A new distribution company specialising in films from Europe has been set up in Edinburgh following a launch in Cannes. The company will serve the UK and Ireland markets.

The new company has already been welcomed by cinemas throughout the country since it announced its first slate of releases, which opened this month with a London run at the Curzon, Soho, of Claude Chabrol’s gripping psycho-thriller The Colour Of Lies featuring Sandrine Bonnaire, Jaques Gamblin and Eurotrash’s Antoine de Caunes in a serious role.

The film screens concurrently at The Filmhouse, Edinburgh, and other dates will follow, including Bristol, Glasgow and Dublin.

Eminent French director Claude Miller has warmly welcomed CineFrance and pledged his support for its ethos.

"I applaud this initiative which I hope will have the effect of ensuring that French cinema is much better represented in the UK than the select few titles that find distribution every year at the moment."

Serge Le Peron, co-president of the Societé des Réalisateurs believes the time is ripe for an expansion of French cinema.

"The directors my organisation represents in France desperately want to have their work seen outside of France and to have greater opportunities to find distribution in the UK. Such initiatives are crucial in preserving Europe’s film industries."

CineFrance plan to take a "boutique" rather than a "supermarket" approach to each title on the slate, ensuring personal attention and input. It is expected that many of the films will revive showcase presentations as part of the annual French Film Festival in November before being released. Rights will include theatrical, and also terrestrial television, video and DVD.

The CineFrance board has strong representation from the exhibition perspective. Directors of the company are Ken Ingles, director of Edinburgh Filmhouse; journalist Richard Mowe who also directs The Lumiere Cinema, Edinburgh; Ilona Morison, MD of the multi-media platform At-Inform; Allison Garner, head of cinemas Glasgow Film Theatre: Sid Kyman head of Filmhouse Edinburgh board and John Beattie, financial director.

Other titles being rolled out over the next few months are: La Vache et Le President/The Cow And The President, a delightful family film dealing with a young boy’s mission to save his pet cow from culling; La Chambre Des Magiciennes/Of Women And Magic directed by Claude Miller, about a woman on the edge of a nervous breakdown; and Un Derangement Considerable/A Considerable Disturbance which follows the changing fortunes of a young footballer from a multiracial family set in Nantes (but it could be Glasgow, Manchester or Cork).

One of CineFrance’s directors llona Morison says; "More than a million moviegoers are attracted to French film in the UK every year and the figure is rising. We hope to help the numbers grow. We will also create niche brands to deal with the filmmaking output from other countries in Europe. We’re delighted with the response we’ve had so far."