Colcoa French Film and Series Festival Bows Documentary Section (EXCLUSIVE)

Colcoa, the Los Angeles-based French film festival, will be launching a competitive documentary section at its upcoming 25th edition.

The documentary lineup will tackle contemporary and historical topics such as climate change, immigration, transgender inclusion, holocaust revelations and centenary celebration. Seven documentaries will vie for the 2021 COLCOA Best Documentary Award.

“Documentary films have grown in prominence in France in the past few years, with more than 150 released in theaters in 2019 and strong sales worldwide,” said Colcoa’s deputy director Anouchka van Riel. “We are showing seven of the most innovative documentaries coming out of France today that cover the gamut of style, approach, and artistic vision.”

The roster include the North American premieres of actor-turned-filmmaker Aissa Maiga’s “Above Water” which opened at Cannes in the climate section; Jacques Loeuille’s “Birds of America” about Jean-Jacques Audubon, the American ornithologist, naturalist, and painter; Christophe Cognet’s “From Where They Stood” which shows clandestine photographs by prisoners of WWII camps; and Philippe Béziat’s “Indes Galantes,” based on Jean-Philippe Rameau’s opera-ballet which was directed by Clément Cogitore for the Opéra National de Paris. Greenwich Entertainment has U.S. rights to “From Where They Stood.”

Also set to play at Colcoa are “Jane By Charlotte,” Charlotte Gainsbourg’s delicate portrait of her 75-year-old mother, Jane Birkin; and Sebastien Lifshitz’s “Little Girl,” about the seven-year-old Sasha, who has always known she was a little girl, even though she was born a boy. “Jane By Charlotte” and “Little Girl” are handled in the U.S. by Utopia and Music Box Films, respectively.

Colcoa will also host the North American premiere of Yves Jeuland’s “All About Yves Montand,” about the iconic French actor Yves Montand. Zelig Films has U.S. rights to the TV documentary.

Unlike the American Film Market which has switched to digital, Colcoa will take place as a live event at the revamped DGA Theaters on Nov. 1-7. The full lineup will be announced on Oct. 5.

Created by the Franco-American Cultural Fund and spearheaded by Francois Truffart, Colcoa was previously scheduled in the spring and switched to the fall during the DGA’s renovation work. It now aims to be positioned as a Hollywood launchpad for key French movies during the awards season.