Paris Cinema Festival 2013 Offers Wealth of Essential Cinema, New And Old

Every summer, from June 28 to July 9, Paris steps up its cinema game in a big way. This is no small thing in a city with probably more repertory and arthouse theaters per capita than anywhere in the world, so if you're going to be in the city during these dates (for vacation or for living), make sure to save some time for the Paris Cinema festival.

This year includes premieres of almost every notable film from Cannes, including Roman Polanski's Venus in Fur, Claire Denis' The Bastards and The Palm D'or winner Blue is the Warmest Color. The international competition, on the other hand, highlights great films from around the world that have yet to play in France, including David Gordon Green's Prince Avalanche and Denis Côté's Vic + Flo Saw a Bear.

But then there's the retrospectives! After offering an exhaustive overview of Hong Kong cinema last year, the festival has decided this year to turn its focus to Belgium, offering a panorama of national cinema new and old. Also, a number of restorations of amazing classic films will screen, including David Cronenberg's Dead Ringers, Alain Resnais' Hiroshima, Mon Amour and Nicolas Roeg's Bad Timing. There's also a focus on South Africa, and a retrospective of films from two invitees, director Asghar Farhadi (A Separation, The Past) and actress Natacha Régnier. And actually, there's even more than that, but it's all so exhaustive that I recommend just checking out the official site (link below) and planning your own schedule there.