27/03/2018 - The eighth edition of the festival will take place from 4 to 10 April with 30 titles and a focus on Arnaud Desplechin, before moving on to Turin, Milan, Naples, Palermo, Florence and Bologna

Rendez-Vous, Festival del nuovo cinema francese, will open on 4 April in Rome with Custody [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Xavier Legrand
film profile], the debut feature film by Xavier Legrand, winner of a Golden Lion for Best Director and the Lion of the Future award for Best Debut Performance at the 74^th Venice Film Festival. Now in its eighth edition, the festival promoted by the French Embassy and organised by the Institut Francais - Centre Saint Louis, includes more than 30 titles, four focuses, a documentary section, masterclasses and premieres. The festival is due to commence in Rome (until April 10) and will also be stopping off in Turin, Milan, Naples, Palermo, Florence and Bologna on a journey that will span the length of Italy over the course of a month. 

This edition of the festival is dedicated to Valeria Bruni Tedeschi, in the name of great auteur cinema and the artistic bond between France and Italy. Valeria will be holding a masterclass at the Casa del Cinema on 4 April, followed by two special screenings of Like Crazy [+see also:
film review
trailer
Q&A: Paolo Virzì
film profile] by Paolo Virzì and Hands Up [+see also:
trailer
film profile] by Romain Goupil. On 5 April, the actress and director will meet the public at the Cinema Nuovo Sacher (directed by Nanni Moretti) to present the documentary A Young Girl in Her Nineties [+see also:
trailer
film profile] alongside co-director Yann Coridian. 

The long list of directors in attendance at the event includes Arnaud Desplechin, who will be meeting the public in Rome on 9 and 10 April at the Cinema Nuovo Sacher, where a special focus has been scheduled with the title: “Ici et ailleurs: il cinema come romanzo,” which will include a masterclass and five titles, among which is Ismael's Ghosts [+see also:
film review
trailer
Q&A: Arnaud Desplechin
film profile], which opened Cannes Film Festival in 2017 (in Italian cinemas from 19 April). Desplechin will present the film to the public along with the actors Alba Rohrwacher and Louis Garrell. Robert Guédiguian will also be in Rome to present The House by the Sea [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Robert Guédiguian
film profile] along with Ariane Ascaride – in Competition at the 74^th Venice Film Festival. Returning to Rome is Bruno Dumont with Jeannette, the Childhood of Joan of Arc [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Bruno Dumont
film profile], presented at the Directors' Fortnight at Cannes, and Laurent Cantet, who will be presenting The Workshop [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Laurent Cantet
film profile], another title present at Cannes last year in the Un Certain Regard section. Claire Denis will be bringing Bright Sunshine In [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile] to Rome, the opening film at the 49^th Directors' Fortnight at Cannes, where it received the SACD Award (tied with Lover for a Day [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile] by Philippe Garrel), distributed in Italy by Cinema, as well François Ozon, who will be in attendance with the erotic thriller The Double Lover [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile] (distributed by Academy Two).

Among the new French directors to be discovered are Léonor Serraille with Montparnasse Bienvenüe [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Léonor Serraille
film profile], Golden Camera award at Cannes in 2017, the directorial duo Dominique Abel and Fiona Gordon with Lost in Paris [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Dominique Abel, Fiona Gordon
film profile], Albert Dupontel (very popular in France), who will be presenting See You Up There [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile], Antony Cordier with his third feature-film, Gaspard at the Wedding [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Antony Cordier
film profile], and the actor and directorSamuel Jouy with Sparring [+see also:
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film profile], starring Mathieu Kassovitz.

There is also a section dedicated to documentaries, with two titles to be screened alongside the documentary by Valeria Bruni Tedeschi and Yann Coridian:No Man Is an Island [+see also:
trailer
film profile] by Dominique Marchais, and Makala [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Emmanuel Gras
film profile] by Emmanuel Gras.

(Translated from Italian)