With TV fare, French see small picture too

Since its creation in 1996 by the Franco-American Cultural Fund, the French film festival COLCOA has cultivated a loyal following.

“Every year we have people coming from all parts of the country,” said Francois Truffart, executive producer and artistic director of the festival, which opens its 19th edition Monday at the Directors Guild of America.

Truffart estimates this year’s festival will attract more than 20,000 Francophiles.

The festival has added a ninth day of programming and will screen a record 68 feature films, including three world premieres, seven international premieres, 14 North America or U.S. premieres and 16 West Coast premieres.

And for the first time, COLCOA will have TV fare screening in competition, including the French series “Chefs,” “Spiral” and “Templeton.”

“There was a time in France where people considered cinema as art and television as something minor,” said Truffart. “It has changed a lot because like in the U.S. producers, filmmakers, writers work in cinema and television at the same time. It became obvious that we had to promote this part of our creativity.”

The festival opens with the North American premiere of the psychological thriller “A Perfect Man,” co- written and directed by Yann Gozlan and featuring the rising star Pierre Niney. The director and Niney will attend the screening.

“We always want to introduce new talent,” said Truffart. Eight years ago, the festival introduced American audiences to Marion Cotillard when she appeared in “La Vie En Rose.”

The festival will feature films from such veteran directors as Jean Becker (“Get Well Soon”), Patrice Leconte (“Do Not Disturb!”), André Téchiné (“In the Name of My Daughter”) and Eric Toledano and Olivier Nakache (“Samba”), as well as representatives of the new generation of directors such as Jean-Paul Rouve (“Memories”) and Thomas Cailley (“Love at First Fight”).

This year’s Focus on a Filmmaker director is Oscar-winning Michel Hazanavicius (“The Artist”), who will be in conversation after the screening of his 2006 comedy “OSS 117: Cairo, Nest of Spies” and before his latest film, “The Search.”

Though female directors are underrepresented in Hollywood, that isn’t the case so much in France.

“We have a lot of women filmmakers in France,” said Truffaut. “It is a reality that we want to show to the film industry here.”

Among the female filmmakers represented at the festival are Anne Fontaine (“Gemma Bovery”), Alix Delaporte (“The Last Hammer Blow”) and Sabrina Van Tassel (“Silenced Walls”).

The festival also has documentaries, including “Of Men and War.” Directed by Laurent Bècue-Renard, “Of Men and War,” which is in English, revolves around Iraq war veterans who are being treated for post-traumatic stress disorder in California. The film is the second in the director’s “Genealogy of Wrath” trilogy chronicling the effects of war.