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International contingent for Air France French Film Festival

The Air France French Film Festival - which runs at Nu Metro in Hyde Park from October 20 to November 2 - gives audiences a window into the most successful national film culture in Europe. The organisers have successfully relaunched the 28th edition of this not-to-be-missed film festival and put together an impressive line-up of 18 films that showcase the industry's depth and diversity.

Included in this year's line-up is the wacky surfer comedy Brice From Nice (Brice de Nice) which has broken all box-office records in France and Paris, I Love You (Paris, Je T'Aime) an ambitious portrait of the City of Love with contributions from 18 international directors as diverse as Wes Craven, Ethan and Joel Coen and Gus van Sant. Its star-studded cast includes Marianne Faithfull, Juliette Binoche, Fanny Ardant, Natalie Portman, Nick Nolte, Steve Buscemi, Bob Hoskins, Elijah Wood and Gena Rowlands.

There are also films from French-speaking African directors. Sylvestre Amoussou's brilliant parody Africa Paradise (Africa Paradis) is set in the future and looks at an United States of Africa that all Europeans want to immigrate to, while Alexander Abela transports the Bard's Othello to the island of Madagascar in the mesmerising Souli.

Good Work (Beau Travail) is a sweeping drama, loosely adapted from Billy Budd, which tells the story of a former Foreign Legion officer, Galoup, as he recalls his once glorious life. It was described by The New York Times as: "(A) visually spellbinding cinematic equivalent of a military ballet in which the legionnaires' rigorous drills and training rituals are depicted as ecstatic rites of purification". Heading South (Vers Le Sud) stars Charlotte Rampling in the shocking story of three American fortysomething women in search of sea, sun and sex in Haiti. The film raises multiple, complex issues: female sexuality, male prostitution and relations between first and third world countries.

There are two classic François Truffaut films - the 1962 Jules and Jim (Jules et Jim) in which the director beautifully explores the complex relationships between three protagonists and 1979's Love on the Run (L'Amour en Fuite), the final film about Antoine Doinel. He first appeared in The 400 Blows and has featured in five Truffaut films over the years. You see him grow from an emotionally troubled young man in the first film to a man in this film that still has trouble with emotional commitment.

Last year's hit documentary was March of the Penguins. This year it could be The White Planet (La Planète Blanche). The Arctic is depicted as rivalling the Galapagos in its diversity. The vast polar terrain holds secrets cloaked in the aurora borealis, shining brighter than anything man could conjure. The directors have vaulted the nature documentary form to an entirely new level.

The Air France Film Festival runs at the Nu Metro cinemas at Hyde Park Shopping Centre from 20 October to 2 November. The event is presented by Air France in association with the Hyde Park Shopping Centre, Nu Metro Theatres and the French Embassy. Tickets can be booked at Computicket or at the cinemas. See www.airfrance-film-festival.com

Source: http://www.airfrance-film-festival.com