04/11/2016 - Today sees the start of the 17th edition of the increasingly attractive and popular event, which brings together European arthouse film and more mainstream titles

The 17th edition of the Arras Film Festival (read the interview with general delegate Eric Miot) kicks off today. Boasting ever-rising attendance levels, the gathering has a winning strategy: treating audiences to a fine balance between exploring various European film industries that may not be so well known in France, and a line-up rich in more popular titles, complete with premiere screenings in the presence of the films’ casts and crews.

Besides the competition, which awards the Golden Atlas to the winning film, and the "Eastern Selection" and "European Discoveries" sections (read the presentation news), the ten-day gathering will stand out from the rest thanks to its programme of 32 features receiving a premiere screening, starting with the opening film, Two Is a Family [+see also:
trailer
making of
film profile] by Hugo Gélin (toplined by Omar Sy). 

Also included in the showcase are works that were unveiled at major international festivals this year: at Cannes (the award-winning Graduation [+see also:
film review
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Q&A: Cristian Mungiu
interview: Cristian Mungiu
film profile] by Romania’s Cristian Mungiu, competitors Loving [+see also:
film review
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film profile] by Jeff Nichols, Paterson [+see also:
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film profile] by Jim Jarmusch, Tour de France [+see also:
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interview: Rachid Djaïdani
film profile] by Rachid Djaïdani and Sweet Dreams [+see also:
film review
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Q&A: Marco Bellocchio
film profile] by Italy’s Marco Bellocchio, screened in the Directors’ Fortnight, and Pierre Filmon’s documentary Close Encounters with Vilmos Zsigmond, presented in Cannes Classics), Locarno (Ceasefire [+see also:
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film profile] by Emmanuel Courcol, In the Forest [+see also:
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film profile] by Gilles Marchand, Vincent and the End of the World [+see also:
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film profile] by Belgian director Christophe van Rompaey), Berlin (The Commune [+see also:
film review
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interview: Thomas Vinterberg
film profile] by Denmark’s Thomas Vinterberg and Miss Impossible [+see also:
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film profile] by Emilie Deleuze), Telluride (Lost in Paris [+see also:
film review
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interview: Dominique Abel, Fiona Gordon
film profile] by Fiona Gordon and Dominique Abel), Toronto (150 Milligrams [+see also:
film review
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film profile] by Emmanuelle Bercot, Souvenir [+see also:
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film profile] by Belgian filmmaker Bavo Defurne, Beyond Flamenco [+see also:
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film profile] by Spaniard Carlos Saura and the British co-production Lion [+see also:
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film profile] by Garth Davis) and Venice (Hacksaw Ridge by Mel Gibson and A Woman’s Life [+see also:
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Q&A: Stéphane Brizé
film profile] by Stéphane Brizé, who is the festival’s guest of honour).

Arras audiences will also be able to enjoy A Bun in the Oven [+see also:
trailer
film profile] by Nadège Loiseau, The Eavesdropper [+see also:
film review
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film profile] by Thomas Kruithof, Elementary [+see also:
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film profile] by Hélène Angel, The Fabulous Patars [+see also:
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film profile] by Sophie Reine, Trainee Day [+see also:
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film profile] by Marc Fitoussi, Open at Night [+see also:
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film profile] by Edouard Baer, Il a déjà tes yeux [+see also:
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film profile] by Lucien Jean-Baptiste, Un jour mon prince by Flavia Coste and The Confession [+see also:
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film profile] by Nicolas Boukhrief.

Also of note among the premieres are four films produced in the Hauts-de-France region: the animated movie Louise by the Shore [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile] by Jean-François Laguionie, Souffler plus fort que la mer [+see also:
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film profile] by Marine Place, Comment j'ai rencontré mon père by Maxime Motte and Carole Matthieu [+see also:
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film profile] by Louis-Julien Petit (toplined by Isabelle Adjani).

This vast programme will be rounded off by the World Cinema section, which includes such films as the Cannes-awarded The Salesman [+see also:
film review
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film profile] by Iranian director Asghar Farhadi, the Berlin revelation Hedi [+see also:
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film profile] by Tunisia’s Mohamed Ben Attia, Neruda [+see also:
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film profile] by Chile’s Pablo Larrain, the British co-production Theeb [+see also:
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interview: Naji Abu Nowar
film profile] by Naji Abu Nowar and One Week and a Day [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile] by Israeli filmmaker Asaph Polonsky.

We should also point out the 15-film focus on "The Spanish War, a European Tragedy", a section for youngsters (including the German production Not Without Us by Sigrid Klausmann, Solan and Ludvig: The Big Cheese Race [+see also:
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interview: Rasmus A Sivertsen
film profile] by Norwegian director Rasmus A Sivertsen, the Danish title Julius et le père Noël by Jacob Lay and Les enfants de la chance [+see also:
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film profile] by Malik Chibane, among others), a selection of 15 "Great Escapes" and a number of cine-concerts. Last but not least, the gathering will host the fifth edition of the Arras Days (12-13 November), which will hand out Development Aid Grants (the main one courtesy of the CNC) to feature-length fiction projects initiated by the directors and producers of the films selected at Arras this year in the "Competition", "Eastern Selection" and "European Discoveries" sections.

(Translated from French)