法國影片參展「香港國際電影節」

法國影片參展「香港國際電影節」
A Celebration of French Cinema at the Hong Kong International Film Festival

The Consulate General of France in Hong Kong and Macau has been partnering for many years with the Hong Kong International Film Festival, the second largest festival in Asia. Screening over 280 titles from more than 50 countries, the festival will present 35 films French films or French co-productions including Asia and World’s premieres: the director Jalil Lespert will be in Hong Kong for “Yves Saint Laurent” on March 25 at 9:30pm. France is the first European country to support the HKIFF.

In the context of the 50th anniversary of the establishment of the diplomatic relations between France and the People’s Republic of China, the Consulate General of France and the HKIFF will celebrate the Sino-French cultural exchanges in the presence of renowned actresses Isabelle Huppert and Catherine Deneuve.

This unique collaboration sees the actresses’ visit to Hong Kong supported by The Peninsula Hotels, with two exclusive celebration events taking place at The Peninsula Hong Kong on March 25 and March 30, as well as a press conference on March 30 for Ms Deneuve. Celebrating 50 Years of Sino-French Relations, the Group will make its grand entrance into Europe with The Peninsula Paris’ unveiling on 1 August, 2014, creating the latest example of Peninsula excellence.

“We are delighted to welcome Ms Huppert and Ms Deneuve to Hong Kong and to support cross-cultural exchanges between France and China,” said Mr Robert Cheng, Vice-President, Marketing, The Peninsula Hotels. “As part of the city’s fabric for the last 85 years, we are excited to celebrate this important milestone.”

Isabelle Huppert will present Abuse of Weakness by Catherine Breillat with Kool Shen on March 26 at 7:45pm. The festival will also dedicate a retrospective to her with three of her major films: The Piano Teacher directed by Michael Haneke, The Lacemaker by Claude Goretta and Story of Women, by Claude Chabrol .

Catherine Deneuve will meet Hong Kong audiences on March 30 with her last movie On my way by Emmanuelle Bercot.

Agnès B. will also come to Hong Kong to present the first long feature she recently directed My Name is Hmmm… with Sylvie Testud and Jacques Bonnaffé on March 29 at 12:00pm.

The festival will also host, on April 1st, Christophe Lambert as jury member of the Young Cinema Competition, an open competition set up to encourage worldwide young filmmakers who will compete for the Firebird Prize and Jury Prize. The Highlander and Greystoke’s actor will be joined by the acclaimed film scholar David Bordwell from the US, renowned Korean director Bong Joon-ho and Hong Kong’s talented actress Karena Lam.

The Consulate General of France is proud to support French Cinema all along the year. Le French May cinema program "French shadows, all eyes on China ” will present to the Hong Kong and Macau audience a selection of more than 20 films from May 9th to June 1st.

“Hong Kong is a very special place for French cinema, the first European cinema represented in Hong Kong, and 2012-2013 have been exceptional years for French cinema in Hong Kong with audiences reaching 600,000 in 2012 and 16 films released in 2013. Both actresses Isabelle Huppert and Catherine Deneuve embody French Cinema abroad, having worked with the most remarkable international directors. We are proud to offer this unique opportunity to Hong Kong audiences”, says Arnaud Barthélémy, Consul General of France in Hong Kong and Macau.