Deauville (AFP)

The American film festival of Deauville (Calvados) will transform for its 46th edition scheduled for early September into a "very short film festival", in the absence of American stars, the mayor of the seaside resort Philippe Augier said on Tuesday.

"Obviously, the Americans will not be there" given the closure of the borders linked to the Covid but "it will be the first major festival since the Covid. Beaune has not taken place. Locarno has not taken place. Cannes n 'did not take place. Deauville will take place, "added Bruno Barde, director of the festival scheduled for September 4 to 13, during a press briefing.

With the presentation in Deauville of 10 of the 52 films which were selected for the 2020 Cannes edition, Mr. Barde promises "a lot" of stars on the stage, "maybe even a little more" than in previous years, where " we favored the Americans and we were stingy on invitations to the French ".

In addition to the president of the jury, Vanessa Paradis, are expected in particular Dominique Blanc, Benoît Poelvoorde, Leïla Bekhti, Maïwenn, Bruno Podalydès, Pio Marmaï, Noémie Merlant (one of the two main roles in "Portrait of a young girl on fire") who will present "a film which will make a lot of talk, + A good man + by Marie-Castille Mention-Schaar", according to Bruno Barde.

The festival director said on Tuesday that he did not know if Gérard Depardieu, who plays in one of the Cannes selection films presented in Deauville, "Des hommes" by Lucas Belvaux, would make the trip.

Deauville promises to present around 70 films in total, which is as much as usual, including around 60 American films and ten from Cannes.

Besides "Des hommes", the highly anticipated "Peninsula" by Yeon Sang-ho, "ADN" by Maïwenn, "Ammonite" by Francis Lee, "Les Deux Alfred" by Bruno Podalydès, and "Last Words" by Jonathan Nossiter will notably be unveiled in Deauville.

The festival will also screen three films which had been selected in Annecy, a festival which could only be held in digital form due to the Covid.

Fifteen independent American films will be in competition, including eight films by women and seven debut films.

The festival, which usually welcomes 60,000 spectators, expects a 30% drop in attendance, given the reduction in hall capacity linked to the Covid.

In June, the Cabourg film festival (Calvados) brought together 3,500 people in cinemas against 9,000 in 2019, with 2.5 days less, in the presence in particular of Chiara Mastroiani and Lambert Wilson according to its organizers.

© 2020 AFP