French Club started its 15th annual French Film Festival with the award-winning film, “Coco avant Chanel,” directed by Anne Fountaine and starring Audrey Tautou (“Amélie,” “L’auberge Espange,” “Russian Dolls”) Friday.

Translating to “Coco before Chanel,” the movie depicts Chanel before her rise to fame in the fashion industry.

Chanel is an ambitious French woman in the early 20th century, fighting against her own background and the social conventions of the era.

The purpose of the French film festival is “to promote French cinema and culture here in North Texas,” French faculty member Heath Pelletier said.

Pelletier feels the festival is a prime opportunity for “the SMU community and residents of North Texas to come together and interact.”

The French film festival will show five films, some of which include “Welcome, Daratt, Indigènes” (English title: “Days of Glory”), and “Séraphine.”

Pelletier is most looking forward to the film “Welcome.”

The opening night gathered a large audience.

“It had a much bigger turnout than what I expected and…many non-SMU people attended,” French and Business major James Weidenfeller said.

Weidenfeller enjoyed how everyone seemed to be speaking French in the theater.

Many students taking French at SMU seemed to enjoy this cultural opportunity. Foreign language major Miller Walker enjoys watching French movies because it helps him better understand the language.

“I absolutely love French movies, especially ones that star Audrey Tautou,” sophomore foreign language major George Williams said. “The film was really great…the beginning was kind of slow but once it gained momentum, the movie became really interesting.”

Freshman Yubin Kim loves “Coco avant Chanel” because it is a success story about a well-known brand.

“What’s more French than Paris, romance and Chanel?” Kim asked.

“It was interesting that at first, [Chanel] didn’t want to go into designing,” sophomore Jean Paul Destarac said about one of the leading people in fashion.

Sponsors of the French Film Festival include the SMU French Club, the SMU Students’ Association, the Tournées Festival, the French Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs, the Centre National de la Cinématographie, the Florence Gould Foundation, the Grand Marnier Foundation, highbrow entertainment, agnès b. and the Fonds Culturel franco-américain (the Directors Guild of America, the Motion Picture Association, SACEM and the Writers Guild of America).

Showings will take place on March 29, April 1, April 6 and April 9 at 7 p.m. in the Hughes-Triggs Theater. Admission is free and open to the public. All films are shown in French with English subtitles.