Film festival boss says Aussie event’s ’incredible‘ popularity has astonished French

It’s the biggest showcase of contemporary French films outside France - and French Film Festival boss Karine Mauris says the Australian event’s “incredible” popularity has astonished cultural powerbrokers in her native country.

French Film Festival artistic director Karine Mauris at Bondi Beach. Picture: John Feder/The Australian

It’s the biggest showcase of contemporary French films outside France – and Alliance Francaise French Film Festival boss Karine Mauris says the Australian event’s “incredible” popularity has astonished cultural powerbrokers in her native country.

The festival, which opens in Sydney on Tuesday, screens in all the state capitals, Canberra and the Gold Coast and is expanding this year to include regional towns such as Bendigo and Whyalla. It attracted 153,000 ticket buyers in 2022 despite hurdles such as the Queensland floods and the Covid pandemic.

Mauris, who is also cultural attache with the French Embassy, said French film funding bodies and producers often asked her: “How is that possible? We are so happy, (but) what’s going on, because Australia is so far away and an English-speaking country.’’

The artistic director, who has run the 34-year-old festival since 2020, attributed its enduring appeal to cultural and educational links between Australia and France and to Australians being “very open and curious. They have a strange sense of humour that is very close to ours; they accept and are surprised by our sense of humour”.

She joked: “They say sometimes to me, ‘You’re rude but you’re so French!’ … When I arrived in Australia, I realised how much you are European (rather than American).’’

The festival’s opening night film is Masquerade, which is about young, glamorous romance scammers, and stars Isabelle Adjani.

Mauris said her program was the “most eclectic line-up to date’’.

It includes a meta-zombie comedy, movies about “l’amour in all its forms’’ and two feature films centred on the devastating 2015 Paris terror attacks. November was France’s most popular French language film of 2022, and explores the attacks from the perspective of anti-terrorism investigators.

Notre Dame on Fire focuses on the frantic rescue effort to save the revered Paris cathedral from the 2019 blaze that engulfed it and is directed by 80-year-old Academy Award winner Jean-Jacques Annaud. According to Mauris, this film asks: “Do we have to sacrifice some human life to save a monument?’’

Lea Seydoux. Picture: Tolga Akmen/AFP

Isabelle Adjani. Picture: Julien M. Hekimian/Getty Images

This year’s program features different generations of French leading ladies including Oscar winners Juliette Binoche and Marion Cotillard, Bond star Léa Seydoux, Adjani and the in-demand Virginie Efira.

Controversy recently erupted at France’s version of the Oscars, the Cesar Awards, when women were omitted from the best ­director category, despite several French female directors releasing critically acclaimed films in 2022.

However, Mauris said 40.5 per cent of Cesar voters were female film professionals. “A lot of women vote for men,’’ she said.

Of four debut films being screened in her latest festival, three are directed by women. One of these films, Alice Diop’s Saint Omer, won the Grand Jury Prize at the Venice Film Festival and represented France at the 2023 Oscars.

Mauris said: “When I am choosing a movie, I don’t look at who the director is – I am always looking for the best movie. People are looking for films that can touch them.’’

Her line-up will include children’s movies and is closely aligned with Alliance Francaise language schools.