Paramount+ and France Télévisions have confirmed their pact on upcoming, working-titled series Zorro starring Oscar-winning actor Jean Dujardin as the iconic masked vigilante.
The partners revealed a first image of The Artist actor Dujardin in the role in a release and said the show will launch later this year on Paramount+ before being broadcast on France Télévisions.
Paramount+ has also acquired rights for the UK, Italy, Germany and Latin America. France tv distribution is handling sales for all other territories.
News of Dujardin’s and Paramount+’s involvement in the show broke in the French media late last year but today’s release was the partners’ first official confirmation of their co-production and distribution deal.
The new show is set in 1821 and sees Don Diego de la Vega/Zorro become mayor of Los Angeles to improve his beloved city.
However, the city is facing financial trouble due to a local...
The partners revealed a first image of The Artist actor Dujardin in the role in a release and said the show will launch later this year on Paramount+ before being broadcast on France Télévisions.
Paramount+ has also acquired rights for the UK, Italy, Germany and Latin America. France tv distribution is handling sales for all other territories.
News of Dujardin’s and Paramount+’s involvement in the show broke in the French media late last year but today’s release was the partners’ first official confirmation of their co-production and distribution deal.
The new show is set in 1821 and sees Don Diego de la Vega/Zorro become mayor of Los Angeles to improve his beloved city.
However, the city is facing financial trouble due to a local...
- 3/20/2024
- by Melanie Goodfellow
- Deadline Film + TV
Paramount+ has boarded “Zorro” (working title), an adventure comedy series starring Jean Dujardin, the Oscar-winning actor of “The Artist,” as the iconic character of Diego de la Vega.
Created by Benjamin Charbit (“Gagarine”) and Noé Debré (“Dheepan”), the anticipated show was bought by Paramount+ for France, the U.K., Italy, Germany and Latin America.
In the eight-part series, Dujardin stars opposite well-known Italian comedian Salvatore Ficarra, and French actors, including Audrey Dana, André Dussollier, Eric Elmosnino and Grégory Gadebois. The show will premiere on Paramount+ before rolling out on the pubcaster France Télévisions.
The series unfolds in 1821 as Don Diego de la Vega becomes mayor of Los Angeles and has to face off a corrupt businessman, Don Emmanuel.
Marc Dujardin’s Le Collectif 64 and Julien Seul at Bien Sûr Productions are producing the series which is penned by Charbit, Debré and Emmanuel Poulain-Arnaud (“Le Test”). It’s directed by Jean-Baptiste Saurel...
Created by Benjamin Charbit (“Gagarine”) and Noé Debré (“Dheepan”), the anticipated show was bought by Paramount+ for France, the U.K., Italy, Germany and Latin America.
In the eight-part series, Dujardin stars opposite well-known Italian comedian Salvatore Ficarra, and French actors, including Audrey Dana, André Dussollier, Eric Elmosnino and Grégory Gadebois. The show will premiere on Paramount+ before rolling out on the pubcaster France Télévisions.
The series unfolds in 1821 as Don Diego de la Vega becomes mayor of Los Angeles and has to face off a corrupt businessman, Don Emmanuel.
Marc Dujardin’s Le Collectif 64 and Julien Seul at Bien Sûr Productions are producing the series which is penned by Charbit, Debré and Emmanuel Poulain-Arnaud (“Le Test”). It’s directed by Jean-Baptiste Saurel...
- 3/20/2024
- by Elsa Keslassy
- Variety Film + TV
Les âmes soeurs
For his thirtieth feature film, the great André Téchiné filmed in two seasonal time frames (in June of ’21 and the following winter of southwestern France’s Ariège region) for a drama (or possible melodrama) that sounds nestled in human relations. Formerly known as Les Pieds sur Terre, Téchiné collected Noémie Merlant and Benjamin Voisin who topline with supporting players of Audrey Dana and André Marcon on board. Les âmes soeurs (aka Soul Mates) could make for a strong competition slot bid at the Berlinale before its late March domestic release at home.
Gist: A lieutenant from a contingent of the French army stationed in Mali, who is seriously injured when his armoured vehicle explodes.…...
For his thirtieth feature film, the great André Téchiné filmed in two seasonal time frames (in June of ’21 and the following winter of southwestern France’s Ariège region) for a drama (or possible melodrama) that sounds nestled in human relations. Formerly known as Les Pieds sur Terre, Téchiné collected Noémie Merlant and Benjamin Voisin who topline with supporting players of Audrey Dana and André Marcon on board. Les âmes soeurs (aka Soul Mates) could make for a strong competition slot bid at the Berlinale before its late March domestic release at home.
