The Franco-American Cultural Fund (FACF) today announced the program for the 17th Annual City of Lights, City of Angels (COL*COA) film festival that will run April 15-22 in Los Angeles. The festival will present 38 features, including three International Premieres, 11 North American or U.S. Premieres, 16 West Coast Premieres - and 19 new shorts.
"The diversity of French cinema remains very appealing to an international audience, and we are proud to offer the biggest and most exclusive program ever, including, for the first time, a new series that highlights the French film industry's support of World Cinema,"stated François Truffart, COL*COA Executive Producer and Artistic Director.
COL*COA will open with the North American Premiere of It Happened in Saint-Tropezthe new comedy directed by Danièle Thompson, co-written by Thompson and Christopher Thompson and starring Kad Merad, Monica Bellucci, Lou de Laâge and Eric Elmosnino. The film will be released in France on April 10th, five days before its opening at COL*COA.
Last film in competition on Sunday, April 21st will be the recent critical and commercial hit in France: Jappeloup, a biopic of the most improbable show jumping partnerships of all time, Pierre Durand and his horse Jappeloup, written by and starring Guillaume Canet, and directed by Christian Duguay.
For the first time, the North American Premieres of two highly anticipated (non-competition) films will close the festival on Monday, April 22. The titles will be kept confidential until their announcement on opening night of COL*COA (April 15), upon which RSVPs will then be taken for those two films.
Philippe Le Guay, writer and director of COL*COA 2011's opening film, The Women on the Sixth Floor, will attend the festival for the North American Premiere of his new comedy, Cycling with Moliere, starring Lambert Wilson and Fabrice Luchini, before its presentation at Tribeca. Director/co-writer Stéphane Brizé will also be in Los Angeles for the U.S. Premiere of his multi-César nominated new drama, A Few Hours of Spring, with Vincent Lindon and Hélène Vincent. 11.6, the very new film with François Cluzet, written and directed by Philippe Godeau, will premiere in North America at COL*COA as well as the comedy, True Friends, starring Gerard Lanvin, co-written and co-directed by Stéphan Arnichard and François Prévôt-Leygonie. The anticipated animated feature, Aya of Yop City, co-produced by Joann Sfar and written by Marguerite Abouet, and co-directed by Clément Oubrerie and Marguerite Abouet, will have its International Premiere at COL*COA before its summer release in France.
Other highlights include two buzzworthy U.S. summer releases by The Weinstein Company: Populaire, a romantic comedy, co-written and directed by Régis Roinsard, with Romain Duris, Déborah Francois and Academy Award nominee Bérénice Bejo, and Haute Cuisine, a comedy about power and food based on a true story, starring Catherine Frot, co-written and directed by Christian Vincent, and four first presentations in the U.S.: the 2013 César winner for Best Documentary, The Invisibles, written and directed by Sébastien Lifshitz, The Man Who Laughs, adapted from Victor Hugo's novel with Gérard Depardieu,from director/co-writerJean-Pierre Améris, the North American Premiere of drama Rendezvous in Kiruna, co-written and directed by Anna Novion, as well as the special presentation of Little Lion, from director/co-writer Stéphane Collardey.
The competition will feature several directorial debut films, including the uproarious road movie, Welcome to Argentina, co-written and directed by newcomer Edouard Deluc, the singular and inventive drama, Hold Back, written and directed by Rachid Djaïdani and one of the most popular comedies of the year, What's in a Name, co-written and co-directed by Alexandre de La Patellière and Matthieu Delaporte.
In addition to The Weinstein Company, several American distributors will present their films at COL*COA before their U.S. release: Kino Lorber - You Ain't Seen Nothing Yet, co-written and directed by Alain Resnais (Focus on a Filmmaker); MPI Media - Thérèse, the last film of director/co-writer Claude Miller starring Audrey Tautou;Cohen Media Group - In the House, written and directed by François Ozon and The Attack, co-written and directed by Ziad Doueiri; Distrib Filmsfor two documentaries: Becoming Traviata and The Invisibles; Film Movement for two thrillers: Aliyah and Three Worlds.
Five popular series will return in 2013. COL*COA.docwillinclude the International Premiere of Sons of the Wind, written and directed by Bruno Le Jean. After 10 will highlight the Jury Special Prize at the last Cannes Film Festival (Un Certain Regard): Le Grand Soir, written and directed by Benoît Delépine and Gustave de Kervern. COL*COA Classics will pay tribute to writer-director Jacques Demy, with the International Premiere of restored film Bay of Angels, director/co-writer André Téchiné (The Bronte Sisters), director/co-writer Maurice Pialat (To Our Loves), director Alain Resnais (Stavisky) and writer/director Louis Malle (The Fire Within - Carte Blanche to Wes Anderson). The Film Noir series will include the West Coast Premiere of Armed Hands, co-written and directed by Pierre Jolivet.
Moreover, a Focus on a Producer will be introduced on Saturday (Anne-Dominique Toussaint) as well as a Series dedicated to world cinema produced by France, including the North American Premiere of Hidden Beauties, from writer-director Nouri Bouzid.
The COL*COA Educational Program will offer three High School Screenings, one student screening and one Master Class in association with ELMA (European Languages and Movies in America).
In addition to 31 features, 19 new short films will compete for the 2013 COL*COA Awards on Sunday, April 21st. The complete recipients list of the 2013 COL*COA Awards - including the U.S. distributor winner of a new prize, theCOL*COA Coming SoonAward, presented in association with KPCC, will be announced onstage on Monday, April 22nd during the closing night.
City of Lights, City of Angels is funded by the FACF, a unique partnership of the Directors Guild of America, the Motion Picture Association, France's Society of Authors, Composers and Publishers of Music, and the Writers Guild of America, West with the vital support of L'ARP (France's Association of Authors, Directors and Producers), the CNC, the Los Angeles Film and TV Office of the French Embassy, and Unifrance.
COL*COA is sponsored by Air Tahiti Nui, Dailymotion.com, TV5MONDE (Official Sponsors); Airstar, La Boîte, Los Angeles Times, KPCC 89.3 (Premier Sponsors); Club Culinaire of Southern California, ELMA, Gayot.com, Indiewire, LA Weekly, Sunset Marquis, Variety (Major Sponsors); Champagne de L'Argentaine, Cinando, Esprit de Champagne, HammerSky, Ile de France Film Commission, Laemmle Theatres, Les Macarons Duverger, Marché du Film, St-Germain, TITRA TVS, Under The Milky Way (Platinum Sponsors); and, Alliance Française de Los Angeles, Clautiere Vineyard, Hollywood Blonde, Rosenthal The Malibu Estate, ROXO Port Cellars, Valrhona (Supporting Sponsors).
All screenings are in French with English subtitles except in the case of the family-oriented animated films, dubbed in English. Tickets are available for advance purchase online at www.colcoa.org and onsite at the Directors Guild of America, 7920 Sunset Boulevard, Los Angeles CA 90046 (cash or checks only). Please visit www.colcoa.org for box office hours. Ticket prices are $10 for adults; $7 tickets for seniors (62+), disabled, and members of American Cinematheque, ASC, ICG, Film Independent, LACMA, SAG or Women in Film; $3 for students and under 21. Tickets are complimentary for DGA and WGAW guild members. The Happy Hour Talks are free on a first come, first served basis.