FRENCH CINEMA NOW RETURNS FOR ITS FIFTH YEAR SHOWCASING THE BEST FRENCH LANGUAGE FILMS FROM AROUND THE WORLD

SEATTLE --- September 2016 --- SIFF and TV5MONDE present French Cinema Now, a celebration spotlighting the state of contemporary Francophone cinema. The week-long event runs September 29 through October 6 at SIFF Cinema Uptown, and features seventeen extraordinary French language features and documentaries from around the world.

The week kicks off on Thursday with the Opening Night film, Lost in Paris, which marks the return of filmmaking duo Fiona Gordon and Dominique Abel (The Fairy). In this whimsical adventure, a small town librarian heads to Paris to help her elderly aunt (Oscar® nominee Emmanuelle Riva), but after a slew of wild catastrophes finds herself relying on a a seductive but annoying bum who refuses to leave her alone. An after-party will take place at Bastille Café + Bar in Ballard. Other French Cinema Now films were created by seasoned directors like Robert Guédiguian, Joachim Lafosse, and Danielle Arbid, playing alongside relative newcomers like Mélanie Laurent, Louis Garrel, Guy Édoin, and Jihane Chouaib. Highlights include the winner of the VPRO Big Screen Award at the 2016 Rotterdam Film Festival, Ogres, about a close-knit group of actors from the traveling theatrical company Chekhov Cabaret who share everything, family, work, friendship and even their bodies; Made In France, a riveting thriller ripped from the headlines about a group of young men who are drawn into following Hassan, a psychopathic French Islamic convert; Reset (with introduction by Peter Boal, Artistic Director of the Pacific Northwest Ballet), a documentary taking viewers on a behind-the-scenes tour of the Opéra National de Paris, to witness artistic director Benjamin Millepied (the man behind the ballet for the film Black Swan) craft his first gala production for the company; and France's biggest documentary of the past year, Tomorrow, a film by Mélanie Laurent and Cyril Dion, about affecting positive change in a world faced with seemingly insurmountable environmental challenges.

As a bonus, Virginie Paradis, founder of French Truly, will be presenting two films, Parisienne and Eva & Leon, with entertaining and informative 30 minute visual introductions of the cultural context of the respective films.

SIFF Director of Programming, Beth Barrett is particularly enthusiastic about this year's program, "The 2016 French Cinema Now lineup is one of the most exciting in years - with four US premiere screenings, and award winning films from master filmmakers to first time directors - the world of Francophone Cinema is better than ever!"

Carl Spence, Chief Curator and SIFF Director, says "We're very excited about this year's lineup, being able to bring such a diverse group of films to the Francophile Seattle audience. Our continued partnership with TV5 Monde has allowed French Cinema Now to reach not only the Seattle viewers, but nationally through the TV5 Monde channel."

See the Full Lineup Here
For screeners, interview requests, and press passes please contact Leah Anderson.