
The American French Film Festival is set to open with a North American premiere for Jean-Jacques Annaudis’ Notre-Dame on Fire on Oct. 10.
Annaudis, who will attend the festival, is bringing his latest film, which recreates the events of April 15, 2019 when the Notre-Dame Cathedral in Paris caught fire, prompting a heroic rescue of the celebrated church.
The festival, formerly called COLCOA, will end on Oct. 16 with Dominik Moll’s thriller The Night of the 12th screening at DGA Theater Complex in Los Angeles. The American French Film Festival will dedicate its annual Focus on a Filmmaker spotlight to Moll and will also close with Irma Vep, Olivier Assayas’ HBO remake of his 1996 film, which had a world theatrical premiere at the festival.
In all, 75 films and series and 20 short films were unveiled as part of the festival’s 2022 lineup during a press conference on Tuesday.
“This selection of French films and series in competition for The American French Film Festival Awards underscores — despite the two year pandemic period — the astounding dynamism of the French production community,” Francois Truffart, festival executive producer and programmer, said in a statement.
Other titles booked into the French film showcase from Oct. 10 to 16 include a world premiere for Kevin Ossona and Fabrice Garcon’s Blazing Neon and North American premieres for Celine Devaux’s Everybody Loves Jeanne, Olivier Peyon’s Lie With Me, Lauriane Escaffre and Yvonnick Muller’s Maria Into Life, Clement Cogitor’s Son of Ramses and Salah Issaad’s Soula.
There’s also North American first looks for Mathieu Gerault’s South Sentinel; Louis Garrel’s The Innocent; Olivier Ducray and Wilfried Méance’s Two of Kind; and the festival is giving a North American theatrical premiere for the Netflix epic drama Athena, written and directed by Romain Gavras.