'The Help' to open 37th Deauville American Film Festival

If everything goes according to plan, as soon as I get back from a much deserved holiday at the end of August, I'll be heading off to the Norman seaside city of Deauville, where I'll be covering the 37^th instalment of the Deauville American Film Festival, which will take place from September 2 to September 11.
Deauville is a gateway for many American films to the European autumn film season, increasingly including a selection of the Sundance films that can find a commercial slot in the European market.
Buried, Winter's Bone, Welcome to the Rileys, Mother and Child or Cyrus were some of the Sundance hits which were introduced to European audiences at last year's edition of the festival.
The complete lineup of films in contention at the 2011 festival has not been announced yet, but it is now confirmed that the festival will kick off with the screening of Tate Taylor's directorial debut The Help (see clip below), the film adaptation of Kathryn Stockett's novel about three intertwined stories set in Mississippi during the segregation era . To be honest, this is not one the titles coming from beyond the pond that I'm really looking forward to, but the cast is so appealing that I'll give it a chance, so I've already packed Stockett's bestselling novel in my holiday suitcase as part of my pre-festival homework. Getting top billing in an impressive female cast that includes Sissy Spacek, Allison Janney, Bryce Dallas Howard or Jessica Chastain is Emma Stone, who last year gave such a terrific comic turn in Easy A, but I have the feeling that it's Viola Davis who can steal the show as she almost managed to do in Doubt two years ago. 
In addition to its competition strand and its documentary section, the fest will continue with its television section, led this year by American writer and producer Tom Fontana, who will present the series Borgia and will lead the professional screenwriting workshop.
The guest of honour of this year's fest will be writer, producer and director Francis Ford Coppola, who has already confirmed a Q&A session during the festival.
The competition jury will be led by filmmaker Olivier Assayas (Carlos).
I'll keep you informed as details about the lineup and other fest events are revealed, but I'm truly looking forward to my first post-vacational film fest date in the Parisian Riviera.