French Film Festival launches in style

Dominik Moll presents a lively screening of 'Lemming' while the TOMB attends a fantastic opening night party.

Mar  3 2006

The Renault French Film Festival kicked off in London this week, and The TOMB was at last night's launch to guzzle champagne in the presence of some of France's finest directors.

Attending the opening night festivities were Olivier Marchal, Jacques Bonnaffe, Olivier Duscatel, Jacques Martineau, Cedric Klapisch and Bertrand Tavernier, who is the subject of this year's retrospective.

They were on hand to present some of the festival's most high-profile features, including 'Cockles and Muscles', 'Time to Leave', 'Russian Dolls', 'Hell' and '36 Quai des Orfevres'.

Dominik Moll was also in attendance, and after the reception he hurried to a screening of his eagerly anticipated follow-up to 'Harry, He's Here to Help', the deeply Gallic 'Lemming'.

A black comedy-cum-thriller that revolves around a controlling automotive engineer who watches his life slowly start to unravel around him, the film features fine performances from the likes of Laurent Lucas, Andre Dussollier and the two radiant Charlottes – Rampling and Gainsbourg.

Funny, surreal and disturbing in equal measure, 'Lemming' isn't as instantly accessible as Moll's previous feature, but it nevertheless grips from start to finish.

The director then took part in a Q&A in which he discussed the stunning music and locations used throughout, and explained the narrative as best he could for some of the more confused members of the audience.

He also informed The TOMB that while he didn't intentionally kill any live lemmings while making the film, 'about 10 or 12 passed away during the shoot', putting a tragic spin on what had otherwise been a wonderful night's entertainment.

The Renault French Film Festival runs nationwide until March 30. For more details about the event, and to book tickets, head to www.frenchfilmfestival.org.uk.

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