On Wednesday, September 21, during the general assembly that renewed his mandate until 2020, Thierry Jobin, artistic director of the Fribourg International Film Festival (FIFF), revealed the name of one of the first prestigious guests to be invited to the 2017 festival, taking place from March 31 to April 8: Douglas Kennedy. A passionate cinephile, the great American writer will present six films of his own choosing as part of the carte blanche Sur la carte de... section.
In August, the FIFF announced that its New Territory 2017 section will be devoted to the emerging cinema of Nepal. By unveiling a second section of the 31st edition on Wednesday, Sur la carte de…, the festival is making its intention to focus on contrast and diversity clear. The American writer Douglas Kennedy has agreed to take over the reins of the carte blanche guest section, following in the footsteps in recent years of the Dardenne brothers and, last March, of Geraldine Chaplin.
“Douglas Kennedy is not just one of the most widely read and translated contemporary authors, from The Dead Heart, his first novel, to The Pursuit of Happiness, all the way to his most recent Toutes ces grandes questions sans réponse [All these great unanswered questions],” said the overjoyed artistic director, Thierry Jobin. “He’s also an expert and eclectic film fan in line with the editorial direction of the festival. Being popular does not prevent him from being stylishly but deeply cutting, particularly with regard to his homeland, the United States. Much to his delight, several of his books have been adapted for the cinema...”
Mandate of Thierry Jobin, the artistic director renewed for three years
The news of Douglas Kennedy’s presence at the 31st FIFF, which will take place from March 31 to April 8, 2017, was revealed on Wednesday by Thierry Jobin at the festival’s general assembly, which, under the chairmanship of François Nordmann, renewed the artistic director’s mandate for a further three years, from 2018 to 2020. Members also approved the accounts of the 2016 festival, which closed in March with record entrances of almost 43,000 festival-goers.
