This year marks the 24th annual Alliance Française French Film Festival and there is a smorgasbord of delicious films, events and offerings. The team behind the festival has concocted  a mouth-watering selection of Gallic fare which incorporates 43 new films and documentaries.

In keeping with the food-related introduction, the acclaimed gastronomic delight, 'Haute Cuisine (Les Saveurs du Palais)', will launch the Festival. It is a film which tells the story of Hortense Laborie who, upon her appointment as personal chef to the President at the Elysée Palace, is faced with the challenge of creating culinary art in a world of political intrigue. And at the end of it all, for closing night, audiences will get the chance to experience a classic. Marcel Carné’s 1945 film 'Children of Paradise (Les Enfants du Paradis)' is a sweeping, period romance generally acknowledged as the greatest French film of all time, which has been meticulously restored from the original camera negative. Artistic Director, Emmanuelle Denavit-Feller, has again selected the most critically acclaimed and entertaining films to emerge from France’s thriving movie industry showcased across eight categories and include themes such as the universality of love, art and cinema, suspense, tales from our past, stories beyond fiction, inspiring women, laughter and tales for budding cinephiles.

The Alliance Française French Film Festival 2013 is on from March 14 – April 4 at the Palace Barracks and Palace Centro Cinemas.