Gist: A lieutenant from a contingent of the French army stationed in Mali, who is seriously injured when his armoured vehicle explodes.…...
- 1/5/2023
- by Eric Lavallée
- IONCINEMA.com
The Lost Patient (Le patient) is an Arte TV thriller directed by Christophe Charrier, starring Txomin Vergez and Clotilde Hesme.
A story that has some potential, but it goes unused.
Premise
Thomas has been in a coma for three years when he wakes up and remembers nothing. His psychologist, Anna, informs him that his family has been murdered and that he is the only survivor of the massacre while his sister Laura is still missing.
Movie Review
This feature is a French thriller produced by Arte TV that does not stand out neither in its cinematography, nor – in its difficult condition of being a TV production – in its story. It reduces what could have been good story to a simplistic, and a not a majorly artistic, endeavor.
Txomin Vergez’s performance is good enough, although not outstanding in this a movie that leaves one somewhat indifferent.
‘The Lost Patient’ is laden with clichés,...
A story that has some potential, but it goes unused.
Premise
Thomas has been in a coma for three years when he wakes up and remembers nothing. His psychologist, Anna, informs him that his family has been murdered and that he is the only survivor of the massacre while his sister Laura is still missing.
Movie Review
This feature is a French thriller produced by Arte TV that does not stand out neither in its cinematography, nor – in its difficult condition of being a TV production – in its story. It reduces what could have been good story to a simplistic, and a not a majorly artistic, endeavor.
Txomin Vergez’s performance is good enough, although not outstanding in this a movie that leaves one somewhat indifferent.
‘The Lost Patient’ is laden with clichés,...
- 12/6/2022
- by Veronica Loop
- Martin Cid Magazine - Movies
Distributors reported brisk business at the annual TV market.
Mipcom returned in full strength this week after a three-year hiatus, with sellers reporting packed diaries and brisk business at the TV market.
Some 3100 buyers attended this year, with the biggest numbers coming from the US, followed by the UK, France, Germany and Spain. They included global and regional streamers, AVOD platforms and broadcast channels from around the world.
Here is a round-up of some of the key scripted deals and company acquisitions announced at Mipcom this week:
All3Media International pre-sold Drama Republic’s new murder mystery period drama, The Confessions...
Mipcom returned in full strength this week after a three-year hiatus, with sellers reporting packed diaries and brisk business at the TV market.
Some 3100 buyers attended this year, with the biggest numbers coming from the US, followed by the UK, France, Germany and Spain. They included global and regional streamers, AVOD platforms and broadcast channels from around the world.
Here is a round-up of some of the key scripted deals and company acquisitions announced at Mipcom this week:
All3Media International pre-sold Drama Republic’s new murder mystery period drama, The Confessions...
- 10/20/2022
- by Tim Dams
- ScreenDaily
Distributors reported brisk business at the annual TV market.
Mipcom returned in full strength this week after a three-year hiatus, with sellers reporting packed diaries and brisk business at the TV market.
Some 3100 buyers attended this year, with the biggest numbers coming from the US, followed by the UK, France, Germany and Spain. They included global and regional streamers, AVOD platforms and broadcast channels from around the world.
Here is a round-up of some of the key scripted deals and company acquisitions announced at Mipcom this week:
All3Media International pre-sold Drama Republic’s new murder mystery period drama, The Confessions...
Mipcom returned in full strength this week after a three-year hiatus, with sellers reporting packed diaries and brisk business at the TV market.
Some 3100 buyers attended this year, with the biggest numbers coming from the US, followed by the UK, France, Germany and Spain. They included global and regional streamers, AVOD platforms and broadcast channels from around the world.
Here is a round-up of some of the key scripted deals and company acquisitions announced at Mipcom this week:
All3Media International pre-sold Drama Republic’s new murder mystery period drama, The Confessions...
- 10/20/2022
- by Tim Dams
- ScreenDaily
Nicole Garcia’s romance thriller “Lovers” has lured a raft of distributors before and after its world premiere in competition at the Venice Film Festival. The love-triangle movie also played at Toronto as part of the Industry Select lineup.
