A preview of the 2007 Cork French Film Festival

Filmmaker Paul Callanan speaks to Village on the highlights of the upcoming Cork French Film Festival. Callanan is the curator of this years festival, which celebrates the 60th anniversary of the founding of Alliance Francaise in Cork with a showing of the Cocteau film La Belle et La Bette, also of the same vintage.

Now in its 18th year, the well-established and much-loved annual Cork French Film Festival is renowned for its ability to attract the cream of those involved in French movie-making, as well as for its programme of movies. This year is no exception. Claudie Ossard, producer of several renowned films of recent years including Amelie, Delicatessen and Betty Blue, will present her new work Paris Je t' Aime, the opening film of the festival, on Thursday 1 March. This unusual piece of cinema is made up of 18 different films by different directors, such as the Cohen brothers (Fargo, O Brother Where Art Thou), Gus Van Sant (Drugstore Cowboy, Elephant), Tom Tyker (Perfume, Run Lola Run), Alfonso Cuanon (Y tu Mama Tambien), Wes Craven and even Gerard Depardieu. Set in the city of love, each director brings their own style to their portraits of the multitude of neighbourhoods that make up Paris. Paris Je t' Aime also features a number of internationally renowned actors, including Steve Buscemi, Juliette Binoche and Bob Hoskins.

The festival has expanded, with the Gate cinema acting as an extra venue along with the Triskel Arts Centre, resulting in a larger selection of movies than ever before, as well several 35mm feature films, audio-visual events, documentaries, a selection of African feature films, short films, filmmaking workshops, and a chance to see some cutting edge shorts from La Femis, Frances most prestigious film school.

The choices of Cork-born francophone Callanan have brought a new energy to the festival. His wide-ranging interests embrace the interaction between music and film. He is particurarly excited about the 'unique cinematic experience' provided by Dublin band 3epkano, who will accompany the first movie made by Jean Cocteau, Le Sang d'un Poete (Blood of a Poet), which the artist described as 'a descent into oneself'. The band, who recently accompanied Fritz Lang's 1926 sci-fi masterpiece, Metorpolis, as part of the Dublin Film Festival (read Village review ), provide their own unique, contemporary, film score to classic silent films, thereby breaking the usual musical associations we make with this type of cinema. In the same performance 3epkano will also apply their skills to a number of Dadist experimental short films of the 1920's, created by artists like Marcel Duchamp, which according to Callanan 'went further than any filmmaker today would ever dare'.

Other highlights mentioned by the curator include the documentaries The Pipeline Next Door and Operation Lune / Dark Side of the Moon. The first is a modern fable that has resonance with Ireland today, as it tells the story of a Georgian farming village threatened by oil giant BP. It takes an even handed view of the characters in the drama, adopting a verite approach. It won the Best Documentary prize at the European Film Awards in 2006. There are plans for representatives of the Shell to Sea campaign to speak before the screening, effectively 'turning cinema into a public forum', said Callanan. On a lighter note, he describes Operation Lune as 'a mockumentary', which shows how Stanley Kubrick staged the moon landing for the CIA, in return for their help with the making of Barry Lyndon. Callanan believes that this is 'the most important documentary since Spinal Tap'.

The finale of the festival is The Science of Sleep. Directed by Michel Gondry (Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind), featuring Gael Garcia Bernal and Charlotte Gainsbourg, it promises to be a visual feast of animation, special effects and set design from this endlessely creative director. Of course, it would not be a festival without one last party. The entertainment in the Triskel on 9 March will be provided by French duo Gangpol and Mit, one who provides sound, the other visuals, for their 'full speed digital toy music and lo-fi dancefloor stompers'.

For further information and full programme see www.corkfrenchfilmfestival.com  

By Tom Rowe