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The 18th City of Lights, City of Angels fest announces lineup

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The 18th City of Lights, City of Angels French film festival, which takes place April 21-28 at the Directors Guild of America, will present 41 feature films including three international premieres, 17 North American or U.S. premieres and 16 West Coast premieres.

COLCOA, which is presented by the Franco-American Cultural Fund, will also include 20 new shorts, restoration premieres of classic French films such as Jean Cocteau’s 1946 “Beauty and the Beast” and a tribute to the seminal New Wave director Francois Truffaut with a special program and a screening of his 1977 film, “The Man Who Loved Women.”

The festival opens with the North American premiere of “We Love You, You Bastard” the latest film from veteran “A Man and a Woman” director Claude Lelouch, who will be in attendance, and starring legendary French rocker Johnny Hallyday as a retired war photographer.

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The film is opening in France on April 2. “There is a big buzz on the Lelouch,” said François Truffart, COLCOA executive producer and artistic director. “It’s very touching.”

Two films will be screening at COLCOA a week before they open in France -- Lucas Belvaux’s romance “Not My Type” and Eric Barbier’s heist film “The Last Diamond,” starring “The Artist”’s Bérénice Bejo and Yvan Attal.

Besides screening the works of well-established directors including Roman Polanski (“Venus in Fur”); Diane Kurys (“For a Woman”) and Cédric Klapisch (“Chinese Puzzle”), the festival also highlights a younger generation of talent.

“Some of them are coming with their first film and others are coming with their second or third film,” said Truffart.

One such filmmaker is Katell Quillévéré, who will be presenting “Suzanne,” her acclaimed drama about a young French woman.

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Truffaut describes her as one of the most talented female directors of the new generation of French fimmakers.

“The film is absolutely gorgeous,” said Truffart.

This year, the 2014 COLCOA Awards on April 28 have added a new prize honoring this new wave of French talent called the COLCOA Coming Soon Award.

Other highlights are Lisa Azuelos’ romantic drama “Quantum Love” with Sophie Marceau and François Cluzet; Guillaume Gallienne’s comedy “Me, Myself and Mom,” which won five César Awards including best film; and Dany Boon’s current box-office hit comedy “Superchrondriac.” Boon and his two stars, Kad Merad and Alice Pol, will also be in attendance.

Several other filmmakers and stars will be appearing during the weeklong festival, including “Chinese Puzzle” director Klapisch, who will participate in the Focus on a Filmmaker discussion, and his film’s star, Romain Duris.

The two closing films, which will be screened out of competition, will be announced at the opening of the festival.

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