France Televisions Distribution, which represents “Lovers” in international markets, has sold the film to Switzerland (Jmh), Belgium (Vertigo Films Distribution), Poland (Hagi), Portugal (Pris Audiovisuais), Japan (At Entertainment), Brazil (Providence Filmes), and Russia, Ukraine, Baltics (Russian Report). Other deals are currently being negotiated.
“Lovers” is headlined by a French cast that includes Stacy Martin, Pierre Niney and Benoit Magimel. The movie revolves around Lisa and Simon, a pair of lovers who have been passionate about each other since they were teenagers.
When a tragedy occurs, provoked by Simon’s criminal activities, Simon flees and leaves Lisa behind without any notice. Three years later, Lisa is married to Leo, a wealthy man,...
France Televisions Distribution, which represents “Lovers” in international markets, has sold the film to Switzerland (Jmh), Belgium (Vertigo Films Distribution), Poland (Hagi), Portugal (Pris Audiovisuais), Japan (At Entertainment), Brazil (Providence Filmes), and Russia, Ukraine, Baltics (Russian Report). Other deals are currently being negotiated.
“Lovers” is headlined by a French cast that includes Stacy Martin, Pierre Niney and Benoit Magimel. The movie revolves around Lisa and Simon, a pair of lovers who have been passionate about each other since they were teenagers.
When a tragedy occurs, provoked by Simon’s criminal activities, Simon flees and leaves Lisa behind without any notice. Three years later, Lisa is married to Leo, a wealthy man,...
- 10/2/2020
- by Elsa Keslassy
- Variety Film + TV
Ben Attal, Suzanne Jouannet, Charlotte Gainsbourg, Mathieu Kassovitz, Pierre Arditi and Audrey Dana lead the cast. A Curiosa Films and Films Sous Influence production sold by Gaumont. Since 11 August, Yvan Attal has been filming The Accusation, his 7th feature as director, following among other titles My Wife is an Actress (nominated for the 2002 César award for Best Feature Debut), ... And They Lived Happily Ever After (2004), Le Brio and My Stupid Dog (2019).Standing out in the cast are Ben Attal (appearing for the 4th time in a film directed by his father), Suzanne Jouannet (her first time in a feature film), Charlotte Gainsbourg (soon on screens in Benoît Jacquot’s latest film Suzanna Andler) and...
Romantic comedy is third feature for popular French actor in the director’s chair.
France TV Distribution is launching international sales on Pascal Elbé’s romantic comedy Hear Me Out ,about a history teacher in denial about losing his hearing, at next week’s virtual Cannes.
Elbé directs and stars opposite Sandrine Kiberlain who plays the mother of a young girl who has stopped talking. She helps him to open up to the world and find peace with his condition.
They are joined by a strong ensemble cast featuring Manon Lemoine, François Berléand, Valérie Donzelli, Antoine Gouy, Claudia Tagbo, Marthe Villalonga and Emmanuelle Devos.
France TV Distribution is launching international sales on Pascal Elbé’s romantic comedy Hear Me Out ,about a history teacher in denial about losing his hearing, at next week’s virtual Cannes.
Elbé directs and stars opposite Sandrine Kiberlain who plays the mother of a young girl who has stopped talking. She helps him to open up to the world and find peace with his condition.
They are joined by a strong ensemble cast featuring Manon Lemoine, François Berléand, Valérie Donzelli, Antoine Gouy, Claudia Tagbo, Marthe Villalonga and Emmanuelle Devos.
- 6/16/2020
- by 1100388¦Melanie Goodfellow¦69¦
- ScreenDaily
France TV Distribution, the commercial arm of the French public broadcaster, has acquired international sales rights to Audrey Dana’s French comedy “Men on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown.”
The movie, which is set to start shooting soon, will star Marina Hands (“French Women”), Thierry Lhermitte (“The French Minister”) and François-Xavier Demaison (“Naked Normandy”).
French production banner Curiosa Films (Juliette Binoche starrer “Let the Sunshine In”), is producing “Men on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown.” Dana previously directed “If I Were A Boy” and “French Women.”
The film follows seven men, all city-dwellers aged between 17 and 70, with nothing in common apart from the fact that they are all on the verge of nervous breakdowns. They sign up for an unusual workshop in a rural area, hoping to get back on their feet, but nothing goes according to plan.
France TV Distribution’s current slate also includes Emmanuelle Carriere’s “Between Two Worlds,...
The movie, which is set to start shooting soon, will star Marina Hands (“French Women”), Thierry Lhermitte (“The French Minister”) and François-Xavier Demaison (“Naked Normandy”).
