8th Varilux French Film Festival Returns to Rio de Janeiro

By Beatriz Miranda, Contributing Reporter

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – Since last Wednesday (June 7th), Rio de Janeiro is hosting the eighth Varilux French Film Festival, which brings unreleased French movie productions to Carioca audiences. Running until next Wednesday, June 21st, the festival will also include debates and a screenwriting workshop.

Famous actors from the French cinema will be starring in some of the films in the program. The audience will have the opportunity to watch recent works of Gérard Depardieu, Catherine Deneuve, Juliette Binoche, Guillaume Canet, Omar Sy, Marion Cotillard and Cécile de France.

Among the most anticipated are the films “Mal de Pierres” (From the Land to the Moon), considered the most sexually scandalous in the lineup; “Frantz”, there is also a François Ozon’s remake of Ernst Lubitschs’ “Broken Lullaby”, from 1932; and “Paris Pied Nus” (Lost in Paris), the last work of Emmanuelle Rivas, who passed away last January.

Apart from the unreleased fictions, Varilux Festival will display the environment-related documentary “Demain” (Tomorrow), winner of the 2016 Cesar for the best in the cathegory, and the classic “Les Demoiselles de Rochefort”, a romantic musical from 1967 with the renowned actress Catherine Deneuve.

In order to participate on the post-exhibition debates, a French delegation composed by actors, producers and directors arrived last week in Rio and São Paulo. The audience will have the opportunity to converse with Dominique Abel and Fiona Gordon, directors of Lost in Paris; Sadek, rapper and actor at “Tour de France”; actress Camille Cottin, from “Telle Mère, telle Fille”, among others.

This year, the festival will also promote the first French Brazilian Scripts Laboratory, which aims to stimulate the cultural exchange between audiovisual students and professionals in the two countries. Specialists from the European Conservatory for Audiovisual Writing, from Paris, will be leading the course, which focuses in the methodologies and foundations for elaborating a dramatic text.

In this edition, Varilux Film Festival is present in 55 Brazilian cities until June 21st. The event is supported by Varilux/Essilor, Brazil’s Ministry of Culture and Rio’s State Bureau of Culture.

What: Festival Varilux de Cinema 2017
When: June 7th – June 21st (see venue to check time details)
Where: See venue to check the participant movie theaters.
Entrance: Varies according to the movie theater.