Imagination Takes Flight at Opening Day of Festival du Film Merveilleux

The 13th annual Festival du Film Merveilleux showcased the transportive power of cinema during its opening day on Wednesday, September 20th. Taking place at the Christine Cinéma Club in Paris from September 20-22, the festival’s first selections swept audiences away to fantastical realms filled with love, curiosity, and wonder.

Tickets can be purchased at the cinema box office or online at Opening Night

The festival opened with an evening welcome drink. Kicking off the screenings on Wednesday was the French short Chronolovie, a 7-minute film about two souls intertwined in a magical love story set above the ocean. This is followed by the Maltese fable Darb’ohra, which told the story of a young boy who discovers the mysteries of time and space inside a charming village toy shop.

Additional highlights from the first day included The Call of Water, a 19-minute American film about a woman’s mystical journey to fulfill her duty to her homeland; Mental Soirée, a 5-minute surreal Spanish piece that serves as a manual for studying telepathy; and the French film Hot Rod, set in 2031 and centering on a girl’s quest to bring a massive workhorse to her housing project.

The whimsical 10-minute Portuguese film Ana Morphose, El After del Mundo, an imaginative 11-minute French film about two ghosts wandering the ruins of civilization, and the French short L’air de Rien, about an old man whose life is changed by a seagull, rounded out Wednesday’s slate.

With two more days of screenings scheduled for 8PM nightly, the Festival du Film Merveilleux continues to showcase cinema’s ability to transport us through time, space, and possibility. Tickets can be purchased at the cinema box office or online at www.festival-film-merveilleux.fr.