An unmissable event for all European auteur cinema professionals, Les Arcs Film Festival will offer an opulent, high-class menu for its 11th edition (running 14 – 21 December), welcoming the actresses Isabelle Huppert (as the ambassador of Talent Village) and Barbara Sukowa as guests of honour.

The winning feature film from among the 10 titles in the running for the Crystal Arrow 2019 will be decided upon by a jury presided over by French filmmaker Guillaume Nicloux, who will be shored up in his work by Hungarian filmmaker Ildikó Enyedi, German star Nina Hoss, French-Afghan filmmaker Atiq Rahimi and Argentine screenwriter and director Santiago Amigorena.

The competition concocted by artistic director Frédéric Boyer includes nine French premieres, amongst which A Thief’s Daughter [+leggi anche:
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intervista: Belén Funes
scheda film] by the Spaniard Belén Funes (who scooped the Best Female Performance trophy in San Sebastian), the prize-winning Berlin work System Crasher [+leggi anche:
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intervista: Nora Fingscheidt
scheda film] by Germany’s Nora Fingscheidt (discovered last year in the Les Arcs’ Work-In-Progress sidebar), Lara Jenkins [+leggi anche:
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intervista: Jan Ole Gerster
scheda film] by fellow German Jan-Ole Gerster (who bagged the Special Jury Prize and the Best Actress award at Karlovy Vary), Atlantis [+leggi anche:
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intervista: Valentyn Vasyanovych
scheda film] by Ukrainian filmmaker Valentyn Vasyanovych (who triumphed in Venice’s Orizzonti section), two titles which went down well in the San Sebastian New Directors programme (Invisible [+leggi anche:
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intervista: Ignas Jonynas e Kristupas …
scheda film] by Lithuania’s Ignas Jonynas and Lynn + Lucy [+leggi anche:
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intervista: Fyzal Boulifa
scheda film] by the Brit Fyzal Boulifa), Rocks [+leggi anche:
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intervista: Sarah Gavron
scheda film] by British filmmaker Sarah Gavron (screened in competition in Toronto and San Sebastian), and three feature films discovered in Locarno: Echo [+leggi anche:
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intervista: Rúnar Rúnarsson
scheda film] by Iceland’s Rúnar Rúnarsson, O Fim do Mundo [+leggi anche:
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intervista: Basil Da Cunha
scheda film] by Swiss-Portuguese director Basil Da Cunha and Instinct [+leggi anche:
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intervista: Halina Reijn
scheda film] by Dutch filmmaker Halina Reijn.

Jostling in the Playtime line-up (which tots up six French premieres) are Disco [+leggi anche:
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intervista: Jorunn Myklebust Syversen
scheda film] by Norway’s Jorunn Myklebust Syversen (which is making its way to the festival via Toronto and San Sebastian), Corpus Christi [+leggi anche:
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intervista: Bartosz Bielenia
intervista: Jan Komasa
scheda film] by Poland’s Jan Komasa (awarded the Europa Cinemas Label at Venice Days), Patrick [+leggi anche:
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intervista: Tim Mielants
scheda film] by Belgian director Tim Mielants (unveiled in competition at Karlovy Vary), Pelican Blood [+leggi anche:
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intervista: Katrin Gebbe
scheda film] by Germany’s Katrin Gebbe (which opened Venice’s Orizzonti section), Our Lady of the Nile [+leggi anche:
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scheda film] by French-Afghan director Atiq Rahimi (which also premiered in Toronto), Romulus & Remus – The First King [+leggi anche:
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scheda film] by Italy’s Matteo Rovere, and the documentaries Sing Me A Song [+leggi anche:
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scheda film] by Frenchman Thomas Balmès and Sanctuary [+leggi anche:
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scheda film] by Spain’s Álvaro Longoria.

