16th Mumbai Film Festival to feature 24 French films & ​​7th Rendez-vous with French Cinema

On the 14^th of October, the MFF will welcome renowned French cinema personalities. Catherine Deneuve will receive the Lifetime Achievement Award during the opening ceremony. Among others, Mahamat Saleh Haroun, jury member of the international section, Thomas Cailley, director of “Love at first fight”, IndikaUdugampola, director of the film “The Night is still young” and Raphaël Neal, director of the film “Fever” (Competition) will attend the festival and interact with the audience.

Speaking about the association and the program, François Vandeville, Cultural Counsellor and Director of InstitutFrançais in India and Jean-RaphaëlPeytregnet, Consul General of France in Bombay says “We heartily congratulate the Indian Film Fraternity for all their support extended to the Mumbai Film Festival. The Festival is an excellent opportunity for cinema enthusiasts to discover and enjoy great films from all over the world. The Indians as well as the French love cinema. Amongst all the French films that will be showcased, we are delighted to screen a retrospective film dedicated to Catherine Deneuve who will honor us by her presence in Mumbai. The Mumbai Film Festival shows once again that it counts amongst the best in the world!

The special section “Rendez-vous with French cinema” seeks to establish an exhilarating platform for showcasing the various facets of French contemporary cinema, helping Indian distributors to promote new French films and celebrate the growing Indo-French ties.

On the 16^th of October, the “Rendez-vous with French cinema” section will open with the film “In the Courtyard” by Pierre Salvadori in presence of Catherine Deneuve and the director. Other important films that will be screened as part of this section include, “Clouds of Sils Maria” by Olivier Assayas, “French Riviera” by André Téchiné, “Girlhood” by Céline Sciamma, “Life of Riley” by Alain Resnais, “Love at First Fight” by Thomas Cailley, “Metamorphoses” by Christophe Honoré, “Saint Laurent” by Bertrand Bonello, “The Blue Room” by Mathieu Amalric and “The Search” by Michel Hazanavicius.

Srinivasan Narayanan, Director, 16^th Mumbai Film Festival says “The strong bonds between UniFrance films, InstitutFrançaisin India and the Mumbai Film Festival, established in the past four years have been strengthening. This year the Mumbai Film Festival will enjoy the privilege and honour to confer the life time achievement award on another icon of the French Film industry, legendary yet evergreen actress Catherine Deneuve. Rendez-vous with French Cinema will showcase the cream of the French productions of the year.  The B2B interaction will be ensured by the specially created Remake Market, a new vehicle to present some of the latest French productions which can be remade in Indian languages. I must sincerely thank UniFrancefilms and the InstitutFrançaisin Indiafor making all this possible, for their trust in the Mumbai Film Festival as an organization to provide the right platform for stimulating the growth prospects for the film industries of both India and France. I am sure this bond, this association will continue to grow to new levels of cooperation”.

Isabelle Giordano, General Manager, UniFrance films says “It is a great pleasure to collaborate with the Mumbai Film festival again, and I would like to thank the MFF for their warm reception. This year the audience will discover a wide variety of subjects and themes which is the strength of French cinema. Among those, some strong and passionate portraits of women : “Party Girl”, “Gett”, “2 days, 1 night”.  UniFrance would like to express our gratitude to the festival for bestowing the Lifetime Achievement Award to one of our greatest ambassadors, Catherine Deneuve. UniFrance is also pleased to inaugurate a new market for remakes, I am sure it will be an interesting opportunity for both sides. Experience and enjoy French films! 

THE FIRST REMAKES MINI-MARKET

The Indian movie industry is the world’s most productive, with around 1,000 feature films produced each year and local films accounting for over 90% of national movie admissions. Also known as a big consumer of screenplays, Indian cinema had for a long time helped itself to stories borrowed from international movies to produce remakes, without paying the necessary film adaptation copyright fees. However, such practices have now been rectified and the market for legal remakes has boomed in recent years.

In association with its efforts to boost the presence of French films on Indian movie screens—a long-term undertaking—UniFrance films has found that French screenplays can be of considerable interest to Indian producers.

In the wake of the remake of “After You” by Pierre Salvadori, which became “NautankiSalaa” in India in 2013, and the recent sale of remake rights for “The Intouchables” and “Beautiful Lies”(which will start shooting in India in October), UniFrance films is organizing for the first time, together with the Indo-French production company La Fabrique Films, a Remakes Mini-Market, which will be held on October 15 and 16.

A selection of recent French films selected for the compatibility of their narratives with the tastes of Indian audiences will also be presented to Indian producers in the presence of the films’ French producers and/or exporters. A series of individual meetings will be held following the screenings. The films selected include “Serial (Bad) Weddings”, which will be presented by Alexandre de la Porte (UGC), “In the Courtyard” (Philippe Martin, Les Films Pelléas), “Not My Type” (Patrick Sobelman, Agat Films &Cie), “Superchondriac” (Pathé), “Homeland” (Quad Productions) and “Where Do We Go Now?” (Pathé).

Notes to the Editor:

List of French Films showcased at the 16th MFF

International Competition

Fever (Raphaël Neal)

 7^thRendez-vous with French cinema

Clouds of Sils Maria/ Sils Maria (Olivier Assayas)

French Riviera / L’homme qu’on aimait trop (André Téchiné)

Girlhood  / Bande de filles (Céline Sciamma)

In the Courtyard / Dans la cour (Pierre Salvadori)

Life of Riley / Aimer, boire et chanter (Alain Resnais)

Love at First Fight / Les Combattants (Thomas Cailley)

Metamorphoses (Christophe Honoré)

Saint Laurent (Bertrand Bonello)

The Blue Room / La Chambrebleue (Mathieu Amalric)

The Search (Michel Hazanavicius)

Above the cut

Party Girl (Marie Amachoukeli-Barsacq)

The Night Is Still Young / La Nuit est encore jeune (IndikaUdugampola)

World Cinema

Gett, The Trial of Viviane Amsalem(RonitElkabetz, ShlomiElkabetz)

Goodbye to Language – 3D/ Adieu Au Langage (Jean-Luc Godard)

Still The Water / Futatsume no mado (Naomi Kawase)

TwoDays, One Night / Deux jours, une nuit (Jean-Pierre Dardenne, Luc Dardenne)

United Passions (FrédéricAuburtin)

Weekends in Normandy (Anne Villacèque)

The Real Reel

Iranian (MehranTamadon)

Retrospective Catherine Deneuve :

A Matter of Resistance / La Vie de château (Jean-Paul Rappeneau)

The Beloved / Les Bien-aimés (Christophe Honoré)

The Last metro / Le Dernier métro (François Truffaut)

The Umbrellas of Cherbourg / Les Parapluies de Cherbourg (Jacques Demy)