12 Aug 2018

French Film Festival 2019 canned

6:34 pm on 12 August 2018

Next year's French Film Festival has been canned as organisers struggle to entice movie-goers.

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Photo: Supplied / Screenshot

The French Film Arts Trust have pulled the plug on the 2019 festival, citing limited box office space for subtitled films and steadily increasing costs.

The trust's chair John Martins said the festival just could not compete with big box-office films.

"We have a population of under five million and with all the effort that we put into running this wonderful festival, only about one Kiwi in 100 wants to see a subtitled French film."

Mr Martins said their decision was difficult to make.

"The festival has brought so much pleasure to so many people, bringing them together to enjoy a cinema experience of highly creative and vibrant French films," he said.

The trust was taking time to rebuild the festival, he said, and he was hopeful it would return to the big screen in the future.

Film reviewer Liam Maguren said cancellation of the 2019 French Film Festival was puzzling.

Mr Maguren, who is a writer for flicks.co.nz, said he was surprised because the festival was the largest "single-country" film festival in New Zealand.

However, he doubted the cancellation would be permanent.

"Maybe what we will see in 2020 is a kind of downsizing," he said.

The trust said the 2018 festival took place in 13 different centres and attracted 36,000 admissions.