PARIS -- The accent will be on Spanish cinema at the 17th Paris Film Festival, which unfurls April 1-9 and boasts Isabelle Adjani as president.
Iberian talent set to attend includes Pedro Almodovar -- whose latest pic, "Parler d'elle" ("Talk About Her"), will open the event -- Carlos Saura, Antonio Banderas, Javier Bardem and Victoria Abril.
Fest organizers, headed by Louisa Maurin, have added venues in addition to the usual ones on the Champs Elysees and the Palais des Congres after Paris Mayor Bertrand Delanoe urged them to make it more user-friendly.
Fest will take on a political tone, falling during France's presidential and legislative election campaigns. Adjani and industry lobby org ARP have invited would-be presidential candidates Jacques Chirac and Lionel Jospin to debate France's defense of the film industry as a "cultural exception" in world trade negotiations.
Television's role
Canal Plus' Pierre Lescure and heads of public and private TV channels will debate the role and responsibility of television networks in film financing. "Television is very important as a source of funding," Maurin told
Daily Variety on Monday. "We don't want to go the way of Italy."
More than 150,000 cinema lovers, nearly 50% more than last year, are expected to shell out 7 euros ($6.25) for a fest pass, which provides access to 100 features and 150 shorts. Forty films will compete for prize money totaling over $425,000.
An American director is being sought to head the feature competition jury. Maria Schneider ("Last Tango in Paris") heads the jury selecting the best short, and Nathalie Baye ("Venus Beauty Institute") helms the jury bestowing the Cine-Roman Carte Noire Prize for the most cinematographic novel.
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