French Stars Cross the Atlantic for Unifrance's 17th Rendez-Vous with French Cinema in New York

PARIS - Start spreading the news, French films will invade Manhattan in on March 1st with Unifrance’s 17th annual Rendez-Vous with French Cinema in New York at Lincoln Center.

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The country’s top directors and talents including Audrey Tautou, Francois Cluzet, Tahar Rahim, Carole Bouquet, Vincent Lindon and Mathieu Amalric will head to the Walter Reade Theater, the IFC Center and BAM in Brooklyn for the star-studded event with a French accent.

Olivier Nakache and Eric Toledano’s box office hit Untouchable will open the festival with the directors set to attend for the U.S. premiere of the Weinstein Co. acquisition that will hit U.S. theaters in May. Fellow directing duo David and Stephane Foenkinos will head to NY to close the festival with their Cesar award-nominated title La Delicatesse alongside the film’s star Tautou. Other notable titles set for screenings include actor-turned-filmmaker Daniel Auteuil’s The Well-Digger’s Daughter, Benoit Jacquot’s Berlin-opener Farewell, My Queen, Mathieu Amalric’s L’Illusion Comique and Olivier Marchal’s Les Lyonnais, also a Weinstein Co. acquisition.

The public and professional event will screen both already-acquired titles and also give Unifrance a chance to introduce buyers to the 15 films in selection without U.S. distributors.

For the first time ever, seven of this year’s titles will be screened simultaneously in more than 40 American cities thanks to Emerging Pictures. Audiences across the U.S. will be able to converse with the visiting film directors and actors in New York thanks to Skype.

The 17th annual Rendez-Vous with French Cinema in New York will run from March 1 - 11.