In presenting the eleven films that compose her initial line-up, Molly Haskell, Artistic Director of the Sarasota French Film Festival, said this year's selection was giving the royal treatment, as it were, to films dealing "the emotional conflicts of today's women" as they emerge through performances by both new and familiar actresses, including Emmanuelle Beart ("Une Femme Française", helmed by "Indochine" director Regis Warnier), Anouk Grinberg (the star of several films by Bertrand Blier) and singer-turned-actress Vanessa Paradis.
The "banlieue" (literally "suburb") is the French equivalent of America's housing projects, lively, but also known for its troubled multi-racial mix of Arabs and Africans. As evinced by the huge success met with Mathieu Kassovitz's "La Haine" at the Cannes and New York Film festivals as well as locally, it has become a full-fledged genre, represented in the initial lineup by both Jean-François Richet's "Etat des Lieux" ("State of Things") and Benoit Jacquot's "La Fille Seule" ("A Girl Alone").
The Festival will feature 20 French feature films, many of which to be shown in their world- and US premieres. Once again, the Festival will pay a Special Tribute to one of France's most legendary film stars or directors. In keeping with the Festival's tradition, every film programme will be accompanied and introduced by its director and stars.
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