Online French Festival Spotlights Rising Stars

Running Jan. 19-Feb. 19, this year’s MyFrenchFilmFestival, an online showcase organized by France’s film-TV promotional body UniFrance, will mark its 14th edition with an accent on young talent, both in front of and behind the camera, and an emphasis on female empowerment.

With a mix of heritage docs like Agnès Varda’s “Jane B. for Agnès V.,” and a nine-film competition that spotlights auteurist animation like Alain Ughetto’s “No Dogs or Italians Allowed” alongside outré dramatic fare, the 11 features and 15 shorts that make up this year’s selection will be available on 80 partner platforms as well on MyFrenchFilmFestival.com, where all the shorts will be available to screen free of charge.

All films will be subtitled in 11 languages, including Arabic, English, Japanese, Korean, Mandarin, Portuguese, Spanish and Ukrainian, while the feature section will also be available for free in many Latin American, African and Middle Eastern territories.

Coming out and coming down are two common themes of this year’s selection, which explores queer relationships in prison in Zeno Graton’s “The Lost Boys,” on the dance-floor in Patric Chiha’s “The Beast in the Jungle,” and in between two exotic dancers in Lucie Borleteau’s “My Sole Desire.” Meanwhile, the two hapless leads of Bastien Milheau’s…