The French film festival of the Alliance française has revealed its 2022 dates and its first ten films

Australia’s film festival calendar is set to kick off for 2022, with festivals dedicated to documentaries, European cinema, queer films and Japanese films all among the events that have already announced their next lineups. Another great excuse to watch the big screen in a darkened room that Aussie moviegoers can look forward to in the very near future: the French Film Festival of the Alliance Françaisewhich returns in March and April for its 33rd year.

It’s still a little too early for the AFFFF to reveal its full program, but it has confirmed a few details to get you in the French cinema mood. First, there are the festival dates, with the event making its usual stops in the capital. So moviegoers in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Perth, Adelaide, Canberra and Hobart – and Byron Bay and Parramatta too – can now start blocking time into your diaries.

Also previewed: the AFFFF’s top ten films from its 2022 line-up, including the opening night’s 19th-century Paris set lost illusions. Featuring an impressive cast that includes Benjamin Voisin (Summer 85), Cecile of France (The French Dispatch), Vincent Lacoste (sorry angel) and Xavier Dolan (Mathias and Maxime)—the latter acting rather than ruling—it follows a lower-class poet who falls in love with Baroness Louise de Bargeton.

Other highlights cover two films that premiered at the Cannes Film Festival last year, along with a romantic comedy Love songs for the tough guys with Vanessa Paradis (Knife + Heart), located in Dunkirk and inspired by Cyrano de Bergeracand La Traviata, my brothers and me focusing on a 14-year-old who wants to become the new Luciano Pavarotti. There is also The young loversalso headed by the aforementioned Cécile de France; Waiting for Bojanglesa page-to-screen adaptation with Virginie Efira (Farewell the stupid) and Romain Duris (eiffel); The Kitchen Brigadewhich takes place in the world of French gastronomy; Listen to mea romantic comedy directed by and performed by Pascal Elbé (The swallows of Kabul); and the whole 60s Event.

Or, you can expect a documentary The Velvet Queenwhere photographer Vincent Munier and writer Sylvain Tesson travel to the Tibetan highlands in search of the snow leopard — or, from the retro program featuring the work of actor and filmmaker Alain Delon, noon purplewhich adapts the novel by Patricia Highsmith The talented Mr Ripley.

The full festival lineup will be unveiled on Thursday, February 3 – and you can check out the festival trailer below in the meantime:

DATES OF THE FRENCH FILM FESTIVAL OF THE ALLIANCE FRANÇAISE 2022:

• From March 1 to April 6, with additional screenings from April 7 to 10: Palace Central, Palace Norton Street, Palace Verona, Chauvel Cinema and Hayden Orpheum Cremorne, Sydney
• March 2-April 6, with encore screenings April 7-10: Palace Electric, Canberra
• From March 3 to April 6, with encore screenings from April 7 to 10: Palace Balwyn, Palace Brighton Bay, Palace Como. Westgarth Palace, Pentridge Cinema, The Kino and The Astor Theatre, Melbourne
• March 9-20: State Cinema, Hobart
• March 9-April 6, with additional screenings April 7-10: Camelot Outdoor Cinema, Luna Leederville, Luna on SX, Palace Raine Square and Windsor Cinema, Perth
• From March 16 to April 13, with encore screenings from April 14 to 18: Palace Barracks and Palace James Street, Brisbane
• March 24-April 24, with encore screenings April 25-26: Palace Nova Eastend Cinemas and Palace Nova Prospect Cinemas, Adelaide, plus Victa Cinemas, Victor Harbor
• From March 30 to April 14, with encore screenings from April 15 to 16: Palace Byron Bay, Byron Bay
• April 7-10: Parramatta Riverside Theatres, Parramatta

The French Film Festival of the Alliance française travels Australia from Tuesday March 1st to Tuesday April 26th. For more information, visit the AFFFF website.

Posted on January 24, 2022 by

Sarah Ward