French production banner Curiosa Films (Juliette Binoche starrer “Let the Sunshine In”), is producing “Men on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown.” Dana previously directed “If I Were A Boy” and “French Women.”
The film follows seven men, all city-dwellers aged between 17 and 70, with nothing in common apart from the fact that they are all on the verge of nervous breakdowns. They sign up for an unusual workshop in a rural area, hoping to get back on their feet, but nothing goes according to plan.
France TV Distribution’s current slate also includes Emmanuelle Carriere’s “Between Two Worlds,...
- 9/5/2019
- by Elsa Keslassy
- Variety Film + TV
Claude Lelouch on Howard Hawks's Bringing Up Baby and his own La Bonne Année as films to watch to cheer you up: "Very good choices!" Photo: Anne-Katrin Titze
The Cannes Film Festival is gearing up for tomorrow's opening night screening of Arnaud Desplechin's Ismael’s Ghosts (Les Fantômes D'Ismaël) starring Mathieu Amalric, Charlotte Gainsbourg and Marion Cotillard with Louis Garrel and Alba Rohrwacher, and a score by Grégoire Hetzel. Claude Lelouch with Un Homme Et Une Femme, starring Anouk Aimée and Jean-Louis Trintignant, in 1966 had won Palme d'Or honours and with Pierre Uytterhoeven, a Best Screenplay Oscar.
Mr and Mrs Gallois (Charles Denner and Judith Magre) with Simon (Jean‑Louis Trintignant) in Le Voyou: "One must learn how to detect cheaters."
Driving with Fanny Ardant, Dominique Pinon, and Audrey Dana in Roman De Gare, Abbas Kiarostami and cars, Un + Une in India with Jean Dujardin and Elsa Zylberstein,...
The Cannes Film Festival is gearing up for tomorrow's opening night screening of Arnaud Desplechin's Ismael’s Ghosts (Les Fantômes D'Ismaël) starring Mathieu Amalric, Charlotte Gainsbourg and Marion Cotillard with Louis Garrel and Alba Rohrwacher, and a score by Grégoire Hetzel. Claude Lelouch with Un Homme Et Une Femme, starring Anouk Aimée and Jean-Louis Trintignant, in 1966 had won Palme d'Or honours and with Pierre Uytterhoeven, a Best Screenplay Oscar.
Mr and Mrs Gallois (Charles Denner and Judith Magre) with Simon (Jean‑Louis Trintignant) in Le Voyou: "One must learn how to detect cheaters."
Driving with Fanny Ardant, Dominique Pinon, and Audrey Dana in Roman De Gare, Abbas Kiarostami and cars, Un + Une in India with Jean Dujardin and Elsa Zylberstein,...
- 5/16/2017
- by Anne-Katrin Titze
- eyeforfilm.co.uk
Au Beaune Pain: Lelouch Continues with Frivolous Comedy Spackle
Somewhere along the way Palme d’Or and Oscar winning auteur Claude Lelouch (1966’s A Man and a Woman) morphed into the Garry Marshall of French film, churning out vapid comedy vehicles sporting a glitzy array of notable Gallic stars. Whenever the slide began, his tendencies to overstuff his narratives with zany layers of (often inconsequential) tangential sub-plotting began years ago, look no further than his 1986 sequel to his most famous film, A Man and a Woman: 20 Years Later for longstanding evidence of the change. His later period reflects the stamp of various muses, such as actress Audrey Dana, and now, frequent co-author Valerie Perrin. With 2013’s We Love You, You Bastard and 2015’s Un + Une, Lelouch has become completely divorced from his illustrious past filmography, a chasm only widened by his latest venture, Everybody’s Life, once more featuring Johnny Hallyday and Jean Dujardin amongst a cavalcade of a cast, all whirling through this odd kitchen sink array of miscellaneous characters all inclined to converse about their Zodiac signs as they fall in and out of romantic love or obsessive yearning during a a year’s time in Beaune, France.
