Global InformationVCU French Film Festival information
| Location | Richmond, Virginia |
|---|---|
| Founded | 1993 |
| Hosted by | Virginia Commonwealth University, University of Richmond |
| No. of films | 17 features & 13 shorts (2015)[1] |
| Festival date | March (annually) |
| Language | French |
| Website | http://www.frenchfilmfestival.us/ |
The French Film Festival - Richmond, VA was an annual film festival held in Richmond, Virginia, focused on recently produced French-language films.
It was created in 1993 by Drs. Peter and Françoise Kirkpatrick, professors of French literature, culture and film studies at Virginia Commonwealth University and University of Richmond, respectively.[2] It is billed as the largest festival of French film in the United States. Since then, and as of 2015, it has welcomed a delegation totaling more than 380 directors, producers, actors, film scholars, critics, and French government officials.[3] At the 2004 Festival, the Festival's founders and directors, Drs. Peter and Françoise Ravaux-Kirkpatrick, were decorated as "Chevaliers de l'Ordre des Arts et des Lettres", a high honor in the arts in France, and in 2011, the Médaille Beaumarchais by the French Société des Auteurs et Compositeurs Dramatiques.[4]
The festival usually takes place the last weekend of March, during which the city is filled with French speakers and aficionados of French cinema. It is held at the historic Byrd Theatre. At the 2014 Festival, there were approximately 22,000 attendees/tickets sold.[5]
According to Richmond.com, in 2024 the newly retired and emeriti founders of the festival "said it was the right time for the beloved festival to end."[6]
- ^ "French Film Festival Schedule, 2015".
- ^ "French Film Festival - History". Retrieved 2 May 2015.
- ^ "French Film Festival Past Delegations".
- ^ "The French Film Festival". Style Weekly. Retrieved 23 May 2011.
- ^ "The French Film Festival Celebrates 22 Years In Richmond This Weekend". RVA Magazine. Retrieved 12 November 2015.
- ^ Times-Dispatch, COLLEEN CURRAN Richmond (2024-01-24). "Richmond's French Film Festival shutting down". Richmond Times-Dispatch. Retrieved 2024-01-28.