On Monday, April 14, the 12th Annual City of Lights, City of Angels (COL-COA) Film Festival kicked off its celebration of French films with an opening night gala at DGA headquarters in Los Angeles.

COL-COA is the brainchild of the Franco-American Cultural Fund (FACF) — a unique collaborative effort of the DGA, the Motion Picture Association, Société des Auteurs, Compositeurs et Editeurs de Musique (SACEM), and the Writers Guild of America, west.

From its six film inception in 1997, the festival has grown into one of the largest events dedicated to French Cinema in the world. This year’s COL-COA presented 27 features, 20 short-films, and offered 45 premieres.