MyFrenchFilmFestival 14th edition

Daniela Elstner, Executive Director of UniFrance, and Gilles Pélisson, President of UniFrance, revealed on the 9th of January the complete selection and jury members of this 14th edition of MyFrenchFilmFestival, the first worldwide online festival entirely dedicated to Francophone films. A groundbreaking initiative, this festival aims to share the pleasure of cinema with as many people as possible, especially those with limited access to movie theatres. MyFrenchFilmFestival will take place from 19 January to 19 February 2024.

Internet users all over the world will have access to films on the site of MyFrenchFilmFestival.com, and over 80 VOD partner platforms: that’s a record!

Short films will be accessible for free worldwide. Feature films will be free in Spanish-speaking Latin America, Africa, the Near & Middle East, Russia/CIS, Southeast Asia, Ukraine and Baltic countries (except Latvia). In other countries, they will be available on partner platforms or MyFrenchFilmFestival.com for €1.99 per film or €7.99 for a pack with full access (excluding possible geo-blocking of films, depending on territories).

As for the programming, 26 films in a variety of forms, genres, and durations —illustrating the wealth, vitality, and diversity of French-language cinema— will be available. Among this eclectic selection, 9 feature films and 9 short films compete. On MyFrenchFilmFestival.com, all films will be subtitled in 11 languages: German, English, Arabic, Spanish, French, Italian, Japanese, Mandarin, Portuguese, Russian and Ukrainian.

Organized for several years in thematic sections mixing shorts and feature films, MyFrenchFilmFestival offers “Internet festivalgoers” the chance to discover the best of French and Francophone cinema, grouped into different themes to pique the viewers’ curiosity. The collections are: All Eyes on Docs!, Families in Motion, Heartbeats, Mad World, Tales of the Night, Smells Like Teen Spirit, Women Supporting Women, and Enjoy the Silence.

Feature Films in competition

MY SOLE DESIRE  by Lucie Borleteau (Women Supporting Women). A free-spirited, hedonistic film, My Sole Desire follows a young woman’s physical and emotional awakening. A feminist odyssey in the world of striptease carried by the bewitching energy of Zita Hanrot and Louise Chevillotte.

THE BEAST IN THE JUNGLE  by Patric Chiha (Tales of the Night). Freely adapted from the novella by Henry James, The Beast in the Jungle tells the vertiginous story of a man and woman who, for twenty-five years, frequent a huge nightclub in anticipation of a mysterious event. From 1979 to 2004, from disco to techno, it is a love story and a tale of obsession. When “it” finally comes to pass, it takes on a more tragic form than ever expected.

JUNKYARD DOG by Jean-Baptiste Durand (Heartbeats). Childhood pals Dog and Mirales live in a little village in the south of France and spend their days roaming the streets. To kill time, Mirales has got into the habit of teasing Dog mercilessly. Their friendship will be tested when Dog meets Elsa and romance blossoms. Consumed by jealousy, Mirales will have to break away from his past to grow and find his place. A social chronicle of solitude and of the feeling of being in love, Junkyard Dog also questions the gentleness and masculinity of its characters. A remarkable film with exceptional performances by Anthony Bajon and Raphaël Quenard.

SPARE KEYS by Jeanne Aslan & Paul Saintillan (Heartbeats).

Nancy, eastern France. Summertime. Seeking to escape her troublesome family environment, Sophie, 15, jumps at the chance to get the spare keys to her wealthy friend Jade’s house. While enjoying the spacious home she thought would be deserted for the summer, she bumps into her friend’s older brother Stéphane, who, as fate would have it, was also planning on staying. But instead of chasing her out, Stephane will choose to leave the door open, inviting in a summer Sophie never expected. With spectacular performances by Céleste Brunnquell and Quentin Dolmaire, Spare Keys portrays the awakening to life and freedom of its young heroine throughout the summer. A poetic, funny, and memorable first feature film by its two directors.

NO DOGS OR ITALIANS ALLOWED by Alain Ughetto (Families in Motion). The Beginning of the 20th century – Ughettera, Northern Italy, the Ughetto family’s village. Living in the region has become very difficult, the Ughettos dream of a better life abroad. Legend has it that Luigi Ughetto crossed the Alps to start a new life in France, forever changing the destiny of his beloved family. His grandson now retraces their story. In this deeply personal and historical tale, Alain Ughetto uses stop-motion animation with a skillful blend of humor, sensitivity, and emotion to portray exile and his family history in No Dogs or Italians Allowed. A captivating homage.

THE LOST BOYS by Zeno Graton (Heartbeats) (in partnership with Wallonie Bruxelles Images). Joe, 17, is about to be released from a youth detention center. Should the judge approve his liberation, he will be allowed to live on his own. But when a new detainee arrives in his facility, Joe starts to question his desire for freedom. In his first feature film, Zeno Graton examines a love story between two young men in prison. By holding up tenderness as an expression of freedom, The Lost Boys transcends the question of LGBTQ+ representation.

THE GREEN PERFUME by Nicolas Pariser (Mad World). In the middle of a performance at the Comédie Française, an actor dies on stage, poisoned. Martin, member of the troupe and friend to the victim, quickly becomes the center of attention. Suspected by the police, he’s also chased by a mysterious organization, the Green Perfume, that seems to have ordered the murder. While leading his investigation, Martin receives the unexpected help of Claire, an eccentric cartoonist in need of adventure. This unlikely duo will live an adventure across Europe to foil the plans of the mysterious Green Perfume. A multifaceted film, this new opus from Nicolas Pariser combines espionage, theatre, and graphic novels to evoke the rise of fascism in Europe. Featuring the irresistible Vincent Lacoste and Sandrine Kiberlain, The Green Perfume wins over audiences with its breaks in tone, pace, and staging.

