College of Charleston’s French Film Festival is celebrating its 10th year of bringing contemporary French cinema to campus. This year’s festival runs from August 27-10 at Sottile Theater. Organizers are expecting an average of 200-300 attendees per movie. Entrance with a College of Charleston ID is free, general admission is a $5 donation.

The opening movie, Summer Hours is the most recent film by Olivier Assayas and is one of the Festival’s highlights. On Saturday there will be an animated film and a documentary focusing on the environment.

The movies will be followed by a panel discussion about the environment. Burton Callicott, chair of the College of Charleston Sustainability Committee will moderate the panel which will include faculty and students as well as participants from several local environmental organizations. Saturday evening’s selections will honor the iconic new wave director Agnès Varda with a double feature.

Dr. Anna K. Ballinger started the festival with the goal of introducing students to contemporary French cinema. It is a campus-wide event that has grown over the past decade and features faculty experts from across the campus introducing films. Students help in the selection of movies, with presentations and ushering.  The festival was originally started with a grant from the French government and benefits regularly from the French Government financial help.

For more information go to www.cofc.edu/frenchfilm or call  843.953.8063.