Subtitled this year « from one street to the next », this completely free festival is back with a selection of popular but quality films, and a free bonus short film at weekends! Here’s the details…

photo by Meg Zimbeck used under cc licence

Film showings abound in Paris, but free film showings are a little harder to come by, so thank the lord of celluloid for La Villette and their free, outdoor film festival that takes place over four weeks in July and August (every day except Mondays and rainy days).

If the weather does slook dodgy, you’ll need to ring 01 40 03 76 92 on the night, after 8pm, to know whether you’ll be eating popcorn in the grass or sobbing at your rain-streaked windowpane.

All films are shown in their original language; great if they’re American or English, harder to follow for other languages if reading French subtitles will be a trial for you.

And even if the film itself is free, you might like to treat yourself to a deckchair for 7€, or buy a card for 5 chair rentals for just 20€.

Here’s the line-up :

Tuesday 19th July – Taxi Driver by Martin Scorsese
Wednesday 20th July – A Time to Love and a Time to Die by Douglas Sirk
Thursday 21st July – All About My Mother by Pedro Almodovar
Friday 22nd July – short film À bras le corps by Katell Quillévéré, followed by Paranoid Park by Gus Van Sant
Saturday 23rd July – short film La Vieille Dame et les pigeons by Sylvain Chomet (qui a également dessiné l’affiche du festival), followed by his film Les Triplettes by Belleville
Sunday 24th July – In The White City by Alain Tanner

Monday 25th July – closed
Tuesday 26th July – Mon trésor by Keren Yedaya
Wednesday 27th July – Quai des Orfèvres by Henri-Georges Clouzot
Thursday 28th July – 3:10 to Yuma by James Mangold
Friday 29th July – short film Il fait beau dans la plus belle ville du monde by Valérie Donzelli, followed by Dear Diary by Nanni Moretti
Saturday 30th July – short film La Lettre by Michel Gondry, followed by Tokyo! by Michel Gondry, Bong Joon-ho and Leos Carax
Sunday 31st July – The Circle by Jafar Panahi

Monday 1st August – closed
Tuesday 2nd August – Kiss Me Deadly by Robert Aldrich
Wednesday 3rd August – Alice in the Cities by Wim Wenders
Thursday 4th August – Gomorra by Matteo Garrone
Friday 5th August – short film L’Égoïste by Jean-Loup Felicioli & Alain Gagnol, followed by Babel by Alejandro González Iñárritu
Saturday 6th August – short film Le Poisson rouge by Cédric Klapisch, followed by his film Chacun cherche
Sunday 7th August – Happy Together by Wong Kar-wai

Monday 8th August – closed
Tuesday 9th August – Lights in the Dusk by Aki Kaurismäki
Wednesday 10th August – On the Town by Gene Kelly & Stanley Donen
Thursday 11th August – The Time That Remains by Elia Suleiman
Friday 12th August – short film Sur ses deux oreilles by Emma Luchini, followed by Bonnie and Clyde by Arthur Penn
Saturday 13th August – short film Cauchemar blanc by Mathieu Kassovitz, followed by his film La Haine
Sunday 14th August – El Bonaerense by Pablo Trapero

Monday 15th August – closed
Tuesday 16th August – Les Nuits by la pleine lune by Éric Rohmer
Wednesday 17th August – Pickpocket by Jia Zhang Ke
Thursday 18th August – Manhattan by Woody Allen
Friday 19th August – short film Des morceaux by ma femme by Frédéric Pelle, followed by Collateral by Michael Mann
Saturday 20th August – short film Tango Overlord by François Choquet, followed by Je ne suis pas là pour être aimé by Stéphane Brizé
Sunday 21st August – West Side Story by Robert Wise

The La Villette open pen air film festival 2011 takes place on the prairie triangle in the park (map below) from 19th July – 21st August 2011. And it’s free!

Official site (in French): www.villette.com

Facebook page (in French): here

Twitter feed (in French): here