Francophile film lovers, rejoice: MyFrenchFilmFestival.com is back!

Starting tomorrow, Thursday, January 17, and playing for a full month through February 17, the eagerly-awaited, third annual edition of MyFrenchFilmFestival.com arrives online with its plethora of exciting new French movies -- both full-length (ten new ones and one classic) and short form (ten more in this section). Four of these (two short and two long) have already been viewed by TrustMovies and they are well worth your time, so if the remainder of the films come anywhere near this level, we're in for an exciting month of fine French cinema.

One of the hallmarks of this series (it seems to me, at least) is that the films are chosen to appeal to a younger generation (those who use the internet as a big part of their daily life) -- but without sacrificing one bit of the quality demanded by us older folk. If the past two years are to be used as trusted examples, these are "good" films by any standards. You can read about them online first, in case there's some subject matter here than simply does not appeal, and then, if you choose to view, you can rest assured that the film you're going to watch is quality material.

The four films I've already viewed (you can click on the links to see a full review of each) are A Bottle in the Gaza Sea (a wonderful, moving, almost-love story taking place in Israel and Palestine), A World Without Women (click and scroll down: a sunny, funny tale of a seaside vacation and some near-and-maybe-more-than-that connections), The Shady Sailor (click and scroll down: a stylish look at two women, talking and doing, about the past and the present), and The Pirogue (because this one, an exciting, meaningful story of African emigrants crossing the sea to Europe, opens at NYC's Film Forum next week and will be playing around the U.S. in the months to come, it is barred from U.S. viewing, so you'll have to catch it during its upcoming theatrical run. I'll have a review of this film up early next week).

As for the rest of the series, if names such as Karin Viard (above, left), Clovis Cornillac (in photo, top), Nicolas Duvauchelle (above, right), Josiane Balasko (two photos up) and Jean-Pierre Darroussin (below, with gun) get your engine running, you'll already be accessing the films in which they're appearing. If you're unfamiliar with them, now's a perfect time to learn why these superb actors are so important to French cinema today.

And just what does all this cost you? A mere $2.64 per full-length film, and only $1.32 for any short film. Come on: you can't beat prices like this! So, come tomorrow, check in with MyFrenchFilmFestival.com and start your viewing. I'll be checking in pretty often myself, with a review of each of the films I manage to see, over the next four weeks.

Oh, yes, there is also a bunch of added stuff -- contests, prizes, etc. -- which may entice some of you. For me, it's just the movies themselves that are key. (The shot above is from The Disintegration by Philippe Faucon, a film you can bet I'll soon be watching.)