In an era when fewer foreign films make it out of New York City, the monthly French Cinematheque series at Stamford's Avon Theatre presents carefully curated new movies and classics from France.

Avon programmer Adam Birnbaum coordinates the series with Renee Ketcham, the president of the Alliance Francaise of Greenwich, and they both agree that France has somehow managed to keep producing smart mainstream adult films in an era when Hollywood seems to have eyes only for teenagers and other fans of comic book/science-fiction extravaganzas.

"They have a pride in things that are distinctively, culturally French. They support their cinema -- French films -- in ways that few other countries do," Birnbaum said during a recent interview.

By way of contrast, he added, China tends to produce blockbuster movies that borrow from contemporary Hollywood and that are "filtered and compromised through the ideology of the Chinese government."

"The French cinema is much more honest in that regard, so it can create a more pure form of cinema," Birnbaum said of the more than 200 films of all types that are produced in France each year.

In a separate interview, Ketcham said she believes French movies often have more to say to American adults than the homegrown films that occupy most of the multiplex screens in this country.

"I'm an American, but when I go to the movies, I often feel like I'm being held hostage for three hours by Hollywood," she said.

In France, mature actresses such as Catherine Denueve, Isabelle Huppert and Nathalie Baye are still considered interesting enough to be the stars of commercial films.

"Nathalie Baye is fabulous -- that whole no make-up look -- and people relate to her more than the whole in-your-face starlet fantasy we get here," Ketcham said. "French films are subtle, just like the way they season their food and live their lives."

The French Cinematheque program is meant to run the gamut from contemporary dramas to classic comedies and adventures.

The Thursday, Dec. 11, attraction at the Avon is the newly restored 1964 Philippe de Broca action comedy, "That Man from Rio," featuring Jean-Paul Belmondo as a naive Parisian who gets drawn into an international espionage plot that takes him to Brazil.

Film is a major part of the Alliance Francaise programming, which includes the annual Focus on French Cinema festival highlighting the best new French films. The 11th edition of that festival will take place March 27-29 at the Bow Tie theaters in Greenwich.

Birnbaum sees the series as a way of bringing films to the Avon for a single night that he would not be able to book for a regular week-long run. "It can be a film from the festival circuit that had no theatrical release or a perfunctory release and never got to Stamford. They're films I feel strongly enough about that I think they need to be shown to our audience for a night," he said.

The French Cinematheque films this winter at the Avon include "The Blue Room," directed by and starring Matthew Amalric (known to U.S. audiences for his work as a Bond villain in "Quantum of Solace") and the newly restored 1959 Alain Resnais classic, "Hiroshima, Mon Amour," starring Emanuelle Riva.

Avon Theatre, 272 Bedford St., Stamford. Thursday, Dec. 11, at 7:30 p.m. $11-$6. 203-967-3660.; Twitter: @joesview