The festival will open with the French Film Days event showing 23 feature length titles and a selection of short films, Frederic Rauser told a pressconference.

Titles will be shown in four categories including films selected for screening at major film festivals last year, as well as in the categories of thrillers, comedies and the favourites of Hungarian film experts, he said.

The festival this year has invited as guest cinematographers Emmanuel Courcol, the director of the historic drama Ceasefire, director Xavier Legrand’s Silver Lion winning drama Custody, actress Léa Drucker and actordirector Serge Bozon.

The concert schedule includes an opera-ballet performance of Rameau’s The Gallant Indians in the Palace of Arts adapted to stage in partnership with the Baroque Music Centre of Versailles and a piano concert by the Adrienne Soós-Ivo Haag Hungarian-Swiss duo joined by Olivier Moulin of France.

In the popular music scene the A38 ship will feature a performance by electronic music artist Carpenter Brut and trip hop band Chinese Man.

Francophone literature will be represented by writers Julie Wolkenstein and Hassa El Quazzani, and illustrator Serge Bloch.

Levente Magyar, the foreign ministry’s state secretary, called the Francophone Festival a major part of Hungary’s cultural scene.

He noted that French is an official language in 29 countries and is used on a daily basis in further eight countries such as Tunisia and Lebanon.

More details: French Institute