Representing both sides of the screen, three of France’s most acclaimed cinematic talents will be in Australia to help celebrate the 29th season of the Alliance Française French Film Festival.
Laurent Lafitte, the suave and charismatic star of such films such as Elle, Little White Lies, The Love Punch (opposite Pierce Brosnan and Emma Thompson), Bright Days Ahead and 2016 Festival favourites, Boomerang and Papa ou Maman, will be here to discuss his role in the critically lauded post WW1 drama, See You Up There (Au revoir là-haut).
One of France’s most sought-after actors, Lafitte, who is a member of the prestigious Comédie Française, is also a noted writer and stage performer,fluent in English and was Master of Ceremonies at the 2016 Cannes Film Festival.
Award-winning novelist, screenwriter and director, David Foenkinos is renowned for his novels Delicacy – which he made into a film starring Audrey Tautou – and most recently Charlotte, a novel inspired by the life of Charlotte Salomon, a German-Jewish artist who was killed at Auschwitz when she was five months pregnant. She left behind over 700 paintings, which inspired the novel. Charlotte won the Prix Renaudot and the Prix Goncourt des Lyceens and has been translated into nineteen languages.
Foenkinos, who like Lafitte is also fluent in English, is here to promote his latest movie Jealous (Jalouse), which he wrote and directed with his brother Stéphane. Starring the ever-popular Karin Viard, Jealous is a wickedly black comedy about a 50ish divorcée who suddenly conceives an all-consuming envy for those around her, including her beautiful and devoted 18 year-old daughter.
Adding to the excitement will be esteemed writer Philippe Mangeot. Mangeot co-wrote the 2017 Cannes Grand Prix Jury Prize-winning film BPM (Beats Per Minute), which will screen as part of the Festival’s inaugural LGBTQI program. He was also a member and former president of Act Up-Paris, a militant association fighting against AIDs, and in 1997 he founded the journal Vacarme, where he was editor-in-chief from 1999-2004. He is now a member of its editorial board and a regular contributor to Cahiers du cinéma.
The Alliance Francaise French Film Festival is at Palace Electric from Thursday 1 to Wednesday 28 March.
