With a lineup of rarely screened art-house films and free tickets to see them, the Hawai‘i European Cinema Film Festival found a way to fill theaters long before tonight’s festival opening.

For six of the festival’s 10 films, including tonight’s featured screening of “Macbeth,” patrons have already reserved all seats, though unclaimed tickets will be handed out before the lights dim. 

“It was really rewarding to see how the public responded,” said festival director Brent Anbe, who admitted to being happily surprised by the enthusiastic reception. 

The European-centered film festival is presenting a three-day schedule of programming, a closing-night film and a red-carpet awards gala, Oct. 23 at the Moana Surfrider, at which French film star Catherine Deneuve will be honored with the Christina Hassell Lifetime Achievement Award. (Hassell is a festival sponsor.) The festival is in its first stand-alone year after splitting with the Hawaii International Film Festival. 

Two Deneuve films will be screened: Closing film “Standing Tall,” which opened the Cannes Film Festival this year, and “Repulsion,” the 1965 classic directed by Roman Polanski. 

“Repulsion,” which was Polanski’s first English-language film, helped bring Deneuve to the attention of the American public. She plays a beautiful young manicurist who descends into madness. 

Also screening this year are “The Measure of a Man,” “Sworn Virgin,” “The New Girlfriend,” “Chuck Norris vs. Communism,” “Victoria,” “Solitary” and “Do You See Me?” 

“Victoria” should appeal to local filmmakers, as well as movie fans, because of the way in which it was made, Anbe said. It’s the story of a night in Berlin, a runaway party girl and a bank robbery. 

“It was all shot in one take,” Anbe said of the film, which runs for more than two hours. “I’m really excited to see how they pulled this off. It is a really innovative film. A lot of filmmakers will be stoked to see it.” 

This is the first year that the festival has offered free tickets, something organizers have wanted to do for some time, said film producer Chris Lee, who is a founding board member of the organization. 

The potential for a full house looms large for Lee, whose favorite film from last year’s festival, “The Tribe,” drew eight people to one screening and a dozen to another. 

“Our mission is to bring these films to Hawaii. The vast majority of them will never come to Hawaii unless we show them,” Lee said.