Cinema of France

Theatre is my country, a huge country, with no borders, free of prejudice, said Isabelle Huppert, after being granted a star on the Hall of Celebrities within the Gala of the International Theatre Festival of Sibiu (FITS).

Yesterday, French radio station Europe 1 reported that Paris authorities have opened an investigation against French film director Luc Besson, after an actress told them that he had raped her the night before.

The 71st Cannes Film Festival took off on May 8 with an opening ceremony mastered by French actor Edouard Baer. The ceremony was preceded by the traditional red carpet ceremony.

The number one festival in world cinema, the Cannes Film Festival, which will take place from May 8 to May 19, unveiled the official selection for its 71st edition on April 12 in Paris at a press conference attended by Cannes Festival president Pierre Lescure and director Thierry Fremaux. 

Nominated for this year's Academy Award for best documentary feature, "Faces Places" by 89-year-old French New Wave pioneer Agnes Varda and French guerrilla "photograffeur" JR will open the 20th Thessaloniki Documentary Festival (TDF), which starts on March 2.

The Danaos cinema is screening "Dolphin Man," a documentary by Greece's Lefteris Charitos and France's Benoit Lichte that sheds light on the fascinating world of the late free-diver Jacques Mayol, who gained international prominence with Luc Besson's cult classic "The Big Blue." From the Mediterranean to Japan and from India to the Bahamas, the film introduces Mayol's closest friends and family

Oscar-winning actress Cate Blanchett is to chair the jury that will pick the award winners at this year's Cannes Film Festival, reported BBC. 

She is "a rare and unique artist with talent and conviction", the Cannes Film Festival organisers said.

Marion Cotillard embraces full frontal nudity in the trailer for her latest film, thriller Les Fantômes d’Ismael.
In a role not for the faint-hearted, Marion bravely stripped off to reveal all in the arty French movie, which also stars James Bond’s Mathieu Amalric.

The French Institute in Athens is screening Henri-Georges Clouzot's 1942 debut feature, the comedy thriller "L'assassin habite au 21" (The Murderer Lives at Number 21), on Tuesday, September 5.

Louis Malle's 1958 noir classic "Ascenseur pour l'echafaud" (Elevator to the Gallows), about a planned murder gone wrong, will be screened as part of the Stavros Niarchos Foundation Cultural Center's Park Your Cinema program on Friday, August 18. Admission to the screening, which starts at 9 p.m., is free of charge. The film is in French and will be accompanied by Greek subtitles.