The Bijou Theatre is now permanent home to the The Westport Youth Film Festival, an empowering and inspiring outlet for young artists. What makes them unique is that they not only showcase the art of local, national and international teenagers in a professional setting, but the local youth have a hand in every aspect of the production of the festival.

Because town lines tend to divide us into more homogeneous groups, we often forget about the incredible socio-economic, ethnic, cultural and philosophical diversity that exists in Connecticut. WYFF brings together students from Norwalk, Westport, Bridgeport, Wilton, Stamford, Fairfield, New Haven and Weston to create a dynamic, professional level film festival.

Their mission is to provide young artists with agency for their voices and in doing so to foster the next generation of great filmmakers. They aim to bring teens from different places and experiences together to take part in the creation of a professional level film festival. WYFF empowers young people to expand their concept of what they are capable of doing.

The 2012 Westport Youth Film Festival will be held June 2nd. To purchase a full day pass, click here. The festival centers around screening the art of teen filmmakers. Submissions come from local, national and international youth artists.

The Westport Arts Center is a 501(c)(3) not-for-profit corporation and your donation is fully deductible as provided by law.

The Bijou Theatre joins Film Society of Lincoln Center, Unifrance Films, and Emerging Pictures in presenting “Rendez-Vous with French Cinema.” Seven French films will screen in Bridgeport, CT and 50 other US cities during March. This year marks the first collaboration with Emerging Pictures and the “Rendez-Vous with French Cinema” series, and the first time that audiences in cities across the country will have the opportunity to see these films in local theaters.

17 GIRLS (17 FILLES)
Directed by Delphine Coulin and Muriel Coulin
France – 2011
Running time:  90 min.
Based on a headline-grabbing incident in the U.S., sisters Delphine and Muriel Coulin’s provocative debut feature follows the fallout in a sleepy French coastal town when a group of teenage girls all decide to become pregnant at the same time.
Showtimes and Tickets

THE LAST SCREENING (LA DERNIÈRE SÉANCE)
Directed by:  Laurent Achard
Starring Pascal Cervo, Charlotte van Kemmel, Karole Rocher, Brigitte Sy
France – 2011
Running time:  81 min.
CINEMA PARADISO meets PSYCHO in a provocative genre film about the dutiful manager/projectionist of a repertory cinema in the French provinces…and the many secrets he holds.
Showtimes and Tickets

MOON CHILD  (LA PERMISSION DE MINUIT)
Directed by:  Crystel Fournier
Starring Vincent Lindon, Emmanuelle Devos, Quentin Challal.
France – 2011
Running time:  min.
Romain is a “moon child,” afflicted since birth by a rare genetic deficiency that makes him unable to stand exposure to daylight.  Since infancy he has been cared for by David, a consultant dermatologist who is fascinated with his case and with whom he has developed an unusually close relationship.  Now David has to leave, and doesn’t know how to tell Romain.  The day of the separation draws near… a new ordeal for them both.
Showtimes and Tickets

PATER
Directed by Alain Cavalier
Starring Vincent Lindon and Alain Cavalier
France – 2011
Running time:  105 min.
Synopsis:  France’s most unpredictable filmmaker, Alain Cavalier, teams up with actor Vincent Lindon for a witty, semi-improvised look at men, power and politics, starring Cavalier himself as a fictional French President and Lindon as his newly appointed Prime Minister.
Showtimes and Tickets

THE SCREEN ILLUSION (L’ILLUSION COMIQUE)
Directed by and starring:  Mathieu Amalric
France – 2011
Running time:  77 min.
Commissioned by La Comédie-Française, actor-director Mathieu Amalric’s wildly inventive update of Corneille’s popular 17th century tragicomedy follows a hotel concierge on the trail of a missing young man who seems to have left many a young female heart aflutter.
Showtimes and Tickets

THE WELL-DIGGER’S DAUGHTER (LA FILLE DU PUISATIER)
Directed by:  Daniel Auteuil
Starring:  Daniel Auteuil, Jane-Pierre Daroussin, Sabine Azema, Kad Merad
France – 2011
Running time:  107 min.
Daniel Auteuil, veteran of Marcel Pagnol adaptations JEAN DE FLORETTE and MANON DES SOURCES, returns to Pagnol for his first work as a director, telling moving story of a hardscrabble well digger, his eldest daughter and her passion for the son of a local shopkeeper.
Showtimes and Tickets

SMUGGLERS’ SONGS (LES CHANTS DE MANDRIN)
Directed by:  Rabah Ameur-ZaÏmeche
France – 2011
Running time:  97 min.
The 18th century folk hero and bandit Louis Mandrin is the inspiration for this strikingly relevant period tale, tracing the efforts of Mandrin’s followers to distribute his songs and stories in the build-up to the French Revolution.
Showtimes and Tickets