As an annual jazz festival gets underway, a slew of characters intersect and coverage in the provincial town of Beaune in the Burgundy region. A judge (Eric Dupond-Moretti) must contend with the news of Clementine’s (Beatrice Dalle) retirement, a local prostitute whose company has brought him great joy since the death of his wife. Meanwhile, his colleague Nathalie (Julie Ferrier) falls out of a window after finding her husband (Gerard Darmon) with another man, sharing an ambulance with a hypochondriac singer (Mathilde Seigner) who believes she is having a heart attack following a performance at the festival. At the same time, a tawdry court case has drawn together another subsection of the community, including the troubled alcoholic Antoine (Christophe Lambert), currently facing the dissolution of his own marriage with his disconsolate wife (Marianne Denicourt) betwixt legal troubles. And as famed singer Johnny Hallyday faces a problem with a slippery doppelganger (who has a tryst with an unhappily married Comtesse played by Elsa Zylberstein, married to Vincent Perez), which causes some confusion with local cop Jean (Jean Dujardin), the marriage between former beauty queen (Nadia Fares) and Stephane (Stephane De Groodt) is also on the rocks. Meanwhile, the local hospital has decided to engage a new policy wherein patients must be put at ease through sexually provocative jokes, which brings a chummy nurse (Deborah Francois) into contact with several patients.
If Max Ophuls had wanted to make La Ronde (1950) into a relationship farce (to be fair, Roger Vadim kind of did this with his remake) set to light jazz, it might look something like Everybody’s Life. However, Lelouch feels as if he filmed his illustrious cast in a number of amusing scenarios and pasted the end results together as he saw fit, clipping it into a semblance of repeated scenarios with revolving characters, all who end up professing their love, being destroyed by it, or simply moving on to another chapter. However, the film is neither subtle nor diverse in its repetitive techniques, and for as entertaining as it is to see Hallyday and Dujardin horse around as they take selfies, the frivolousness quickly gets wearying, particularly by its grand framed finale, where we return to the court room a year later after the film’s beginning, with Lelouch stuffing all his characters, whether it makes sense or not, into the same room.
Gregoire Lacroix assists Perrin, Pierre Uytterhoeven (who co-wrote A Man and a Woman) and Lelouch in this adaptation from his own prose, but Everybody’s Life drifts aimlessly, as if besotted by the presence of its own unlucky in love characters all experiencing the same approximation of discontent. Most of these formulas are tedious, if not forgettable, with a glaring bright spot from Beatrice Dalle as a prostitute who wants nothing more to do with sex or men and relish the retirement she deserves. If somewhat less ungainly than rom-com Un+Une and the loopy We Love You, You Bastard, this isn’t a return to form or an ascension to new heights for Lelouch, try as it might to ‘experiment’ with traditional narrative form.
Reviewed on April 24th at the 2017 Colcoa French Film Festival – Opening Night Film. 113 Mins.
★★½/☆☆☆☆☆
The post Everybody’s Life | 2017 Colcoa French Film Festival Review appeared first on Ioncinema.com.
Somewhere along the way Palme d’Or and Oscar winning auteur Claude Lelouch (1966’s A Man and a Woman) morphed into the Garry Marshall of French film, churning out vapid comedy vehicles sporting a glitzy array of notable Gallic stars. Whenever the slide began, his tendencies to overstuff his narratives with zany layers of (often inconsequential) tangential sub-plotting began years ago, look no further than his 1986 sequel to his most famous film, A Man and a Woman: 20 Years Later for longstanding evidence of the change. His later period reflects the stamp of various muses, such as actress Audrey Dana, and now, frequent co-author Valerie Perrin. With 2013’s We Love You, You Bastard and 2015’s Un + Une, Lelouch has become completely divorced from his illustrious past filmography, a chasm only widened by his latest venture, Everybody’s Life, once more featuring Johnny Hallyday and Jean Dujardin amongst a cavalcade of a cast, all whirling through this odd kitchen sink array of miscellaneous characters all inclined to converse about their Zodiac signs as they fall in and out of romantic love or obsessive yearning during a a year’s time in Beaune, France.
As an annual jazz festival gets underway, a slew of characters intersect and coverage in the provincial town of Beaune in the Burgundy region. A judge (Eric Dupond-Moretti) must contend with the news of Clementine’s (Beatrice Dalle) retirement, a local prostitute whose company has brought him great joy since the death of his wife. Meanwhile, his colleague Nathalie (Julie Ferrier) falls out of a window after finding her husband (Gerard Darmon) with another man, sharing an ambulance with a hypochondriac singer (Mathilde Seigner) who believes she is having a heart attack following a performance at the festival. At the same time, a tawdry court case has drawn together another subsection of the community, including the troubled alcoholic Antoine (Christophe Lambert), currently facing the dissolution of his own marriage with his disconsolate wife (Marianne Denicourt) betwixt legal troubles. And as famed singer Johnny Hallyday faces a problem with a slippery doppelganger (who has a tryst with an unhappily married Comtesse played by Elsa Zylberstein, married to Vincent Perez), which causes some confusion with local cop Jean (Jean Dujardin), the marriage between former beauty queen (Nadia Fares) and Stephane (Stephane De Groodt) is also on the rocks. Meanwhile, the local hospital has decided to engage a new policy wherein patients must be put at ease through sexually provocative jokes, which brings a chummy nurse (Deborah Francois) into contact with several patients.
