The French Film Festival in its second edition promises to be as exciting as the first. Between February 22 and March 1, 80 films will be screened at Nandan, grouped into several categories. “This festival is a bridge between French and Indian cinema, as we are showcasing both French cinema and Indian cinema screened at Cannes. Calcutta is a city of storytelling. We will screen 80 films which will be a reflection of diversity, categorised in six sections,” said Nicolas Facino, director of Alliance Francaise du Bengale.

The festival would open with Delocalises (Outsourced), directed by Ali Bougheraba, which was shot largely in Calcutta. “We are proud to host the world premiere of the film which will open in France, on March 12. The French crew had spent over two months here last year for the shoot,” said Facino.

The closing film will be La Delicatesse (The Delicacy), directed by David and Stephane Foenkinos and starring Audrey Tautou as a widow who finds unexpected romance. “This will be in keeping with our tradition of closing with a French novel adaptation on screen,” added Facino. The 2011 romantic comedy-drama is based on a novel by David Foenkinos. The festival will also highlight the writer-filmmaker’s contribution to contemporary French cinema by screening two more of his films as part of a retrospective — Les Fantasmes (The Fantasies) and Jalouse (Jealous). “He is invited to attend the closing ceremony,” Facino added.

The ‘India at Cannes’ section will bring several dignitaries to town. While Naseeruddin Shah will attend the festival opening for his film Manthan, directed by the recently departed Shyam Benegal, Sudhir Mishra and Nandita Das will attend the closing ceremony and the screening of their films Hazaaron Khwahishein Aisi and Manto respectively. Huma Qureshi and Anubhav Sinha have been invited too. Anasuya Sengupta, the first Indian to win Best Actress in the Un Certain Regard section at Cannes Film Festival, will attend the opening. Her film, The Shameless, will be screened.

There will be both classics and contemporary offerings. There is a young audience section too, heavy with animation films.

The festival is introducing a “professional segment” aimed to foster dialogue in the industry. The three topics of discussion this year are ‘Place of women in the cinema industry’, ‘Prospects of collaboration between French and Indian cinema’ and ‘The role of Artificial Intelligence in cinema and the artistic and economic challenges’.

Another new segment is ‘Call of the Mountains’ with focus on Bhutan, featuring two French and four Bhutanese films. There will also be a short film night, as in the festival’s first edition, with a marathon screening of 35 French short films from 9pm on February 28 to 6.30am the day after, at the Alliance Francaise du Bengale.

The festival blossomed from an idea of French consul general Didier Talpain. “Four years ago, I proposed to Nicolas that Calcutta could host a French film festival. I gave him the project in an envelope. I am delighted that such a big event has developed from the contents of the small envelope,” he said.

Goutam Ghose, chairman of the Kolkata International Film Festival, described Alliance Francaise as one of the places from where he learnt filmmaking. “I am coming here since 1968 when I was around 18. Alliance Francaise used to hold celluloid projections of the directors of the Nouvelle Vague. There was a big package of Jean Rouch films here. I remember one of these film projections being attended by Manikda (Satyajit Ray),” he recalled, thanking the authorities for bringing back French films. His Raahgir and Abar Aranye will be screened.

Rituparna Sengupta lauded the initiative. “It opens a window to a world outside of what we are doing,” said the actress. She has a personal contribution to the festival. “I have acted in a short film called Distances with students of Alliance Francaise, directed by Ashoke Viswanathan. It makes a connection between two cultures. Nicolas is also in it,” she said, turning to the AFB director. “It will be the opening film of the short film night,” he said.