30 years ago, those responsible for the French Alliance in Malaga had an idea. It consisted of showing a handful of films in French so that teachers and students could gather around a screen (at that time small) in the modest headquarters on San Agustín Street. They called him “French Film Festival”almost like a declaration of intent, but three decades later that idea has become a consolidated reality in the dense world of film festivals. Every year, it brings together 15,000 spectators and 10,000 schoolchildren around a (now large) screen, releases a dozen feature films, programs concerts and parallel activities, organizes opening and closing galas, and brings in glittering guests. In this edition, Juliette Binoche, to whom a retrospective is also dedicated.
The French interpreterthe only one with an Oscar, a César, a Bafta and the acting awards of the three major European film festivals (Cannes, Venice and Berlin), was the first to collect, from the hands of Ángela Molina, the Honorary Award of the Festival of French Cinema of Malaga, whose managers have the feeling of being at a turning point. The event is already one of the largest French film festivals in the world, along with Hong Kong and Australia.
“A festival of this size organized by an Alliance Française does not exist,” comments Sullivan Benetier, its director, who is now faced with the difficulty of managing an event that, without being professionalized, has made a name for itself in the Spanish festival circuit. . “In this edition we put maximum pressure on ourselves because it was the 30th anniversary, and this has generated an expectation. We have reached the maximum with the human and financial capacity we have. If we want to continue growing, we will need more support.”
Binoche’s presence is one of the great milestones of the festival, which does not He began using the Albéniz cinema halls until 2004 and underwent a transformation in 2011, with the creation of the Audience Award. Also since that year it has had the main sponsorship of the Malaga City Council, whose mayor Francisco de la Torre was awarded, in 2017, the Legion of Honor for his role as an exceptional collaborator with France in cultural matters.
Now the goal is to use this year’s springboard to internationalize the festival.
“Everything starts in Cannes”
Benetier does not reveal what it costs to set up the event, but he does emphasize that the cost is very low. “The director of the Angoulême Festival [con el que está hermanado el de Málaga] He told me that he didn’t believe it: it’s what a day costs them,” he reveals, satisfied with the result but somewhat “frustrated” because he glimpsed his own limits. For now, the lack of budget is made up for with hours: just three people make up the team: he is the director and, at the same time, he directs the French Alliance in Malaga. Julia Branché is the artistic director of the festival and Antonio Rodríguez, the coordinator and head of Alianza communication.
There is no more. Between the three of them, with the help of two scholarship holders and 17 volunteers (French or “Francophile” alumni), they put together a week-long event, with 50 screenings (including short films, documentaries and feature-length films) in various parts of the city (Centro Pompidou, Cine Albéniz, La Térmica, Ateneo), red carpet, galas and parallel activities. This year they have incorporated a documentary section, dedicated to feminist struggles, and another “Virtual Experiences”, in collaboration with the Digital Content Pole, where immersive works can be seen in 360º.
The preparation lasts months, in which they watch around 250 films, select them and pursue the production companies to get a pass. Additionally, during the year they organize an alternative cinema day with the San Telmo Higher School of Art and Design and Mômes Cinemaa French film festival for schoolchildren attended by about 10,000 children.
“Everything starts in Cannes, but we are always aware of all French-language cinema,” says Branché.
A biopic of Maria Schneider and the last of François Ozon
In three decades they have managed to screen successful films for the first time in Spain, such as the international blockbuster Untouchable either Les Misérablesnominated for the Oscar for Best International Film in 2019. Last year they won Anatomy of a fall, winner of a string of awards that includes the Palme d’Or at Cannes and the Oscar for best original screenplay. And in this edition, they preview the new film by François Ozon, When the automne winds either Maria, about Maria Schneider’s devastating experience while filming The last tango in Paris.
The festival is not limited to French cinema (there is a Belgian film –you torture them– and another Quebecer –Ru– in this edition); not even to cinema exclusively in French: in Everybody loves ToudaMorocco’s Oscar candidate, Arabic is almost always heard. Hence, they consider changing the name of the festival (French Film Festival), as the Malaga Spanish Film Festival did in the past.
Personalities from the world of cinema have also passed through here, such as the performers Yvan Attal, Paul Kircher or Julie Gayet or the creator of the Angoulême Festival Dominque Besnehard. Also, characters who have contributed to the Spanish-French connection in the world of cinema, and who have sponsored the festival, such as Rossy de Palma, Victoria Abril, Ángela Molina, Isabel Coixet, Lola Dueñas, Candela Peña or Carmen Maura.
“Forget the subtitles. Learn French”
But if something has distinguished its recently released red carpet, it is the vindication of local talent. The multifaceted artist La Dani (I’m loving you madly), the playwright Alessandra García (winner of the Max Prize for Woman on treadmill on black background) or the filmmaker Rakesh Narwani (My parents’ bazaar). “We don’t have the money to invite big stars and, furthermore, we prefer people who have always supported the festival, people linked to Malaga who went to the Cinemateca del Albéniz every Thursday,” says Antonio Rodríguez proudly. “We are very clear about our anchorage to the city,” completes Benetier.
The objective is that the festival also serves to attract students to the Alliance Française, an entity that does not depend on the French State, but rather works through a different local association in each city. Each year, the Alliance Française of Malaga, which covers a large part of the Andalusian territory, presents around 4,500 candidates for the DALF exams. It is the second with the most candidates in the world.
The long-standing Spanish habit of consuming audiovisual material in dubbed versions has not been a handicap for the festival. On the contrary, the festival and the Alliance intend to turn it into an asset using irony. Hence, its motto for this edition: “Forget the subtitles. Learn French.”
“We have a role to educate,” says the director of the festival, claiming at the same time the role that theaters can still play in the face of the dynamics of disconnections in everyday human relationships, from the supermarket checkout to the streaming: “Going to the movies is a collectively shared experience, and we try to make people see us as a meeting place.”
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