Rendez-Vous goes national

Gotham's annual French film festival, Rendez-Vous With French Cinema, has teamed with digital alternate-content distributor Emerging Pictures with an initiative which will discover a couple of from the fest's game game titles examined within 50 venues across the country concurrently the flicks unspool in NY. Among the 17th annual fest's just-introduced slate of Gallic fare, photos including Mathieu Amalric's "The Screen Illusion," Daniel Auteuil's "The Well-Digger's Daughter" and Alain Cavalier's "Pater" will probably be examined incorporated within the digital expansion program, with question-and-answer periods within the fest also examined live in some theaters. Move reps the newest instance of a close film fest while using the digital arena to develop the footprint of the brand. Lately, for instance, Tribeca Film Festival has organized concurrent online tests for a lot of photos on its selection. The 2012 edition of Rendez-Vous, presented by Film Society of Lincoln subsequently subsequently Center (the org also behind the NY Film Festival) and government-backed French film promoter Unifrance Films, opens while using Gallic comedy hit "The Intouchables" -- an approaching U.S. release within the Weinstein Co. -- and may showcase films including Benoit Jacquot's "Farewell for the Full," Lucas Belvaux's "38 Witnesses" and Andre Techine's "Unforgivable." Marcel Carne's 1945 pic "Kids of Paradise" reaches be a focus screening in the lately restored print, as well as the fest shuts with Audrey Tautou topliner "Delicacy." Fest occasions have a short film selection along with a couple of tests incorporated inside a tribute to French film mag Positif. Rendez-Vous with French Cinema runs March 1-11 within the Film Society, IFC Center as well as the Brooklyn Academy of Music's BAMcinematek. Contact Gordon Cox at gordon.cox@variety.com