France bangs the big drum for 2024

Alex Lutz stars in Pascal Bontizer’s Auction slated to open the 26th Rendez-Vous with French Cinema in Paris next month Photo: UniFrance

If it’s January in the world of le cinéma français it must be the Unifrance Rendez-Vous with French Cinema which will open in Paris on 16 January with Pascal Bonitzer’s new film Auction (Le Tableau Volé) featuring a cast of Alex Lutz (whose Strangers By Night closed Un Certain Regard section of the Cannes Film Festival earlier in the year).

The cast also features Léa Drucker, Louise Chevillotte and Nora Hamzawi. Lutz plays an auctioneer who is alerted to a rare canvas by Egon Schiele, found in Mulhouse, near the Swiss-German borders - but he becomes suspicious about its authenticity and decides to investigate further.

Pascal Bonitzer presents his ninth feature as a director at the Uni-France Rendez-Vous with French Cinema in Paris Photo: UniFrance

Bonitzer began work as a critic for Cahiers du Cinéma and was a celebrated film theorist before turning to directing in the 1990s with a particular penchant for neurotic comedies as well as more dramatic works and thrillers. His filmography includes More (1994, nominated for a César for Best Debut Feature, and the Prix Jean-Vigo), Rien sur Robert (1999), Small Cuts (2003), Made in Paris (2002), The Great Alibi (2008), Looking for Hortense (2012), Right Here Right Now (2016), and The Spellbound (2019).

He has collaborated on screenwriting with many of the greats including Jacques Rivette, André Techiné and Raoul Ruiz.

Auction (his ninth feature as a director) will be screened in a world premiere at the UGC Cine Cité at Bercy before an audience of international buyers and distributors who will attend the 26th edition of the Rendez-Vous running until 23 January. Bonitzer and other members of the film crew also are expected to attend. The filmmaker's daughter Agathe Bonitzer (with the late director Sophie Fillières) also is making her mark in such titles as Au bout du conte. Auction is due for a French release in May next year.

As part of the Rendez-Vous, the Export Day, will bring together distributors, broadcasters, producers, exporters, artists, and institutions from France and other parts of Europe. The aim is to analyse and compare their points of view on the challenges facing French film and audiovisual exports in the years ahead.

French TV Screenings involving exclusive presentations of previously unseen French programmes for audiovisual buyers, will also be part of the line-up.

The French Ministry of Culture will host a French Cinema Award to be presented by Unifrance to an artist as yet undisclosed who has worked to promote French cinema internationally.

The media junket, focused on French films and audiovisual content scheduled for release or broadcast abroad in 2024, will take place from January 20 through 23 at the Hôtel du Collectionneur, with a host of French artists gathered to meet international journalists.

Taking advantage of the presence of many international journalists at the Rendez-vous, Unifrance will also be present at the Lumiere Awards ceremony on 22 January, often viewed as a useful precursor to the Césars and frequently compared to Hollywood’s Golden Globe awards.