French cinema is the cure

There are a ton of great festivals in Sacramento, but each year the Sacramento French Film Festival is the crème de la crème.

Maybe this is because we’re all looking for good escapism during the summer. And there’s no better cinema than the cinema of France. So, what better cure for the hot-weather blues than an air conditioned Crest Theatre and a couple dozen of the best films France has to offer?

This year’s SFFF spans two weekends, from June 18 to 27, at the Crest and will have more features than ever before, plus short films. What’s more, this year’s fare is exclusive. “Twenty of them have no U.S. distribution and never will be shown in the U.S.,” explains SFFF co-director Cécille Mouette Downs of the 2010 program.

Of the bunch, six are comedies. The funniest? “Depends on what you like” says Mouette Downs, who recommends L’Arnacoeur (or Heartbreaker); and Les Beaux Gosses (or French Kissers) a film about teenage boys in high-school fantasizing about kissing girls.

Roman Polanski’s The Tenant will screen Saturday, June 19, at midnight. Cult favorite Man Bites Dog, the classic 1992 mockumentary about a psychotic French serial killer (see photo), will screen at midnight on June 26.

The sequel OSS 117: Lost in Rio will close out the festival on Sunday, June 27; this screening is followed by SFFF’s annual champagne party.

Opening night begins on Friday at 6 p.m. with food and wine and music. The screening of A L’Origine starts at 8 p.m.

So, which film is the don’t miss? “I chose them. I love them all,” says Mouette Downs, who programmed the festival with her husband and friends.

So, I guess you’ll have to buy a pass (only $50 to $80) and see them all. I dare you.