The 12th Annual VCU French Film Festival

By Pamela DiSalvo Lepley, Peter Kirkpatrick and Françoise Ravaux Kirkpatrick

RICHMOND, Va. – For more than a decade, the Virginia Commonwealth University French Film Festival has earned acclaim, in the United States and in France for introducing over 130 French and francophone films to American audiences. The 12th Annual VCU French Film Festival will continue its tradition of showcasing a diverse sampling of France’s newest feature films by established, award-winning directors complemented by a screening of courts métrages, or short films, by France’s next generation of ground-breaking filmmakers. 

The 2004 VCU French Film Festival will take place at the Byrd Theatre, 2908 W. Cary St., Richmond, March 26 -28. Films are presented by their directors and-or starring actors. Thus far, the Festival has welcomed a delegation totaling 85 directors, producers, actors, film scholars, critics and French government officials. All films have English subtitles. A question and answer session with directors and actors follows each film. Discussions are in English or in French with an interpreter. Films are screened at Richmond's historic Byrd Theatre in the Carytown neighborhood of Richmond.  An official reception with the French celebrities is held each year at the elegant Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, followed by a Gala Dinner at the historic Scott House on the VCU Campus, during which festival attendees may further their conversations with members of the French delegation.

The VCU French Film Festival is sponsored by the SACD (Société des auteurs et compositeurs dramatiques), the ARP (Auteurs- Réalisateurs- Producteurs), Unifrance-Paris, the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and the Cultural Services of the French Embassy in Washington D.C., VCU's Division of External Relations, VCU’s College of Humanities and Sciences, VCU’s School of World Studies and VCU Office of International Education.  Visit www.frenchfilm.vcu.edu for the festival schedule and ticket information.