Accompanied by a who's who of the country's acting and directing set, six French movies and one short film will be premiered at VCU's seventh annual French Film Festival, set for March 27-28. VCU offers the nation's only American-led initiative to promote new and acclaimed French movies presented by their directors and actors and not yet distributed in the United States.

The 1999 festival will feature the international debut of "Mère agitée," a story of a young woman’s struggle between family and career. Directed by Guila Braoudé, the film stars Elsa Zylberstein, Frederic Diefenthal, Patrick Braoudé and Alain Bashung. The film will be presented at VCU by Guila and Patrick Braoudé and Zylberstein on March 27. The film will be released in September in France.

Films to receive their U.S. premieres include "Lautrec" and "Les Palmes de M. Schutz" on March 27. The festival continues March 28 with "Haut Bas Fragile," "Classe de neige" and "Je suis vivante et je vous aime," as well as the 17-minute short film "Marseille sans soleil."

Each of the critically acclaimed movies features English subtitles. The festival will be held at Richmond's historic Byrd Theatre, 2908 W. Cary St.

"French film in France is in a constant struggle, trying to maintain its vitality with all the pressures coming from the American movie industry," said Peter Kirkpatrick, festival organizer and founder, as well as VCU associate professor of French.

Last year in France, about three-fourths of all moviegoers went to American films, with the remaining balance choosing mostly French films. In contrast, each year in the United States, less than 1 percent of the films released are foreign productions -- with French films vying for the top-spot among those limited foreign releases.

"For French filmmakers and producers, the United States is a very difficult market in which to get their films distributed," Kirkpatrick said. "The VCU French Film Festival offers an introduction of many notable new French films, providing a way for them to earn recognition by the American public. And with growing annual attendance, which reached 6,000 last year, the festival also signals to French producers and directors that American audiences desire to see more French films."

Among other special guests for the 1999 festival are French actor Régis Royer; French directors Claude Pinoteau and Roger Kahane; French director/producer Annie Miller; French producer Gabriel Auer; American director Robert Tregenza; and French film critic and scholar Suzanne Liandrat-Guigues.

With support from the French Embassy in Washington, D.C., VCU has expanded festival services this year to include continuing graduate education for middle- and high-school French teachers from across Virginia. Using interviews with actors and directors at the festival, the teachers will complete a project to earn required recertification credits. Twenty scholarships, covering tuition and festival events, were available, and organizers received nearly two applications for every slot. Embassy officials assisting with the project are Lazare Paupert, French cultural attaché, and Dominique Malicet, French cultural linguistics attaché; both will be at the festival.

To attend all film screenings as well as a reception, participants can purchase a VIP Friends of the Festival pass for $35. A VIP Friends of the Festival Plus Pass, available for $75, also provides admission to a gala dinner. The reception and the gala will both be held March 27 at the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts. Tickets for individual screenings are $4 at the door at the Byrd Theatre.