If Max Ophuls had wanted to make La Ronde (1950) into a relationship farce (to be fair, Roger Vadim kind of did this with his remake) set to light jazz, it might look something like Everybody’s Life. However, Lelouch feels as if he filmed his illustrious cast in a number of amusing scenarios and pasted the end results together as he saw fit, clipping it into a semblance of repeated scenarios with revolving characters, all who end up professing their love, being destroyed by it, or simply moving on to another chapter. However, the film is neither subtle nor diverse in its repetitive techniques, and for as entertaining as it is to see Hallyday and Dujardin horse around as they take selfies, the frivolousness quickly gets wearying, particularly by its grand framed finale, where we return to the court room a year later after the film’s beginning, with Lelouch stuffing all his characters, whether it makes sense or not, into the same room.
Gregoire Lacroix assists Perrin, Pierre Uytterhoeven (who co-wrote A Man and a Woman) and Lelouch in this adaptation from his own prose, but Everybody’s Life drifts aimlessly, as if besotted by the presence of its own unlucky in love characters all experiencing the same approximation of discontent. Most of these formulas are tedious, if not forgettable, with a glaring bright spot from Beatrice Dalle as a prostitute who wants nothing more to do with sex or men and relish the retirement she deserves. If somewhat less ungainly than rom-com Un+Une and the loopy We Love You, You Bastard, this isn’t a return to form or an ascension to new heights for Lelouch, try as it might to ‘experiment’ with traditional narrative form.
Reviewed on April 24th at the 2017 Colcoa French Film Festival – Opening Night Film. 113 Mins.
★★½/☆☆☆☆☆
The post Everybody’s Life | 2017 Colcoa French Film Festival Review appeared first on Ioncinema.com.
- 4/28/2017
- by Nicholas Bell
- IONCINEMA.com
Claude Lelouch with Anne-Katrin Titze on Quentin Tarantino and Le Voyou: "He told me if he hadn't seen that film he wouldn't have made Pulp Fiction." Photo: Sylvie Sergent
On the afternoon of the Focus on French Cinema screenings at the French Institute Alliance Française in New York of Un + Une (One Plus One) with Jean Dujardin, Elsa Zylberstein, Christophe Lambert and Alice Pol, and Un Homme Et Une Femme (A Man And A Woman), starring Anouk Aimée and Jean-Louis Trintignant, I met with the director/screenwriter Claude Lelouch at his hotel.
Disguises in La Bonne Année (Happy New Year) with Lino Ventura and Charles Gérard, kidnapping in Le Voyou (The Crook) with Trintignant and Christine Lelouch, traveling with Fanny Ardant, Dominique Pinon, and Audrey Dana in Roman De Gare (Crossed Tracks), influencing Terrence Malick, Abbas Kiarostami and cars, Howard Hawks's Bringing Up Baby, Tarantino's Pulp Fiction, dogs versus cats,...
On the afternoon of the Focus on French Cinema screenings at the French Institute Alliance Française in New York of Un + Une (One Plus One) with Jean Dujardin, Elsa Zylberstein, Christophe Lambert and Alice Pol, and Un Homme Et Une Femme (A Man And A Woman), starring Anouk Aimée and Jean-Louis Trintignant, I met with the director/screenwriter Claude Lelouch at his hotel.
Disguises in La Bonne Année (Happy New Year) with Lino Ventura and Charles Gérard, kidnapping in Le Voyou (The Crook) with Trintignant and Christine Lelouch, traveling with Fanny Ardant, Dominique Pinon, and Audrey Dana in Roman De Gare (Crossed Tracks), influencing Terrence Malick, Abbas Kiarostami and cars, Howard Hawks's Bringing Up Baby, Tarantino's Pulp Fiction, dogs versus cats,...
- 3/30/2017
- by Anne-Katrin Titze
- eyeforfilm.co.uk
Exclusive: Comedy centres on woman who wakes up one morning with something extra.
