PREMIERE TO BENEFIT AIDS RESEARCH

The loosely knit film community here has joined forces and formally entered the battle against AIDS with the announcement of a major premiere to benefit AIDS research.

Woody Allen, Faye Dunaway, Warren Beatty, Kathleen Turner, Kevin Bacon, Richard Gere and Jonathan Demme are among the honorary hosts for the event which will be the American premiere of two new films by French director Claude Berri June 22 at Lincoln Center’s Avery Fisher Hall. Said Gere Wednesday: “This is an imperative, urgent cause, and it’s important that we all pull together to support it.”

The New York-based organizations sponsoring the event are: Orion Classics Pictures, U.S. distributors of the Berri films; the French Film Office; the Film Society of Lincoln Center, sponsor of the annual New York Film Festival; and the American Foundation for AIDS Research (AmFAR), the organization chaired by Elizabeth Taylor that will benefit from the proceeds.

The Film Society’s executive director, Joanne Koch, noted that the prestigious organization has never before participated in a charity fund-raiser. “The extraordinary nature of this cause and the fact that these films are so fine provided a perfect opportunity for us to do so.”

The Berri films, “Jean de Florette,” and its sequel, “Manon of the Spring,” both star Yves Montand and Gerard Depardieu, as men of different generations and classes in conflict over ownership of valuable land. Both are scheduled to be released in this country by Orion Classics; the first, starting July 10; the sequel, probably next Christmas. The June 22 premiere is the only time the two films are scheduled to be shown here together. Both Berri and Montand plan to attend. Tickets for the evening range from $25 to $250.

Mikhail Baryshnikov and Mathilde Krim, a co-founder of AmFAR and wife of Arthur Krim, chairman of Orion Classics’ parent company, Orion Pictures, will co-host a dinner following the premiere for major contributors.