The Hauteur section, meanwhile, will treat audiences to Aga’s House [+leggi anche:
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intervista: Lendita Zeqiraj
scheda film] by Kosovo’s Lendita Zeqiraj, Kongo [+leggi anche:
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scheda film] by French directors Hadrien La Vapeur and Corto Vaclav, Let There Be Light [+leggi anche:
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intervista: Marko Škop
intervista: Milan Ondrík
scheda film] by the Slovakian Marko Skop (named Best Actor at Karlovy Vary), the British production Nocturnal [+leggi anche:
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intervista: Nathalie Biancheri
scheda film] by Italy’s Nathalie Biancheri, Stitches [+leggi anche:
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intervista: Miroslav Terzić
scheda film] by Serbian director Miroslav Terzic, Twelve Thousand [+leggi anche:
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scheda film] by French filmmaker Nadège Trebal and the Italian title Tommaso [+leggi anche:
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intervista: Abel Ferrara
scheda film] by America’s Abel Ferrara.

The Focus section of the festival will this year be dedicated to Finland and the Baltic States, with a dozen feature films in the offing, including the recent works Tom of Finland [+leggi anche:
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intervista: Dome Karukoski
scheda film] by Dome Karukoski and Sasha Was Here [+leggi anche:
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scheda film] by Ernestas Jankauskas.

Standing tall amongst the French premieres on offer are The Translators [+leggi anche:
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intervista: Régis Roinsard
scheda film] by Régis Roinsard, which is set to open the festival, the majority French production Two of Us [+leggi anche:
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intervista: Filippo Meneghetti
scheda film] by the Italian Filippo Meneghetti (very well received in Toronto), Into the World [+leggi anche:
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scheda film] by Marion Lainé (in a world premiere), Play [+leggi anche:
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scheda film] by Anthony Marciano, The Holy Family [+leggi anche:
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scheda film] by Louis-Do de Lencquesaing, the collective film Selfie [+leggi anche:
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scheda film], and four titles discovered in Venice: the prize-winning works Back Home [+leggi anche:
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scheda film] by Jessica Palud and A Son [+leggi anche:
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intervista: Mehdi M. Barsaoui e Sami B…
scheda film] by Mehdi M. Barsaoui, as well as My Days of Glory [+leggi anche:
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intervista: Antoine de Bary
scheda film] by Antoine de Bary and the documentary Woman [+leggi anche:
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intervista: Anastasia Mikova e Yann Ar…
scheda film] by Anastasia Mikova and Yann Arthus-Bertrand.

In terms of works of interest to schoolchildren, these include Marona’s Fantastic Tale [+leggi anche:
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scheda film] by Romania’s Anca Damian, Simon’s Got a Gift [+leggi anche:
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scheda film] by Léo Karmann, Little Man [+leggi anche:
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scheda film] by Benjamin Parent, the documentary Marche avec les loups [+leggi anche:
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scheda film] by Jean-Michel Bertrand and L’Équipe de secours, en route pour l’aventure by Latvia’s Jānis Cimermanis.

Equally of note, the short film jury will be presided over by filmmaker Houda Benyamina (flanked by such names as Agathe Bonitzer, Guillaume Gouix, Kacey Mottet Klein and Belorussia’s Olga Pärn).

This year, the Les Arcs Film Festival will also be launching Green Lab Cinema (offering debates, a Cinema Green Label for films and a "Cinema and environmental commitment" award), as well as repeating its spotlight on "Women in Film" (by way of a dedicated Lab and a Woman in Film award). The film debate organised in partnership with the LUX Prize, meanwhile, will be dedicated to God Exists, Her Name is Petrunya [+leggi anche:
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intervista: Labina Mitevska
intervista: Teona Strugar Mitevska
scheda film] by Macedonian director Teona Strugar Mitevska.

For the record, the professional sidebar of the Les Arcs Film Festival encompasses the Industry Village (running 14 – 17 December), largely consisting of the Co-Productions Village (read our article), the newly overhauled Work-in-Progress section (news), the Talent Village (running 11 – 17 December), the Music Village and the Distributors-Exhibitors Summit (running 17 – 21 December).