by Claude-Michel Rome.
The feature film selection (40 features and documentaries and 21 shorts), will feature exclusive presentations. Fanny s Journey, an epic drama written and directed by Lola Doillon, starring Cecile de France, is also a World Premiere. The U.S. Premiere of the thriller Made in France, written and directed by Nicolas Boukhrief, is a film which did not have theatrical release in France because of sensitivity following the recent terrorist attacks in Paris. COLCOA also will present the U.S. Premiere of Robert Guédiguian s provocative film about the Armenian genocide, Don t Tell Me the Boy Was Mad. The U.S. Premiere of Oscar winner Claude Lelouch s new film Un plus Une, starring Jean Dujardin and Elsa Zylberstein, will screen, in addition to another U.S. Premiere of All Gone South, the comedy sequel co-written and co-directed by Nicolas Benamou and Philippe Lacheau, two years after the success of Babysitting at COLCOA in 2014. Several established writers/directors return and other known artists have been selected: Academy Award nominee Christian Carion (Come What May with Cohen Media Group), Anne Fontaine (The Innocents with Music Box Films), Vincent Garencq (Kalinka), Academy Award nominee Jean-Paul Rappeneau (Families), Christian Vincent (Courted), Maïwenn (My King with Film Movement) Every year, the COLCOA program is dedicated to a new generation of talent, many of whose films are included in COLCOA s French NeWave 2.0 Series: Samuel Collardey (Land Legs), Clément Cogitor (Neither Heaven Nor Earth with Film Movement), Philippe Faucon - the writer/director of the 2016 César Best film winner (Fatima with Kino Lorber), Emmanuel Finkiel (A Decent Man), Eva Husson (Bang Gang with Samuel Goldwyn), Laurent Larivière (I am a Soldier), and Orelsan and Christophe Offenstein (Uncompleted Song). The After 10 Series at COLCOA invites audiences to explore new frontiers with an exclusive program, including the French-Belgian co-production from writer/director Bouli Lanners (The First, the Last), the new dark comedy from Benoît Delépine, Gustave Kervern, starring Gérard Depardieu (Saint Amour), and Frédéric Schoendoerffer (Past Convoy). Two anticipated films about women in Muslim countries will be part of the Word Cinema Produced by France Series: the Franco-Moroccan coproduction, Much Loved, written and directed by Nabil Ayouch, premiered at the Director s Fortnight in 2015, and remains banned in Morocco; and, As I Open My Eyes, a Franco-Tunisian film from female writer/director Leyla Bouzid (with Kino Lorber). The Argentine film, Eva Doesn t Sleep, written and directed by Pablo Agüero will complete the series.
Two documentaries focusing on significant environmental issues will premiere at COLCOA: the closing film of the last Cannes Film Festival, Ice and the Sky (with Music Box Films) from Academy Award winner Luc Jacquet (March of the Penguins), and a special presentation following the United Nations screening of the 2016 Cesar winner for Best Documentary, Tomorrow, written and directed by Cédric Dion and Mélanie Laurent. The Frankenstein Complex, a tribute to the creators of big screen creatures, written and directed by Gilles Penso and Alexandre Poncet, will complete this high profile documentary series. All other COLCOA series are back in 2016: the COLCOA Classics Series with an exclusive program of digitally restored premieres (see February 19 th press release); the Happy Hour Talks Panel Series in association with Variety (April 19-25); the Short Film Competition (Sunday, April 24 March press release); the Focus on a Filmmaker, this year with writer/director Jean-Paul Rappeneau (Thursday, April 21); and the Focus on a Producer will be with Dominique Besnehard (Saturday, April 23). Animation, an important part of the French film industry, will be shown at COLCOA with the premiere of Rémi Chayé s new film: Long Way North (with Shout Factory). As is COLCOA tradition, comedies will join the program almost every day, including the romantic comedy Love at First Child, co-written and directed by Anne Giaffieri, starring Patrick Bruel and Isabelle Carré, Benoît s Graffin s Hopefully, with Sandrine Kiberlain and Edouard Baer, Jean- Francois Richet s One Wild Moment, starring Francois Cluzet and Vincent Cassel, and the new French hit One Man and His Cow, written and directed by Mohamed Hamidi. This last film will also be shown to the 3,000 students and teachers who will attend the now five High School Screenings (April 19-25) as part of the COLCOA Educational Program presented in association with ELMA (European Languages and Movies in America). Two master classes for college and university students will complete the program. For the ninth year, LAFCA will partner with COLCOA Cinema for the Critics Awards. The complete recipients list of the 2015 Awards - including the U.S. distributor winner of the COLCOA Coming Soon Award, presented in association with KPCC, will be announced on Wednesday, April 27. COLCOA Awards are presented in association with TITRAFILM, TV5 Monde USA, and AIR TAHITI NUI.
COLCOA FRENCH FILM FESTIVAL is funded by the Franco-American Cultural Fund, a partnership of the Directors Guild of America, the Motion Picture Association, France s Society of Authors, Composers and Publishers of Music, and the Writers Guild of America, West, with the vital support of L ARP (France s Association of Authors, Directors and Producers), the CNC, the Los Angeles Film and TV Office of the French Embassy, TV France International, and Unifrance. COLCOA FRENCH FILM FESTIVAL is sponsored by Air Tahiti Nui, Dailymotion.com, TV5MONDE, Variety (Official Sponsors); Airstar, KPCC 89.3, La Boîte, Los Angeles Times (Premier Sponsors); Alliance Française de Los Angeles, Barnes International Realty, Club Culinaire of Southern California, ELMA, Gayot.com, Indiewire, LA Weekly, Sunset Marquis, TITRAFILM (Major Sponsors); Bank of the West, Champagne de L Argentaine, Cinando, France USA Media, Laemmle Theatres, Les Macarons Duverger, Marché du Film, Office de Tourisme Epernay, Under The Milky Way (Platinum Sponsors); and, Cinelife, Gitane Rhapsody, Hollywood Blonde, Loire Valley Wineries, International School of Los Angeles, Malibu Wine Safari, Rosenthal - The Malibu Estate, San Antonio Winery, and Tix (Supporting Sponsors). All screenings have English subtitles or are in English. Tickets are available for advance purchase online at www.colcoa.org until April 14 th, and during the festival at the Directors Guild of America, 7920 Sunset Boulevard, Los Angeles, CA 90046 (cash only). Please visit www.colcoa.org for box office hours. Ticket prices are $13 for adults; $10 tickets for seniors (62+), disabled, and members of American Cinematheque, ASC, ICG, Film Independent, Cinefamily, SAG-AFTRA, or Women In Film; $5 for students and under 21. Tickets are complimentary for DGA and WGAW guild members. Several screenings and events are free on a first-come, first-serve basis, with no reservation needed. For film and press information, including hi-res photos, log onto www.colcoa.org. For public information, call (310) 289-5346. Press Contacts: Los Angeles: Cathy Mouton (213) 304-1414/ camouton@pacbell.net Paris: Vanessa Jerrom +33 6 14 83 88 82/ vanessajerrom@orange.fr