THE highly successful Eighth French Film Festival in Dublin, the best and most varied to date, closed on a very high note last night with Jacques Audiard's excellent Un Hero Tres Discret (A Self Made Hero). Over the course of 15 days the festival, imaginatively programmed by Marie Pierre Ordonneau, presented an exciting selection of over 50 new French language films along with a number of classics and retrospective programmes on Eric Rohmer and Claude Sautet. The festival's impressive guest list was headed by Sautet himself and included such rising talents as director Arnaud Deschelpin and actors Stephane Rideau, Elodie Bouchez and Madeleine Assas.

But though the festival is now an essential fixture on Dublin's cultural calendar, its future is in doubt. "We really had to struggle to get sponsorship this year," says the festival director, Ronan Glennane. "And we got no government support whatsoever. We asked The Arts Council for just £5,000, but we got nothing, even though they give far more money to the Cork, Dublin and Galway film festivals. So we are considering our options for next year.

Due to pressure of time, Ronan Glennane is standing down as festival director. My main objective when I got involved was to expand the festival, and now that's done, there's very little I can do now." The next festival, should it happen - and we earnestly hope it does - will also miss the invaluable and enthusiastic contribution of Alexandre Defay, the cultural counsellor of the French embassy. He is moving to Tel Aviv next weekend and the presence of himself and his partner, Isabelle, will be very much missed on the Dublin cultural circuit.

Before the closing film was screened last night, the festival's first award for best short French film, sponsored by Volvic, was presented. I had the pleasure of serving on the awards jury with Martine Moreu, arts officer of the French Embassy and Martin Mahon, programmer of the Dublin Film Festival and himself the director of the recent short film, The Condom.

WE were impressed by the overall standard of the 18 short films shown during the French Film Festival, even If some them were not as short as they might have been. When it came to drawing up a shortlist we singled out such diverse productions as Jeux De Plage, L'Oeil Qui Traine and Aunis before settling on two movies.

We gave a special commendation to Arnaud Debree's Truffaut influence L'Enfant De La Ciotat, and gave first prize to Franois Ozon for his bright, breezy and sensual sun sand and sex vignette, Une Robe d'Ete (A Summer Dress). Director Ozon was flown in to Dublin to accept his award of £500 and a trophy, and his thoroughly diverting film was given a second screening before Un Hero Tres Diseret last night.