Barratier out to promote French cinema

French director Christophe Barratier, who won several awards for his first feature film Les Choristes (The Chorus), acknowledged that in Indonesia the audience awareness of French films was "very poor".

"So when Jakarta's French Embassy invited me to attend the opening of the French Film Festival, I said OK, why not," he said at the Taman Ismail Marzuki (TIM) Arts Center in Jakarta Friday.

The 10th annual festival this year opened with Barratier's 2004 film, Les Choristes, a drama about how music changed the lives of troubled boys at a correctional school.

The movie, which is full of music, received a warm reception from the audience who packed the Graha Bakti Budaya building in TIM.

Before becoming a filmmaker, Barratier was a musician although he was born into a family with a strong background in theater and film.

"But at 22, 23, I started to become attracted to cinema," said Barratier, who is now 42 years old.

Starting work as a screenwriter, he moved on to producing and directing.

"Being director is more fun than being a musician. The life of a musician is lonely work, while a director deals with a lot of people," he said.

However, Barratier has not abandoned music. Along with directing Les Choristes, he also composed some songs and lyrics for the film.

"In film, music is a principle," Barratier said.

After the success of Les Choristes, he has had offers to direct two feature films -- one a comedy, the other a historical drama.

"But I have to choose only one of them. It won't be possible to do both," he said. --JP