Festival In Focus: The American French Film Festival Chiefs Talk Comeback Edition & Ambitions To Be “A Gateway To The Oscars Race For French Films”

The American French Film Festival has long been considered the premiere U.S. event for launching French film and television content to American audiences and while last year’s edition was forced to cancel due to Hollywood’s dual strikes, this year the L.A.-based event is back and gearing up for what it expects to be one of its best editions yet.

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The six-day festival, which kicks off its 28 ^th edition on October 29 at the DGA Theater Complex, is bookended by two of the year’s buzziest French titles with Jacques Audiard’s Spanish-language musical-crime film Emilia Pérez set for opening night while Pathé’s French box office hit The Count of Monte Cristo set to close the event on November 3.

Both films, say festival organizers, are reflective of the kinds of projects that TAFFF wants to unveil to Hollywood audiences: Audiard’s Cannes-winning title Emilia Pérez is France’s official submission for the Best International Oscar category this year, while Pathé’s The Count of Monte Cristo was a huge local box office hit in the country, taking $72M in France and becoming the third highest-grossing film of 2024 in the territory.

“Foreign films, particularly French films, have a very limited access to the American market,” says François Truffart, TAFFF Executive Producer and Artistic Director. “So, we try to be useful for professionals such as French sales companies as well as American distributors and platforms.”

Emilia Pérez is getting a big awards push in the U.S. with its distributor Netflix and Monte Cristo is slated for a December 20 domestic release via Samuel Goldwyn but as TAFFF has earned the reputation for being the U.S. festival launchpad for French films, filmmakers and actors in America, it was a natural fit for the festival to launch the title to its attendees, many of whom are DGA, WGA, Academy and Golden Globe members.

Each year around 50 filmmaking talents – ranging from directors to actors to writers to producers – attend the festival and this year is no different with Audiard expected to be in attendance with his Emilia Pérez cast Selena Gomez, Zoe Saldaña and Karla Sofia Gascón. Monte Cristo directors Alexandre de la Patellière and Matthieu Delaporte will also be in attendance along with actor Patrick Mille and composer Jérôme Rebotier.

This year the festival, which is expected to have 15,000 attendees, will showcase 60 films and series, including 14 shorts and 11 series or TV movies. The festival will mark the first time 16 of these features will be presented to an audience in Hollywood after premiering at the latest editions of Berlin, Cannes and Venice International Film Festivals. Additionally, 59 of the selected works will be up for the TAFFF Awards.

The lineup this year includes: Noé Debré’s comedy A Nice Jewish Boy , written by Michael Zlindel, Agnès Jaoui and Solar Bouloudnine; political thriller Death of a Corrupt Man , directed by Georges Lautner, which he penned with Michel Audiard and Claude Sautet; Mareike Engelhardt’s drama Rabia ; and Agathe Riedinger’s coming-of-age drama Wild Diamond .

Christine Angot’s A Family and Thierry Teston and Liza Azuelos’ My Way are among the five docs competing for Best Documentary at the festival while 11 TV series will compete for its TAFFF Audience Award and TAFFF Jury Award, including Alain Tasma’s A Dangerous Friendship and Gaumont’s biopic Becoming Karl Lagerfeld .

“We have a big focus on promoting films directed by women,” says Truffart. “Every year we have a lot of films to show that France is a good place to discover female voices.”

He adds that “new talent is also key”, pointing to the festival’s short film lineup, which includes films like animated drama A Stand Still Journey from Izù Troin and coming-of-age drama Changing Room from writer-director Violette Vuitton. “We are proud when someone is introduced to an audience in Hollywood for the first time and then go on to grow their career. We continue to have a competition dedicated to short films for this reason.”

TAFFF’s educational program, which provides 3,000 high school students with the opportunity to attend a screening and discussion with filmmakers, also remains a hugely important piece of the festival puzzle (read more here ).

Humble beginnings

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The American French Film Festival (formerly known as COLCOA) was created in 1997 and is produced by the Franco-American Cultural Fund, a collaboration between the Directors Guild of American (DGA), the Motion Picture Association (MPA), France’s Society of Authors, Composers and Publishers of Music (SACEM) and the Writers Guild of America (WGAW). It is also supported by Unifrance, the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs and France’s Society of Authors, Directors and Producers (l’ARP).

Truffart notes that it is, and has always been, a “very industry-focused event”, with 75% of attendees being industry guests while 25% are members of the public.  “We want to provide opportunities for international sales companies and U.S. distributors – including digital platforms – to get together and watch French-language films and series before the awards season kicks off,” he says. “We know this season is pivotal to their overall sales and marketing strategies.”

In 2022, films like Final Cut (Kino Lorber), A Family For 1640 Days (Distrib Films US) and The Super 8 Years (Kino Lorber) were picked up for distribution after screening at the festival while 43 filmmakers had their films’ U.S. or international or world premieres at that edition.

While Truffaut stresses that the festival “is not a market”, he says it has naturally “played a role in the process during the year.” With 30% of the program consisting of films already with a U.S. distributor, he says these distributors look to TAFFF as “a launchpad to create buzz before a domestic release.”

In 2019, the festival moved its dates from spring to fall, thereby positioning itself right at the beginning of the awards season in Hollywood and before the annual American Film Market (which has now moved from Santa Monica to Las Vegas). “We are aware that we can play a role in awards season,” says Truffart. “It’s important in a sense that we are the only competition where French people from the industry can see how their films test with a Hollywood audience. It’s very specific and unique, and this is the reason why some distributors want to be in competition at the festival.”

Ceclie Rap-Veber, President of the Franco-American Cultural Fund and CEO of SACEM, says that over the years, TAFFF has increasingly become “a gateway to the Oscars race for French films.”

“During the last Cannes Film Festival, someone referred to TAFFF as the place ‘where awards season begins for French films in Hollywood,’” she says. “This is a perfect summary. With our partners CNC, Unifrance and the French Consulate – to name a few – we created the first French film and series festival abroad. It is seen today by the French producers, international sellers, filmmakers, actors and publicists as the most important event for the promotion and sale of French audiovisual content in the U.S.”

Rap-Veber adds that the event provides a good opportunity also to promote shooting in France, with Film France CNC organizing an event to promote this during the festival. This year, the festival is also presenting the TAFFF Impact Award to Kino Lorber CEO Richard Lorber, for his role in promoting French cinema in the U.S.

“We have a unique partnership at our organization,” says Deputy Director Anouchka van Riel. “Our board is made up not of individuals but of organizations, which allows us to build something year after year that is far reaching in terms of scope, and to nurture cultural exchanges at an artistic and professional level for filmmaking communities in the U.S. and France.”

She admits it’s not without its challenges though. “We’ve seen, throughout the years, that it is very hard to keep a festival – or any type of event with this scope – relevant and fresh but I think we have succeeded. It can be especially difficult during awards season in L.A. because there are so many events.”

She points to a range of sponsors ranging from high end champagne brands to French cheese sponsors as being integral to offering up “a real French experience” for attendees. “You need a lot of goodwill and a lot of willingness and passion, and this festival is the fruit of that at all levels. We know that it’s very special and it’s not something that is a given – it’s something that we need to reconstruct every year.”

The American French Film Festival takes place October 29-November 4, 2024.

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