'De Gaulle' Takes Top Honors at American French Film Festival

By Daniel Okafor

Antonin Baudry's "De Gaulle" won both the Audience Award and best film at this year's American French Film Festival, announced during the closing ceremony on Nov. 8. That's a clean double. Most films settle for one.

The film, written by Antonin Baudry and Bérénice Vila and directed by Baudry, stars Benoît Magimel, Niels Schneider and Anamaria Vartolomei. It beat a field judged by festival audiences, members of the Los Angeles Film Critics Association, a jury of entertainment professionals, and a student jury drawn from high school and college-age participants in the TAFFF High School Screenings Program. Four voting blocs, one winner.

Who else won at the festival?

The Critics Award for best film went to "La Gradiva," written by Marine Atlan and Anne Brouillet, directed by Atlan, and starring Colas Quignard, Antonia Buresi, Mitia Capellier-Audat and Suzanne Gerin. The critics and the public, as usual, agreed to disagree.

The remaining prizes spread across formats:

• First Feature Award: "A Place For Her"
• Documentary Film Award: "Whispers In The Woods"
• American Students Award: "The Green Eyes"
• Audience Series Award: "Alice: Pioneer Of Cinema"
• Jury Series Award: "Swapped"
• Audience Short Film Award: "Diego"
• Jury Short Film Award: "God is Shy"

"Alice: Pioneer Of Cinema" earning the Audience Series Award gives the festival a tidy bow — a series about cinema's origins winning a prize voted by the people who watch cinema now. The student jury, meanwhile, had its say through the American Students Award, which went to "The Green Eyes."

What's happening at Lincoln Center?

Three days later and across the country, the Distribution Collective will host the annual Diversity and Inclusion Film Festival at the Lincoln Center campus in New York, running Nov. 13 to Nov. 15.

The special programming includes a Universal Studio Group panel on Nov. 14, featuring Hanako Greensmith ("Chicago Fire"), Zeeko Zaki ("FBI") and David Ajala ("Law & Order"). The three actors will discuss carrying forward the legacy of Wolf Entertainment's television franchises while introducing new dimensions to beloved series — franchise maintenance, essentially, performed in public and on the record.

Festival founder Sola Fasehun framed the event's mission plainly: "DIFF was founded on the belief that storytelling has the power to bring communities together, challenge perceptions and create lasting opportunities for artists whose voices deserve to be heard."

Fasehun added: "Our continued film festival at Lincoln Center in New York reflects that commitment in action. For several years, we've had the opportunity to introduce New York audiences to an incredible range of filmmakers through our programming, and we're thrilled to be back at Lincoln Center for another year of welcoming filmmakers and supporting film and TV."

Two festivals, one week, two coasts. "De Gaulle" now carries its dual mandate into whatever distribution conversation follows, and Lincoln Center gets three days of panels and premieres starting Wednesday. The awards season machinery, quietly, has started turning.