POLARIS by Ainara Vera (All Eyes on Docs!). Hayat, an expert sailor in the Arctic, navigates far from humans and her family’s past in France. But when her little sister Leila gives birth to a baby girl Inaya, their worlds are turned upside down; we witness their journey, guided by the polar star, to overcome the family’s fate. A deeply moving and overlapping portrait of two sisters who couldn’t be more different, Polaris takes a resolutely political stance on the status of women in the world of sailing. A veritable voyage, both physically and emotionally.

SUPER DRUNK by Bastien Milheau (Smells Like Teen Spirit). It’s the last day before the end of high school. Janus and Sam have to bring drinks to the end-of-year party. While rummaging through Janus’ father’s cellar for bottles, they discover a strange machine… Beneath a teen-comedy veneer, Super Drunk is a tender and entertaining portrait of rural life in France, skilfully questioning the differences that come between two childhood friends on the cusp of adulthood.

Feature Films out of competition

JANE B. FOR AGNÈS V. by Agnès Varda (Women Supporting Women). In this kaleidoscopic film made up of various fragments of fiction, over various seasons, Jane Birkin plays several parts, including her own, with humor. Deeply moved by Agnès Varda’s film Vagabond, Jane Birkin wrote to the director in 1985 to express her feelings. In return, Varda dedicated a ‘cinema-portrait’ to the British singer/actress. A true directing gem, between documentary and drama, and a poignant homage to Jane Birkin.

STAMPEDE by Joëlle Desjardins Paquette (Families in Motion) (in partnership with Téléfilm Canada). Lily, 9 years-old, is torn by her parents separation. Her few joyful moments with her father, Serge Jr, are the truck races and rodeos in his big Kenworth W900 truck. When she is taken on a surprise road trip to the biggest Rodeo in the Badlands, in the far west of Canada, the adventure starts out as a party. But things turn ominous as the landscape changes and police get closer. Lily soon realizes that there may not be a way back… Through a road trip across Canada, Joëlle Desjardins Paquette takes the world of her childhood – truck-racing festivals – to paint a sensitive portrait of a father-daughter relationship defined by love and a sense of responsibility in Stampede.

Short films on  competition

CUDDLE by Margot Reumont (Women Supporting Women) (in partnership with Wallonie Bruxelles Images)

UNDERDOG by David Arslanian (Tales of the Night)

FAIRPLAY by Zoel Aeschbacher (Mad World)

THE GREAT ARC by Camille Authouart (Tales of the Night)

THE SUMMER HOLIDAYS by Valentine Cadic (Mad World)

JEANNE DINDE by Pauline Ouvrard (Smells Like Teen Spirit)

THE STRUGGLE IS THE END by Arthur Thomas-Pavlowsky (All Eyes on Docs!)

FAST by Paul Rigoux (Mad World)

LIFE IN CANADA by Frédéric Rosset (Families in Motion)

Short films out of competition

ATOMIC KITCHEN by Thibault Ermeneux, Lucie Lyfoung, Solène Polet, Capucine Prat, Morgane Sirieix & Anna Uglova (Enjoy the Silence)

IN THE DANCE by Ekatarina Mikheeva (Enjoy the Silence)

DES FILLES ET DES CHIENS by Sophie Fillières (Smells Like Teen Spirit)

TWO FRIENDS by Natalia Chernysheva (Enjoy the Silence)

OASIS by Justine Martin (All Eyes on Docs!)

TO BE SISTERS by Anne-Sophie Gousset & Clément Céard (Enjoy the Silence)

The Juries

The International Jury The International Jury will grant the Grand Prize of the Jury to a feature film in competition. This award comes with a prize of €15,000, distributed equally between the director, producer, and exporter. The members of the Jury are Marie Kreutzer (Austria) Katell Quillévéré (France) Lillah Halla (Brazil) Pierfrancesco Favino (Italy) Faouzi Bensaïdi (Morocco)

The International Press Jury will give the International Press Award to a feature film in competition. In 2024, the foreign journalists in this jury are Gabriela Bravo Chiappe (Culturizarte, El País Global / Chile); Cathy Immelen (RTBF news / Belgium); Pavlina Jeleva (Portal Kultura / Bulgaria); Emrah Kolukisaoglu (BirGün, The Art Newspaper Türkiye / Turkey); Iana Murray (The Skinny / United Kingdom); Kalash Nanda Kumar, (First Class Malaysia / Malaysia); and Leticia Silva Queiroz (CinePOP.com.br / Brazil), who will meet during the festival to choose the winning feature film.

For the first time, MyFrenchFilmFestival invites a new generation of international content creators to award a film in competition. The members of this new jury are: Cécilia Jourdan (@hellofrenchnyc); Nadjib Adda & Abdelraouf Meraga (@cilimastation); and Alexandre Neyraud (@diversificationlitteraire). The Content Creator Jury will grant the Content Creator Award for a short film in competition.

The 18 films of the competition will also be in the running for the Audience Awards, which will honor a feature film and a short film in competition.  These awards will be granted by Internet users, who can rate the films and give stars to their favorites for the entire duration of the festival on MyFrenchFilmFestival.com. The Grand Prize of the Jury, the International Press Award for a feature film, and the Content Creator Award for a short film will be revealed on 16 February 2024. The Audience Awards will be announced at the end of the festival, on 20 February 2024.