Richard Mowe

CINEMA AWARDS SEASON has begun in earnest with last night's gathering of colleagues in L'Academie des Lumières, all international correspondents from 36 countries working in France. The debate unfurled under the watchful gaze of Fabien Lemercier, the secrétaire général; and Pauline Guilmot, the general co-ordinator in the premises of Wallonie Bruxelles in the heart of Paris. Among the debating colleagues were Australia's @helenbackbarlow and Barbara Lorey de Lacharriere (Germany), the organisation's Présidente. The discussions (my first in person) continued informally into the night in a near-by hostelry. The nominations will be revealed in due course at the start of December and the 32nd ceremony itself takes place in Paris on 25 January, ahead of France's Oscars, the Césars. Until then our collective mouths are tightly sealed. @MinistereCC @ifecosse @FrFilmFestUK @EuroFilmAcademy @EUdelegationUK @afglasgow @Screendaily @wb_france

The Monument à la République (known as the Marianne statue) is a monumental bronze sculpture on the Place de la République in Paris (spanning the 3rd, 10th, and 11th arrondissements). During the current protests she has seen a lot of the action as protesters gathered around her. She has been frequently defaced. But thanks to the heroic efforts of the cleansing services she always comes up spick and span as was the case bright and early this morning. The statue, inaugurated in 1883, was designed and sculpted by brothers Léopold Morice (statue) and François-Charles Morice (architect of the pedestal). Vive Marianne! @ifecosse @FrFilmFestUK @FranceintheUK @Interieur_Gouv @MinistereCC @afglasgow

PARIS UNDER SIEGE: Boarded up shop windows give the City of Light a darkly sinister edge despite a sunny Sunday. Yesterday more than 70,000 security personnel were deployed across the country for the 24 October marches in Paris, Marseille, Lyon, Lille, Bordeaux, Toulouse, Montpellier and Nantes. Police arrested 1314 people across France, the Interior Ministry said today. French protest groups and unions called for further demonstrations as they ​sought to maintain pressure on the government. A nationwide strike has been called for 5 November. The gilets jaunes movement is back on poster sites, promising to bring "order to chaos." @Interieur_Gouv @justice_gouv @ifecosse @fbcci @FranceintheUK @visit_FR

SPOT OF DISCREET FLAG WAVING for @FrFilmFestUK whose organisers claim a spiritual and operational home at @ifecosse . The Festival is produced in Scotland every November and December and shared around the nations. No prizes for guessing the face of this year's Festival running from 6 November to 14 December: Charlotte Gainsbourg who stars as a campaigning lawyer in Women on Trial. The programme publication was launched earlier in the week at an event in the @ifecosse LaBarantine provided the croissants, comme d'hab! @ifecosse @ifru_london @francediplo_EN @Filmhouse @afglasgow @MinistereCC @France24_fr

TALKING THE TALK ... @FrFilmFestUK board member Ian LeBruce provides a preview of the delights in store at @glasgowfilm and @afglasgow with a special presentation at the Alliance last night for the Franco-Scottish Society. @ifecosse @screenscots @filmhubscotland @cgfEdimbourg

Happy to share the French poster for Amélie director Jean-Pierre Jeunet's return to cinema for the first time in 13 years with Violette/Changer l’eau des fleurs, an adaptation of Valérie Perrin’s international best-seller with a stellar cast among them Leila Bekhti, Melvil Poupaud and Anouk Grinberg. Part of the official selection for the one and only @FrFilmFestUK this November and December. Keep an eye on the website for next week's big reveal. @ifecosse @StudiocanalUK @afglasgow @Filmhouse @glasgowfilm @EyeForFilm @MinistereCC

SWANN ARLAUD simply is magnificent in A Man of His Time (Notre Salut) by director Emmanuel Marre. For his second feature film after Rien à foutre in 2021, Marre delves into his own family archives to share a film about Vichy government officials, these ordinary men who kept the collaboration machine oiled and running. See it as part of the official selection of @FrFilmFestUK this November and December. @ifecosse @screenscots @filmhubscotland @FranceintheUK @Filmhouse @glasgowfilm @EyeForFilm @franceinter @afglasgow

TROP TRISTE - an inferno destroyed Paris's oldest covered food market the Marché des Enfants Rouges (literally "red children’s market") in the Marais district in the early hours of this morning. Firefighters managed to contain the blaze from spreading to nearby shops and apartments but the historic building and its iron and glass roof was raised to the ground. No-one was injured but the conflagration has meant a loss of livelihood for the traders, some of whom had been there for years. Assurances came from Paris town hall that the market would be restored eventually - and in the meantime alternative accommodation found. The market was situated in the buzzing Rue de Bretagne, famous for the quality and diversity of its food offerings. "We're one big family, and we've been orphaned," said one of the distraught traders. Founded in 1615 during the reign of Louis XIII, the Enfants Rouges was the oldest covered market still in operation in Paris. It derived its name from a nearby 16th-century orphanage whose youngsters wore red clothing, a symbol of Christian charity at the time.

LA BOLA NEGRA "reminds us how spectacular it can be to pursue love and life at all costs." In theaters October 16. Get tickets now: labolanegrafilm.com fb.watch/v/1CeqegMDMt/ via @FacebookWatch

TRUE GRIT was sprinkled like stardust over the @DinardFilm prize winners. Read more here: eyeforfilm.co.uk/news/2026-1… @FrFilmFestUK @FranceintheUK @FrenchFilmCork @BFI @ifecosse @NIScreen @ScreenIreland @filmhubscotland @IrishTimesCultr @IEArtsCulture @FranceinIreland

QUICK dip in the emerald waters at @DinardFilm before a screening of H for Hawk in the nearby Palais des Arts. Bracing? You bet! @NIScreen @ScreenIreland @ifecosse @FrFilmFestUK @screenscots @filmhubscotland @EyeForFilm

DINARD - and a love letter to cinema. Read more here from opening night: eyeforfilm.co.uk/news/2026-1… @Villededinard @DinardFilm @FranceintheUK @British_Film @BritishinFrance @ifecosse @afglasgow @FrFilmFestUK @NIScreen @screenscots @filmhubscotland @CanalplusCinema @MinistereCC @FranceinIreland @FrenchEdUK @FranceintheUK

THE PRESSES have been thundering all weekend to bring you the brochure for @FrFilmFestUK screenings at @ifecosse from 10 to 18 November. You can get with the programme and pick one up later in the week. It will also be available online. Meanwhile design team chez Emma Quinn has been working on your 68-page bumper issue of the full programme at leading cinemas and venues around from 4 November to 9 December. @screenscots @filmhubscotland @FilmsMk2 @FranceintheUK @afglasgow @MinistereCC @CurzonFilm @copymade11837