The US premiereof Francis Veber's prison mismatch comedy Tais-Toi! (Ruby & Quentin) starring Gerard Depardieu and Jean Renowill kick off the eighth annual City of Lights, City of Angels Film Festival inLos Angeles in Mar 29, which also features the world premiere of NicolasBoukhrief's noir tale Le Convoyeur (Cash Truck) starring Albert Dupontel and Jean Dujardin.

This year'sannual celebration of French cinema showcases 15 features and 13 shorts andcloses on Apr 3 with the West Coast premiere of Pierre Salvadori's ApresVous (After You), a male bonding comedy starring DanielAuteuil, Jose Garcia and Sandrine Kiberlain.

Claudia Durgnat,who served as PR director for the Montreux Jazz Festival, joins as the newfestival director and Francois Truffart, who previously served as director ofLa Cinefondation at the Cannes Film Festival, has been appointed programmedirector.

US premieresinclude Cannes Film Festival director Giles Jacob's documentary The RedCarpet - A Musical,which charts the history of the festival; Jaques Demy's musical fairy taleadaptation Peau D'Ane(Donkey Skin)starring Catherine Deneuve, Jean Marais and Fernand Ledoux; and Jan Kounen'sfantasy Western Blueberry starring Vincent Cassel, Juliette Lewis, Djimon Hounsou andBritish comedian Eddie Izzard.

Other titles include the LA premiere of Alexandre Aja'sthriller Haute Tension (HighTension) starring Cecile De France andPhilippe Nahon, and the West Coast premieres of first-timer Xavier Giannoli'sromance Les Corps Impatients (EagerBodies) starring Laura Smet, NicolasDuvauchelle and Marie Denarnaud and Noemie Lvovsky's romance LesSentiments (Feelings), which stars Nathalie Baye, Jean- Pierre Bacri andIsabelle Carre.

All screeningswill run daily at the Directors Guild of America's Hollywood headquarters.