(Films in French, with English subtitles)

FRIDAY

• 6 p.m.: Opening reception

• 8:30 p.m. "The Snows of Kilimanjaro": Director Robert Guédiguian and screenwriter Jean-Louis Milesi (who will be in attendance) collaborated on this drama set in Marseille, France. It involves layoffs at the docks, a robbery and a 30-years-strong marriage.

SATURDAY

• 11 a.m. "Hôtel du Nord": This 1938 film by "Children of Paradise" director Marcel Carné follows the female half of two lovers who were unsuccessful in their suicide pact. Good morning!

• 1:15 p.m. "Romantics Anonymous": A seriously shy chocolate maker (Isabelle Carré) falls for her boss. Mick LaSalle, author of "The Beauty of the Real," will appear with the film.

• 3:15 p.m. "Empty Days": An unemployed, working-class woman (Valeria Bruni Tedeschi) and an unemployed executive meet and become friends, maybe more. Mick LaSalle will appear with the film.

• 6:10 p.m. "A View of Love": "The Artist" star Jean Dujardin goes dramatic as a man who reunites with a lost love and encounters a mystery.

• 8:30 p.m. "Hollywoo": A French actress who dubs an American TV star's work goes to Hollywood to beg the actress not to quit her show because it would jeopardize the French actress' job.

The title's missing "d" tells us this is a comedy, not a thriller. French films so often can go either way.

• 11 p.m. "House of Pleasures": An arty, well-reviewed look at a turn-of-the-20th- century brothel.

The festival's former midnight movies – the edgier, sexier French films – are now 11 p.m. movies. Explained festival director Cécile Mouette Downs: "Midnight is really late."

JUNE 17

• 11 a.m. "Empty Days." Mick LaSalle will appear with the film.

• 1:25 p.m. "Romantics Anonymous." Mick LaSalle appears.

• 3:55 p.m.: "Hollywoo"

• 6:20 p.m. "I Am a No Man's Land": A comedy directed and starring Thierry Jousse, one-time editor of Cahiers du Cinéma magazine

• 8:30 p.m.: "Hotel du Nord"

JUNE 21

• 5:30 p.m. "I Am a No Man's Land"

• 7:45 p.m. "Rebellion": Matthieu Kassovitz ("Hate") directs this political drama about a 1988 uprising against the French government by indigenous people in New Caledonia.

JUNE 23

• 10 a.m. Breakfast with director Michaël Barocas, maker of the short "Guet Apens (Trapped)"

• 10:30 a.m. Short-film program

• 1:05 p.m. "Rebellion"

• 4 p.m. "The Day I Saw Your Heart": Mélanie Laurent ("Inglourious Bastards") stars in this slice-of-life comedy, co-presented by the Sacramento Jewish Film Festival

• 6:20 p.m. "Declaration of War": A couple's lives revolve around caring for their son, who has a brain tumor.

• 8:40 p.m. "38 Witnesses": In this morality play, a woman is killed early in the morning near an apartment building, but only one resident acknowledges having heard her screams.

• 11 p.m. "Outside Satan": Director and navel gazer Bruno Dumont returns with another film defying summary.

JUNE 24

• 11 a.m. "38 Witnesses"

• 1:25 pm. "Children of Paradise": Marcel Carné's 1945 tale of a mime, an actress and star-crossed love is considered one of the best French films of all time. This elaborate costume film's back story is equally extraordinary. It was shot during the Nazi occupation, and some of its creative forces were Jewish people in hiding.

• 5:20 p.m. "The Day I Saw Your Heart"

• 7:45 p.m. "Polisse": Director, co-screenwiter and actress Maïwenn crafts a fast-paced film, with multiple story lines, all surrounding Paris' Child Protection Unit.

It will be followed by closing-night Champagne reception.

– Carla Meyer

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