Eat, drink and be very French

If you’re a fan of Camus, Deneuve and Zidane, but prefer Derrida, Cotillard and Thierry Henry, then you’re probably already well-prepared for the Sacramento French Film Festival, happening June 21 through June 30, at the Crest Theatre. But if not, there’s no need to have an existential crisis or anything: SN&R has you covered with a simple breakdown of the festival.

Films

There will be more than two-dozen films during the course of the 10-day festival, plus a morning full of short-film screenings (Saturday, June 29, at 10:30 a.m.). Whatever genre you prefer—comedy; drama; dark, erotic farce—it’s going to be available at this festival. The event’s website (www.sacramentofrenchfilmfestival.org) further categorizes the films by premiers (which include modern films such as La Délicatesse, Alyah and Dans la maison), classics (Les Misérables, 1958; Le Salaire de la peur, 1953; Le soupirant, 1963) and late-night movies (Les valseuses and Aaltra)—which, from the looks of the film posters, contain plenty of nudity and comedic shenanigans.

Invité spécial

Script writer, film producer and film critic (and philisophy major, duh) Nicolas Guiot, will be at the festival on Saturday, June 29, at 10:30 a.m. to present his short film Le Cri du homard. He’ll also be at a free petit déjeuner (French breakfast) at 10 a.m., right before the screening. Charles Zigman—author, professor and expert on movie legend Jean Gabin—will lead a post-screening discussion of Les Misérables (starring Gabin as Jean Valjean), which plays Sunday, June 30, at 1: 25 p.m.

Soirées et musique

If you’re just a casual fan of French films but love to drink wine, eat French food and listen to French music, then make sure to attend the festival’s opening-night and closing-night parties. The opening-night reception (6 p.m. on Friday, June 21) will feature music by deejays Christophe and Roger, beer (from Track 7 Brewing Co.), wine (Barefoot Wine and Bubbly) and food (Cafe Rolle, Estelle’s Patisserie, Bistro Michel). The closing-night reception (following the 7:45 p.m. screening of Thérèse on Sunday, June 30) will feature champagne from Barefoot Wine and Bubbly, cake from Whole Foods Market and live tunes from the Jazz Report.