Elle Driver is reporting brisk business on Audrey Dana’s comedy If I Were A Boy following a packed screening at the Unifrance Rendez-vous With French Cinema in Paris, which runs from January 12-16.
Popular French actress Dana directs and stars as the unlucky-in-love heroine Jeanne – a recently-divorced single mother who has sworn off men.
One morning she wakes up with a penis – a development that mystifies her gynaecologist and results in some quirky situations as Jeanne navigates her way – emotionally and physically – through the unprecedented development.
Other cast members include Serial (Bad) Weddings star Christian Clavier; Eric Elmosnino, whose recent credits include the hit La Famille Bélier; and Alice Belaïdi (A Little Job, The Climb).
It is Dana’s second feature in the director’s chair after her 2014 ensemble work French Women (Sous Les Jupes des Filles) co-starring Isabelle Adjani, Laetitia Casta, [link...
Elle Driver is reporting brisk business on Audrey Dana’s comedy If I Were A Boy following a packed screening at the Unifrance Rendez-vous With French Cinema in Paris, which runs from January 12-16.
Popular French actress Dana directs and stars as the unlucky-in-love heroine Jeanne – a recently-divorced single mother who has sworn off men.
One morning she wakes up with a penis – a development that mystifies her gynaecologist and results in some quirky situations as Jeanne navigates her way – emotionally and physically – through the unprecedented development.
Other cast members include Serial (Bad) Weddings star Christian Clavier; Eric Elmosnino, whose recent credits include the hit La Famille Bélier; and Alice Belaïdi (A Little Job, The Climb).
It is Dana’s second feature in the director’s chair after her 2014 ensemble work French Women (Sous Les Jupes des Filles) co-starring Isabelle Adjani, Laetitia Casta, [link...
- 1/14/2017
- ScreenDaily
Exclusive: Company to launch Christian Volckman’s English-language thriller The Room set to star Olga Kurylenko and show first images for Jorge Michel Grau’s 7:19 Am.
Elle Driver has taken world rights on Christian Volckman’s English-language, fantasy thriller The Room, about a couple who discover a secret chamber in their old house which has the power to materialise anything they want.
Olga Kurylenko (Quantum Of Solace) is set to co-star as one-half of the couple who discover the room in their old upstate New Hampshire house. Entranced, they dream up increasingly lavish requests. When they ask for a child the game turns sinister.
It is in pre-production and the role of the husband is currently being cast.
The feature marks a live action debut for French animation director and artist Volckman who won best film at the Annecy International Animation Film in 2006 for the dystopian sci-fi drama Renaissance, about a world...
Elle Driver has taken world rights on Christian Volckman’s English-language, fantasy thriller The Room, about a couple who discover a secret chamber in their old house which has the power to materialise anything they want.
Olga Kurylenko (Quantum Of Solace) is set to co-star as one-half of the couple who discover the room in their old upstate New Hampshire house. Entranced, they dream up increasingly lavish requests. When they ask for a child the game turns sinister.
It is in pre-production and the role of the husband is currently being cast.
The feature marks a live action debut for French animation director and artist Volckman who won best film at the Annecy International Animation Film in 2006 for the dystopian sci-fi drama Renaissance, about a world...
- 5/6/2016
- ScreenDaily
Exclusive: Company to launch Christian Volckman’s English-language thriller The Room set to star Olga Kurylenko and show first images for Jorge Michel Grau’s 7:19 Am.
Elle Driver has taken world rights on Christian Volckman’s English-language, fantasy thriller The Room, about a couple who discover a secret chamber in their old house which has the power to materialise anything they want.
Olga Kurylenko (Quantum Of Solace) is set to co-star as one-half of the couple who discover the room in their old upstate New Hampshire house. Entranced, they dream up increasingly lavish requests. When they ask for a child the game turns sinister.
It is in pre-production and the role of the husband is currently being cast.
The feature marks a live action debut for French animation director and artist Volckman who won best film at the Annecy International Animation Film in 2006 for the dystopian sci-fi drama Renaissance, about a world...
Elle Driver has taken world rights on Christian Volckman’s English-language, fantasy thriller The Room, about a couple who discover a secret chamber in their old house which has the power to materialise anything they want.
Olga Kurylenko (Quantum Of Solace) is set to co-star as one-half of the couple who discover the room in their old upstate New Hampshire house. Entranced, they dream up increasingly lavish requests. When they ask for a child the game turns sinister.
It is in pre-production and the role of the husband is currently being cast.
