26/09/2003

Tonight sees the start of the International festival of Francophone Films in Namur (September 26 – October 3). Some of the stars of this 18th edition include the director Claude Miller, who, along with his actors, Jean-Pierre Marielle, Robinson Stévenin and Yves Jacques, will be presenting the film La Petite Lili in the presence of many illustrious guests, including Bernadette Lafont and Andrzej Zulawski, the president of the Festival jury.
Following on from San Sebastian, where his film was a good success, there’s also Benoît Mariage who will be taking part with The other Half, as part of a evening organised at the Théâtre Royal by the French Community in Belgium. The party will also be attended by the stars of Mariage’s film: Dominique Baeyens, Philippe Grand'Henry, Laurent Kuehnen and Bouli Lanners, as well as other big names from the world of Belgium cinema, like Benoît Poelvoorde and the Dardenne brothers. This year’s festival will be featuring cinema lessons held by Bernadette Lafont, Jean-Claude Brialy, Gérard Corbiau and Alexandre Desplat, and there’s eager anticipation for the presentation of Père et fils by Michel Boujenah, Bruno Putzulu and Pascal Elbé, and the visit of Frédéric Mitterand and the arrival of Jean Rochefort the star of the film by Gérard Corbiau, St Germain ou la négociation.
Alongside the 150 films being shown and the appearances by the 200 guests invited to the event, the festival will also feature meetings for professionals from the film world, on the theme of the spread, promotion and distribution of Francophone films, and there’ll be a day given over to music composers for films. Then there’s a workshop organised by the SACD on the roles of producer, director and screenwriter, a writing seminar held by ASA, a say looking at African Women directors organised by Femmimage together with the round table discussion about African cinema, and then there are a series of meetings about new technologies.
The Festival closes with the award of the Golden Bayards prizes and the screening of the Belgium film Le Tango des Rashevski by Sam Garbarski.

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(Translated from French)