- Kimchi threat as heatwave drives up South Korea cabbage prices
- UK economic data delivers fresh blow to new govt
- China to 'gradually resume' seafood imports from Japan after Fukushima ban
- India minister blames dam release for flooding
- O'Rourke strikes early for Kiwis as Sri Lanka trail by three
- Israel pounds Lebanon's Hezbollah after device blasts
- Revolution or mirage? Controversy surrounds new Alzheimer's drugs
- Ashwin's 113 powers India to 376 in Bangladesh Test
- Biden opens home to 'Quad' leaders for farewell summit
- Sally Rooney returns with 30-something questions
- Wallabies sense 'massive' chance to upset All Blacks
- Taiwan questions two in probe into Hezbollah pagers
- Viral Korean Olympic shooter scores first acting role as assassin
- Farrell set for 'challenge' of downing Bordeaux in Top 14
- Springbok Etzebeth diverts attention from looming caps record
- Inter on a high ahead of Milan derby as Napoli face Juve test
- Bank of Japan leaves key interest rate unchanged
- Asian markets track Wall Street record to extend global rally
- Guirassy and Anton to return to Stuttgart with new side Dortmund
- Marseille bidding to continue 'almost perfect' Ligue 1 start
- Arnold quits as coach of Australia men's football team
- Harris and Oprah hold star-studded US election rally
- Allies to remember failed WWII parachute operation
- Perez leading new-look Villarreal charge against leaders Barca
- Man City face Arsenal in Premier League title showdown, Postecoglou under pressure
- Fake celebrity endorsements, snubs plague US presidential race
- Documentary brings Argentine 'death flights' to the big screen
- Strike shows challenge to Boeing 'reset' of labor relations
- World leaders to gather at UN as crises grow and conflicts rage
- How plastic pollution poses challenge for Canada marine conservation
- Scientists track plastic waste in pristine Canada marine park
- South Africa's Buhai grabs LPGA Queen City lead
- Japan inflation firms to 2.8% ahead of BoJ rate decision
- Russia's Kadyrov accuses Musk of 'remotely disabling' his Cybertruck
- Titan sub had to abort a dive days before fatal implosion: testimony
- Ohtani eyes MLB history after surpassing 50 stolen bases
- Barca downed by Monaco as Arsenal held in Champions League stalemate
- Head's 'good night at office' after century seals win over England
- Dubois seeks legitimacy with Joshua scalp
- Rate cut could lift consumer spirits before US elections
- Last-gasp Gimenez strike sends Atletico past Leipzig
- Barca stumble at Monaco after early red card
- Raya heroics save Arsenal in Champions League opener at Atalanta
- Guardians beat Twins to secure MLB playoff berth
- Jihadist attack in Mali capital killed more than 70: security sources
- Alonso hails 'efficient' Leverkusen after Feyenoord rout
- Ex-Man United striker Anthony Martial joins AEK Athens
- NFL unbeatens meet as Texans visit Vikings, Steelers host Chargers
- Head's hundred seals Australia win over England in 1st ODI after Labuschagne strikes
- Dream debut for Wirtz as Leverkusen thump dire Feyenoord
American French Film Festival opens to concern over falling audiences
The American French Film Festival opened Monday in Hollywood, marked by concerns over the sharp drop in theater attendance in France and the United States since the pandemic.
"There's no hiding the fact: cinema is experiencing a real upheaval," director Jean-Jacques Annaud told AFP at the 26th edition of the festival intended to show Hollywood the best of French productions.
Between inflation eating away at leisure budgets and "people who have equipped themselves with large screens during confinement... cinemas are in great difficulty and the industry is in the process of switching to (streaming) platforms," he said before the first screening of his latest film "Notre-Dame On Fire" in North America.
Ultimately, "there is a whole category of so-called intermediate films which risk no longer having their place on the big screen," he said.
On both sides of the Atlantic, movie theaters are struggling to attract an audience.
In the United States, about 500 theaters have closed since the pandemic according to the National Association of Theatre Owners.
And Cineworld, the British group that owns Regal Cinemas, the second-largest movie theater chain in the United States, seems set for major restructuring as it prepares to file for bankruptcy, according to the Wall Street Journal.
In France, attendance had its worst September since 1980, according to the latest figures from the National Center for Cinema, with ticket sales down 34 percent compared to September 2019, before the pandemic.
"It's always worrying to see that attendance has dropped and it's struggling to pick up again," director Marie-Castille Mention-Schaar, who is presenting her film "Divertimento" at the festival, told AFP.
"We have to go find our audience," she added. "The emotion we have in a movie theater will never be the same as in front of a TV or a telephone."
For its 26th edition, the festival (formerly known as COLCOA) offers 75 French films and television series, many screened for the first time in North America.
In the United States, digital platforms allow French works to find a new audience, according to festival director Francois Truffart.
"There is a whole new generation that loves French films and European and Asian series," he said.
This year's programming particularly includes streaming films such as "Hawa" by Maimouna Doucoure and "Athena" by Romain Gavras, produced for Netflix.
On the series side, comedienne Melha Bedia will present "Miskina, Poor Thing," broadcast on Amazon Prime Video, and director Olivier Assayas will screen "Irma Vep," a mini-series produced by HBO.
T.Vitorino--PC