20/05/2020 - Unspooling online from 9–16 June, the 9th edition of the Parisian event will see ten films battling it out in competition and will feature Stephen Frears and Edgar Wright as its guests of honour

Registration opens today for free-of-charge, online participation in the different events put in place by the Champs-Élysées Film Festival, the 9^th edition of which will unspool in virtual form from 9 – 16 June following the Coronavirus-based cancellation of its physical edition. The event founded and overseen by Sophie Dulac at the very heart of the French capital will open with a French preview of Zoé Wittock’s Jumbo [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Zoé Wittock
film profile] (unveiled in competition in Sundance and later screened in the Berlinale’s Generation line-up).

Standing out in particular on the agenda is a French competition composed of six feature films, which will be evaluated by a jury presided over by director Mounia Meddour (flanked by filmmakers Sébastien Lifshitz and Sébastien Marnier, actresses Élina Löwensohn and Camille Chamoux, and actor William Lebghil). Two films well-received in this year’s Berlinale will be battling it out in this particular section (À l’abordage [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Guillaume Brac
film profile] by Guillaume Brac and Los conductos [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile] by Camille Restrepo), as will Night Ride [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Frédéric Farrucci
film profile] by Frédéric Farrucci (Best Direction award at Saint-Jean-de-Luz) and the documentaries: Strike Or Die [+see also:
trailer
film profile] by Jonathan Rescigno, The Kiosk [+see also:
trailer
film profile] by Alexandra Pianelli and Retiens Johnny by Simon Depardon, Arthur Verret and Baptiste Droulliac.

The same jury will also deliberate over a competition consisting of four American, independent feature films: Bloody Nose, Empty Pockets by Bill and Turner Ross (which has spent time in Sundance, the Berlinale’s Panorama section and CPH:DOX this year), Slow Machine by Paul Felten and Joe DeNardo (screened in Rotterdam), Crestone by Marnie Ellen Hertzler (selected for SXSW and now set to enjoy its European premiere) and 17 Blocks by Davy Rothbart.

Two competitions for French and American short films (20 titles in total) are also on the cards, boasting their own dedicated jury chaired by director Marie Losier.

Last but not least, the two guests of honour for this year’s event, English filmmakers Stephen Frears and Edgar Wright, will deliver interactive online masterclasses, the first on 10 June and the second on 13 June.

For the record, all short films involved in the event will be freely accessible from 9 June. The feature films, by contrast, are restricted to a limited number of viewings which can be snapped up from today by registering on the festival’s website.

(Translated from French)