L'Alpe d'Huez (France) (AFP)

Popular actors like Dany Boon and Florence Foresti, or accustomed to other registers like Isabelle Huppert and Catherine Deneuve: the Alpe d'Huez Comedy Festival opens Tuesday evening for a 23rd edition which will give pride of place to stars, alongside newcomers.

The actors José Garcia, Dany Boon, Philippe Katerine, Isabelle Huppert, Michèle Laroque, Stéphane de Groodt, Vincent Dedienne or Michaël Youn are expected between Tuesday and Sunday in the Isère ski resort, with the actor José Garcia as president of the jury, for celebrate comedy, of which Alpe d'Huez is the benchmark festival in France.

"It's a representative panel, which brings together all kinds of films, both big popular comedies, family, social or police comedies," Frédéric Cassoly, director of the Festival, organized by his agency, told AFP. General tour.

"It is a clever mix of confirmed and young talents. We are also a festival discovering talents and we are there to highlight the young generation", he continued.

The popular action comedy "The Lion" by Ludovic Colbeau-Justin, with the duo Dany Boon-Philippe Katerine, will open the Festival on Tuesday evening out of competition: the story of a doctor in a psychiatric hospital - played by Philippe Katerine - who , to find his missing fiancée, escapes one of his patients who claims to be a secret agent, but without being sure that he is telling the truth.

Among the eight films presented in competition, several will also highlight regulars of the comic register, like Michèle Laroque in "Everyone at home", her second film as director (after "Brillantissime" in 2018), on the difficult cohabitation between parents and the couple formed by their daughter.

She plays there alongside the Belgian actor and humorist Stéphane De Groodt, who will also be playing in "Tout nous sourit", a family comedy by Melissa Drigeard. Michaël Youn will present his third feature film as director, "Divorce Club", with Arnaud Ducret and François-Xavier Demaison.

- Deneuve as a possessive mother -

Florence Foresti will don the uniform of a corrupt policewoman in "Lucky" by Olivier Van Hoofstadt (director of the hit "Dikkenek"), while a female character will also be honored by "Forte" by Katia Lewkowicz, l '' one of the three films in competition made by a woman.

Rising stand-up comedian Melha Bedia plays an overweight young woman who, decided to seduce, starts to pole dance, helped by a teacher interpreted by Valérie Lemercier.

In "La Daronne" by Jean-Paul Salomé, Isabelle Huppert will play as an unexpected Franco-Arab judicial interpreter for the Stups brigade, who becomes a dealer in Belleville.

Another size that goes against the grain of her usual roles, Catherine Deneuve - absent from the Festival after her stroke in November - will be starring in "Terrible jungle", the first film by Hugo Benamozig and David Caviglioli. She embodies a possessive mother whose son, played by Vincent Dedienne, moves away by going to study a mysterious people of Amazonia, before she decides to go in search of him.

The social comedy "Mine de rien" by Mathias Mlekuz, also a first film, will stage Arnaud Ducret and Philippe Rebbot in the story of two unemployed people who are building an amusement park on an old coal mine.

The Festival will close with "Miss" by Ruben Alves ("The Golden Cage"), out of competition, the story of a young man who decides to participate in the Miss France competition by hiding his identity as a boy.

Ten short films, out of nearly 200 proposed, will also be screened.

Open to the general public and completely free, the Alpe d'Huez Festival gathered nearly 20,000 spectators last year. He awarded his Grand Prize to "My Baby" by Lisa Azuelos.

Comedy remains one of the queen categories of the French box office. In 2019, the fourth biggest success of the year was a hexagonal comedy, "What have we done to God?" by Philippe de Chauveron (6.7 million admissions).

© 2020 AFP