Known for identifying the very best emerging European filmmakers before they are household names, the Premiers Plans Festival of Angers, France lands in Austin May 1, 2015. Presented together with Austin Film Society, New French Cinema Weekend will premiere three of the French film festival’s best new films in Texas with its French filmmakers and programmers in attendance. Now in its 28th year, Premiers Plans has fostered the careers of globally-renowned auteurs such as Arnaud Desplechin, Abdellatif Kechiche, Nuri Bilge Ceylan and Fatih Akin, all of whom were early discoveries of the festival and their lab program, “Les Ateliers d’Angers,” co-founded by Jeanne Moreau.
Supported by Austin Angers Creative, a program of the Sister Cities initiative between Angers, France and Austin, Texas, the three-day presentation will feature various events. The events include three premiere screenings with special guests, as well as a special Moviemaker Dialogue and wine reception/meet and greet with both the filmmakers and the programmer of Premiers Plans and Cannes Director’s Fortnight. Each film has been specially selected by the Premiers Plans Film Festival programmers for the Austin audience. Some of the special guests from France in attendance to include: Marianne Tardieu, director of INSECURE; Iaonis Nuguet, director of SPARTACUS & CASSANDRA; Xavier Massé, Deputy Director, Premiers Plans; Arnaud Gourmelen, programmer/selection committee of Premiers Plans and Cannes Director’s Fortnight.
A series pass will be available for purchase, which includes entrance to all films screening in the New French Cinema Weekend, as well as the Saturday reception and Moviemaker Dialogue. The weekend’s events include:
Spartacus & Cassandra on May 1st at 8pm at Marchesa
Ioanis Nuguet, France, 2014, DCP, 81 minutes
In French and Romani with English subtitles French director Ioanis Nuguet will be in attendance to present the Texas premiere of his highly acclaimed documentary; a daringly intimate look inside the lives of two Roma children, brother and sister, who are caught between the wishes of their itinerant parents, the French social welfare system, and the young trapeze artist who becomes their caretaker. One audience member will win a dining voucher for Chez Nous Austin.
Vive French Cinema: Filmmakers and Programmers Discuss Today’s French Film Industry on
May 2nd at 3 PM at Austin Studios
With filmmakers Ioanis Nuguet (Spartacus & Cassandra), Marianne Tardieu (Insecure), Xavier Massé (Premiers Plans Angers Film Festival), Arnaud Gourmelen (Cannes Director’s Fortnight & Premiers Plans Angers Film Festivals) Two French independent filmmakers along with Premiers Plans and Cannes Director’s Fortnight festival programmers join us for a roundtable conversation about the French independent film system today, and what American filmmakers should know when bringing their films abroad. The event will also include a meet and greet reception with French filmmakers and programmers, featuring sparkling wine from one of the Loire Valley’s most famous caves, Bouvet Ladubay.
Insecure (Qui Vive) on May 3rd at 2 PM, at Marchesa
Directed by Marianne Tardieu, with Adele Exarchopolous (Blue is the Warmest Color) and Reda Kateb, 2014, DCP, 83 minutes, In French with English subtitles
French Director Marianne Tardieu will be in attendance to present her debut feature, an official selection of the 2014 Cannes program, for the first time to audiences in Texas. In this social realist suspense drama nodding to the work of Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne, a middle class nursing student’s part time job as a security guard puts him in the line of fire of some local thugs, who see him as a well-positioned pawn for their criminal schemes. The film was workshopped in the script lab Ateliers d’Angers, a program of the Premiers Plans Film Festival. One audience member will win a dining voucher for Chez Nous Austin.
Tonnerre on May 3rd at 5 PM at Marchesa
Guillaume Brac, France, 2013, DCP, 102 minutes, In French with English subtitles
A star-crossed love affair gets a compelling naturalist treatment in this story of a successful French musician on a career hiatus, who chooses to spend winter in his provincial hometown of Tonnerre. Director Guillaume Brac won a special jury prize at the Locarno Film Festival for this beautifully realized debut feature. One audience member will win a dining voucher for Chez Nous Austin.
For more information about the event please visit: www.austinfilm.org