PARIS– Thomas Litli’s “Hippocrate” won the Chopard Prize of MyFrenchFilmFestival, the online festival put together by Paris-based promo org UniFrance.
A critically-aclaimed dramedy set in the medical world, “Hippocrate” was chosen by a filmmakers’ jury presided by French helmer Michel Gondry (“Be Kind Rewinds”) with Belgian director Joachim Lafosse (“Our Children”) and Israeli helmer Nadav Lapid (“Policeman”).
“Hippocrate,” which world-premiered at Cannes’ Directors’ Fortnight, turns on the unlikely friendship between Vincent Lacoste (“The French Kissers”) and Reda Kateb (“Zero Dark Thirty”), two hospital interns who come from opposite worlds.
The festival was created five years ago by UniFrance to test the VOD market and expand the worldwide auds for French movies beyond arthouse circuits.
Melanie Laurent’s sophomore outing “Breathe,” another Directors’ Fortnight alumni, nabbed the international press award; while Fabienne Godet’s drama “A Place on Earth” with Benoit Poelvoorde snatched up the Lacoste audience kudo.
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“A Town Called Panic: The Christmas Log,” Stéphane Aubier and Vincent Patar’s toon, won the audience award for best short. Alice Douard’s “Extrasystole” took the international press prize for best short.
The one-month long festival wrapped yesterday and drew 560,000 screenings across 207 territories via 26 platforms and MyFrenchFilmFestival website. China banned the screenings due to tighter censorship, which caused a drop in total viewing figures. But UniFrance noted that screenings in other territories rose from 380,000 in 2014 to 560,000 this year.
Registrations on MyFrenchFilmFestival.com’s main platform also skyrocketed 40% to 37,000 subscriptions.
French movies proved particularly popular in Latin American and in Eastern Europe. UniFrance noted there were 100,000 screenings in Russia and Ukraine via Megogo, and 150,000 views on VOD.pl in Poland.
