From April 20-28, COLCOA French Film Festival, the largest festival dedicated to French film in the world, returned to DGA headquarters in Los Angeles. This year’s festival featured an exclusive program of 68 new films and for the first time, French television movies and series showcasing the vitality and diversity of the French film industry.  All films and television movies were presented for the first time in Los Angeles and all screenings were free to DGA Members.

During the opening night celebrations on April 20, DGA Board members mingled with other VIPs at a gala reception, highlighted by the North American Premiere of Director Yann Gozlan’s thriller, A Perfect Man (Un Homme Idéal).

Other highlights from this year’s festivities included the return of the popular one hour panel discussion series Happy Hour Talks, one of which was the Focus on a Filmmaker salute to 2011 DGA Feature Film Award-winning Director Michel Hazanavicius (The Artist) with screenings of his film OSS 117, Nest of Spies and the premiere of his latest feature The Search; and the COLCOA Educational Program that presented screenings to hundreds of students from local high schools.

COLCOA French Film Festival is presented by the Franco-American Cultural Fund, a partnership of the Directors Guild of America, the Motion Picture Association, France’s Society of Authors, Composers and Publishers of Music, and the Writers Guild of America, West, and is produced in association with France’s Writers, Directors and Producers Association (L’ARP), the CNC, the Los Angeles Film and TV Office of the French Embassy, and Unifrance. The DGA was one of the creators of the festival in 1996.  Next year will mark the 20th anniversary of the Franco-American Cultural Fund and the COLCOA French Film Festival.  The DGA’s Franco-American Cultural Fund Board Members are Taylor Hackford, Michael Mann, and Jay D. Roth.