The French Embassy in Indonesia, East Timor, and ASEAN will hold the Festival Sinema Prancis (FSP, French Cinema Festival) in six cities across Indonesia from November 17-26, 2023. Attaché of cultural and audiovisual partnership at the embassy, Charlotte Esnou said that the film festival, which marks its 25th edition this year, will be different from previous editions.
"We will bring a more glamorous factor to the festival this year. So we made a few changes compared to last year... one of the most drastic changes is that the majority of the films that you will be able to see and that are part of the selections will be very recent movies that have won prestigious prizes or have been just released in France," Esnou said in a press conference on Thursday (9/11/2023).
This year's FSP will be themed "Palme d'Or", as the festival will highlight curated movies that have won the Cannes Film Festival, both offline and online. It will be held in 14 locations across Indonesia, including the French Embassy's cultural centers in Jakarta, Bandung, Surabaya, Yogyakarta, Denpasar, and Medan, as well as several universities in Indonesia; playing eight selected movies. Besides that, ten movies will be available online on the Indonesia-based movie platform KlikFilm during the festival.
Apart from movie screenings, the embassy will also hold film discussions and creative talks featuring award-winning Indonesian and French filmmakers, including a talk on international co-productions. The speakers included Indonesian producer Wregas Bhanuteja who won the Palme d'Or in 2016.
Meanwhile, the co-coordinator of the FSP 2023, Anindhita B. Ayodhya said that this year's festival also screened some Indonesian movies that have been screened at the Cannes Film Festival. The movies include 2023 film Basri and Salma in a Never-Ending Comedy. She said that the screening will make the festival "richer" in terms of the program.
"This year's FSP is richer in programs because we are also preparing screenings of Indonesian films and presenting shining Indonesian filmmakers at the Cannes Film Festival," she said in a statement.
The 2023 FSP opening is scheduled to be held on Friday (10/11/2023) with the simultaneous screening of the 2023 Palme d'Or award-winning movie The Animal Kingdom at all host cities. In Jakarta, Thomas Cailley as the film producer would talk about the movie after the screening.