The 28th edition of the French Film Festival is set to take place between March 21-31 in Bucharest and 12 other cities in the country, namely Cluj-Napoca, Timişoara, Iaşi, Arad, Braşov, Brăila, Constanţa, Craiova, Sfântu Gheorghe, Sibiu, Suceava, and Târgu Mureş. 

This year’s theme is Vertiges - vertigo and its variations in cinema, according to the French Institute in Romania, the organizer of the event, quoted by News.ro.

Julien Chiappone-Lucchesi, the general director of the French Institute in Romania, said: “The 27 films from the festival will be screened in our cinema, Elvire Popesco, and, depending on the scheduling possibilities, in twelve other cities in Romania, thanks to our extraordinary partners.”

A novelty this year is the Mauvais genres section, which includes a selection of French genre films (films de genre). As part of it, film enthusiasts will have the chance to see Vincent doit mourir/Vincent must die by Stéphan Castang or Mars Express by Jérémie Périn.

The festival also promises more diverse experiences this year, hosting a session of films in virtual reality for the first time, organized in partnership with CINETic. The public is invited to dive into the universe created by five films that offer a variety of experiences in terms of theme, format, and degree of interactivity.

In addition to the novelties of the 2024 edition, the French Film Festival also keeps its traditional sections: Panorama of the films of the year, Competition of young talents - feature film, and Competition of young talents - short film.

The Panorama section will showcase the most important recent French titles, films that have enjoyed great success with the public and critics. Among them, Le Règne Animal/The Animal Kingdom by Thomas Cailley, Une Année Difficile/A Difficult Year by Eric Toledano and Olivier Nakache, and La Bête/The Beast directed by Bertrand Bonello.

The Competition of young talents - feature film highlights, as every year, the debut films of young directors. They enter the race for the Public Prize, a scholarship of EUR 1000 offered by the French Institute in Romania.

Meanwhile, the Competition of young talents - short film presents to the Romanian audience five short films by young filmmakers who won the hearts of the audiences of festivals in France. A jury of young film critics will select the winner of the competition, with the prize consisting of a stay at the Résidence de Poche of the French Institute in Bucharest, the setting for the winner to develop a feature film project.

irina.marica@romania-insider.com

(Photo source: Facebook/Cinema Elvire Popesco)