Grand amour for British cinema

Jean Rochefort to head the jury at the 26th Festival of British Cinema in Dinard

The French have always had a love affair with British cinema and they helped to sustain such directors as Ken Loach and Mike Leigh, hailed as auteurs no less, when nobody on these shores was particularly enthusiastic about their output.

Such passion is not always reciprocated yet any differences in temperament tend to melt away during the annual British Film Festival in Dinard, the resort on the Emerald Coast, close to St Malo which was founded by the English as a fashionable Belle Epoque watering hole at the end of the last century.

The festival lives up to its reputation as a convivial place for Anglo-French networking. Among the serious formal talkfests is the annual co-production meeting between British and French industry movers and shakers, followed by a pitching session during which different projects are run past potential production partners. Deals even have been consolidated during the annual golf tournament between the two countries, a permanent fixture of the festival.

Actor Jean Rochefort will head the jury awarding the Golden Hitchcock of the 26th British Film Festival taking place from 30 September until 4 October, it was announced today (27 July).

Over the four days Rochefort will have the chance to meet the two personalities the festival has chosen to honour: film director, author and screenwriter Hanif Kureishi, and actor Gary Lewis, a key figure in British film who has appeared in Gangs Of New York, Billy Elliot, Joyeux Noël, Goal! The Dream Begins and Nicolas Winding Refn’s Valhalla Rising.

Bearing an uncanny resemblance, actor Jason Watkins plays Christopher Jefferies in The Lost Honour

Although the official selection will not be confirmed in its entirely until the end of August, several films have already been secured for the line-up: Notting Hill director Roger Michell will present two of his recent TV productions, The Lost Honour (about the English teacher in Bristol who was held over the murder of Jo Yeates) and Birthday (in which a pregnant man goes through labour in a maternity hospital). Duane Hopkins, who was noted previously at Dinard with Better Things, will present Bypass while Nick Love, who was last awarded in Dinard in 2004 for The Football Factory, will be back with American Hero.

Andrew Haigh’s 45 Years will also be shown, starring Tom Courtenay and Charlotte Rampling. It received the Silver Bear at the Berlin Film Festival earlier this year. Other titles in the mix are Gold by Niall Heery and Breaking The Bank by Vadim Jean.

The Dinard British Film Festival also will focus on a younger generation of British filmmakers and their works. They will include Just Jim by Craig Roberts, Still by Simon Blake, The Survivalist by Stephen Fingleton, Lapse Of Honour by Rayna Campbell and Kill Your Friends by Owen Harris.