London’s Favourite French Film 2013 - Les gagnants

By FIL
18/10/2013

The Gala evening, held  at the Institut Français, and hosted by FranceInLondon (FIL), saw ‘Untouchable’ win the coveted London’s Favourite French Film award for 2013. ‘Untouchable’ is the story of the unlikely friendship between wealthy quadriplegic millionaire Philippe (François Cluzet) and his street smart ex-con carer Driss  (Omar Sy).

Bernard Emie (Ambassadeur de France en GB)

The event was organised under the patronage of the French Ambassador, Bernard Emié, who was also kind enough to open the ceremony with a brief speech. The Ambassador emphasised the importance of French cinema for France from the perspectives of both its financial contribution and its strength as a cultural export. This goes some way to explaining the fantastic turnout the event has garnered over the last nine years.

Untouchable

Once again, French and English Londoners voted in their thousands for their favourite French films and ‘Untouchable’ distributed by Entertainment Film was the clear winner with more than double the votes received for any other film. Incidentally, it was at last year’s award night that the film was premiered in the UK. But it seems the rest of the world also agrees with the judgement cast by the Brits: last year Untouchable became the most popular French film globally, surpassing Audrey Tautou’s Amélie which had held the top spot for a decade previously.

It would appear that the film’s distributor, Entertainment Films, is on a winning streak. Last year, their film The Artist also won the award for London’s Favourite French Film.

Rebecca Connell and Paul Ryan

Representatives of the distributor were present to accept their prizes from Rebecca Connell and Paul Ryan who have partnered for the last 4 years as masters of ceremony.

Leo Draper

Leo Draper from Studio Canal  came up to receive the 3^rd Prize for Rust and Bone. Rust and Bone is a 2012 French-Belgian romantic drama film directed by Jacques Audiard, starring Marion Cotillard and Matthias Schoenaerts and based on Craig Davidson's short story collection of the same name. Leo also took the opportunity to talk about one of StudioCanal  future releases:  Chinese Puzzle (Le Casse Tête Chinois )… Casse-tête chinois is a French film directed by Cédric Klapisch released in 2013. It is the third chapter of the Spanish Apartment trilogy after L'Auberge espagnole and Les Poupées russes. Coming in second position, Amour by Michael Haneke, starring Jean-Louis Trintignant, Emmanuelle Riva and distributed by Artificial Eye, has already received so many prizes that this award was not unexpected. Once again with over 40 French films being screened it has been a very successful year for French cinema in the UK.

The event celebrated its 9^th year with a Perrier-Jouët champagne reception, the awards ceremony, a number of luxury prizes, the UK premier of ‘Marius’, based on Marcel Pagnol’s famous book, and a delicious cheese and wine Gala Evening prepared by Chêne Bleu, La Cave à Fromage and Ideal Party. Oh, and don’t forget the Nuxe and Perrier-Jouët luxury goodie bags everybody received at the end of the evening!

Many incredible prizes were taken away by people who had participated in the vote as well as for those who had attended the evening. Prizes for the lucky winners included VIP drop-offs by Renault, a Nuxe coffret worth over £250, an overnight stay with dinner and breakfast offered by Relais & Chateaux worth over £400 and a 4-night stay for 4 in a two bedroom luxury apartment in the heart of St Germain-des-Prés including Eurostar Standard Premier Travel.

FIL was also delighted to have ‘Marius’ as the film for the evening courtesy of Pathé!, prior to its general release in the UK. The film based on Marcel Pagnol’s famous trilogy and probably one of the most beautiful love stories ever written was met with a brilliant reaction which, hopefully, bodes well for its great success in the UK market as a whole. 

(From left to right) Rebecca Connell, Patricia Connell, Eleonore de Mailly Nesle, Bernard Emie, Isabelle Emie, Laurent Burin des Roziers, Natacha Antolini

 

The after party was a roaring success thanks to the beautiful wines provided by Chêne Bleu, the cheeses provided by La Cave à Fromage and cakes by Ideal Party. Over 240 guests attended the evening which was a roaring success. The luxury Perrier-Jouët and Nuxe goodie bags were the icing on the cake!

Once again this incredible evening would not have been possible without our brilliant sponsors: Nuxe, Perrier-Jouët, Eurostar, Renault, Ideal party, Chêne Bleu and La Cave à Fromage.

The FranceInLondon Team

Don’t forget to vote next year and join us at our 10 year anniversary of the award which is sure to be a special event!