Cinéfranco is an annual film festival in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, which presents a weeklong program of both Canadian and international French language films."Cinefranco focuses on francophone films". Toronto Star, March 27, 2014.

History The festival was established in 1997 by Marcelle Lean,"Film fest to bring French movies out of obscurity: February's cinefranco is the brainchild of its well-connected executive director". The Globe and Mail, January 21, 1998. a former chair of the Ontario Film Development Corporation,"OFDC chair appointed". The Globe and Mail, February 9, 1998. and was staged for the first time in February 1998."Festival opens a door to French film". The Globe and Mail, February 27, 1998. Lean remained the event's executive director as of 2015.

Unlike larger events such as the Toronto International Film Festival, all films throughout the week were screened in a single theatre venue."Bringing more than l'amour to the English". Toronto Star, March 26, 2010. To establish broader audience appeal beyond the city's francophone community alone, all films were screened with English language subtitles."Screening the real French cinema; Second annual Cinefranco festival celebrates popular francophone film". Toronto Star, February 18, 1999.

Separately from the main festival, an annual youth program of films for children and teenagers is also staged each year. The separate youth program was launched for the first time in 2007.

The festival presented an annual award, the Radio-Canada Audience Award, to the film voted by festival attendees as the best film in that year's program."Cinefranco wraps with awards to Paris, Pilon". The Globe and Mail, April 9, 2009. TFO also formerly sponsored an award for the most popular film in the youth program.

In 2015, Lean told L'Express de Toronto that the festival was in financial trouble and may be forced to cease operations if it could not renegotiate its operational support and sponsorship agreements."Cinéfranco pourrait disparaître". L'Express de Toronto, June 9, 2015. The main festival was initially cancelled in 2016,"Cinefranco makes a belated return...". Now, April 15, 2016. although the youth program was still staged;"Cinefranco makes a comeback". Now, October 27, 2016. instead, Tournée Québec Cinéma, a program of Québec Cinéma which presents a touring minifestival of Quebec films in various locations across Canada, added an event in Toronto to its schedule. The event was later revived, however, with a smaller-scale Cinéfranco presented in October 2016 at the Alliance Française de Toronto.

Audience Award 2009: Paris, Cédric Klapisch 2010: Female Agents (Les Femmes de l'ombre), Jean-Paul Salomé 2011: Bacon on the Side (Il reste du jambon?), Anne Depétrini 2012: Free Men (Les Hommes libres), Ismaël Ferroukhi 2013: What's in a Name? (Le Prénom), Matthieu Delaporte and Alexandre de La Patellière 2014: The Gilded Cage (La Cage dorée), Ruben Alves 2015: Once in a Lifetime (Les Héritiers), Marie-Castille Mention-Schaar 2016–2017: No award presented 2018: 1991, Ricardo Trogi 2019: Fahim, Pierre-François Martin-Laval 2020: Spread Your Wings (Donne-moi des ailes), Nicolas Vanier 2021: The Rose Maker (La Fine fleur), Pierre Pinaud 2022: Farewell Mr. Haffmann (Adieu monsieur Haffmann), Fred Cavayé 2023: The Book of Solutions (Le Livre des solutions), Michel Gondry 2024: Abbé Pierre: A Century of Devotion (L'Abbé Pierre – Une vie de combats), Frédéric Tellier

Youth Film Award 2009: The Necessities of Life (Ce qu'il faut pour vivre), Benoît Pilon 2010: Little Nicholas (Le Petit Nicolas), Laurent Tirard 2011: Trouble at Timpetill (Les Enfants de Timpelbach), Nicolas Bary 2012: War of the Buttons (La Guerre des boutons), Yann Samuell 2013: The Day of the Crows (Le Jour des corneilles), Jean-Christophe Dessaint 2014: Belle and Sebastian (Belle et Sébastien), Nicolas Vanier 2015: The Nightingale (Le Promeneur d'oiseau), Philippe Muyl 2016: April and the Extraordinary World (Avril et le Monde truqué), Christian Desmares and Franck Ekinci 2017: The African Doctor (Bienvenue à Marly-Gomont), Julien Rambaldi 2018: The Big Bad Fox and Other Tales... (Le Grand Méchant Renard et autres contes...), Benjamin Renner and Patrick Imbert 2019: Dilili in Paris (Dilili à Paris), Michel Ocelot 2020: Remi, Nobody's Boy (Rémi sans famille), Antoine Blossier 2021: The Wolf and the Lion (Le Loup et le Lion), Gilles de Maistre 2022: King, David Moreau 2023: Belle and Sebastian: Next Generation (Belle et Sébastien: Nouvelle génération), Pierre Coré

References

External links Cinéfranco