The feature marks a live action debut for French animation director and artist Volckman who won best film at the Annecy International Animation Film in 2006 for the dystopian sci-fi drama Renaissance, about a world...
- 5/6/2016
- ScreenDaily
Exclusive: All-female production stars Canadian actress Natalie Krill and Swedish model Erika Linder.
Elle Driver has acquired world sales to all-female production Below Her Mouth, about a passionate, unexpected fling between two women that changes their lives forever.
It is the latest production from Toronto-based Serendipity Point Films, which previously produced Atom Egoyan’s Remember, Oscar-nominated Barney’s Version and Being Julia, and is made in association with South African outfit Distant Horizon.
The film, which was shot with an all-female crew, stars Canadian actress Natalie Krill and Swedish model Erika Linder in her first acting role. Serendipity’s Melissa Coghlan is lead producer.
Actress and director April Mullen directs from a screenplay by Stephanie Fabrizi.
Described by its producers as a “bold, uninhibited drama”, the feature kicks off with a steamy, weekend affair between two women: Dallas, a roofer, and Jasmine, a fashion editor. But the powerful connection they ignite derails their lives.
Linder is known...
Elle Driver has acquired world sales to all-female production Below Her Mouth, about a passionate, unexpected fling between two women that changes their lives forever.
It is the latest production from Toronto-based Serendipity Point Films, which previously produced Atom Egoyan’s Remember, Oscar-nominated Barney’s Version and Being Julia, and is made in association with South African outfit Distant Horizon.
The film, which was shot with an all-female crew, stars Canadian actress Natalie Krill and Swedish model Erika Linder in her first acting role. Serendipity’s Melissa Coghlan is lead producer.
Actress and director April Mullen directs from a screenplay by Stephanie Fabrizi.
Described by its producers as a “bold, uninhibited drama”, the feature kicks off with a steamy, weekend affair between two women: Dallas, a roofer, and Jasmine, a fashion editor. But the powerful connection they ignite derails their lives.
Linder is known...
- 4/28/2016
- ScreenDaily
Exclusive: Oscar-nominated Bouchareb explores plight of parents who lose children to Isis.Elle Driver has boarded Jorge Michael Grau’s earthquake drama 7.19 am and Rachid Bouchareb’s Road to Istanbul [pictured], about a mother who goes in pursuit of her Isis recruit daughter, ahead of the American Film Market (Afm). The company also start pre-sales on Audrey Dana’s comedy If I Were a Boy, in which she stars as a woman who wakes up with a penis, and Harry Cleven’s fantasy romance Angel. Franco-Algerian Bouchareb’s Road to Istanbul stars Belgian actress Astrid Whettnall as a single mother on a quest to find her 18-year-old daughter after she leaves Belgium to join the Islamic State with a Jihadist boyfriend. “My goal is to film the incomprehension of a mother totally caught off guard by the changes in her daughter on reaching legal age… Alone, divorced and abandoned by the authorities, she must try...
- 11/3/2015
- ScreenDaily
The Cannes Film festival was an exceptional edition for French films this year. A focus on the rising generation of French actors and directors that have been highlighted in Cannes and will most certainly be the stars of tomorrow was compiled by Unifrance chief Isabelle Giordano.
They are a force to be reckoned with. Unifrance films is ready to bet that you will certainly hear about these ten talented people. They represent the French cinema of today and will soon be on the screens worldwide.
Emmanuelle Bercot
An actress and a director, Emmanuelle Bercot began by enrolling at the Cours Florent drama school and taking dancing lessons after her baccalaureate. She graduated from Femis in 1998, after winning the Prix du Jury at the Cannes Film Festival for her short film "Les Vacances," in 1997. After her first few roles in the films of Jean-François Richet and Michel Deville, her career as an actress took off when Claude Miller gave her one of the main roles in "La Classe de neige" (1998). The following year, she made the headlines with the medium-length film she directed called "La Puce," presented in the selection of Un Certain Regard at Cannes. This film tells of the love affair between a 35-year-old man and a 14-year-old girl, played by Isild Le Besco.
Her first feature-length film, "Clément" (2001), is about the life of a troubled woman who has one adventure after another with various men until she meets a 14-yearold boy. Her second film, "Backstage" (2004), continues to explore teenage angst through a relationship between a hit singer and a young obsessional fan. She earned her first critical and public acclaim with "On My Way" (2013), the third film written by the director for Catherine Deneuve, in which the star plays a woman who has decided to leave everything behind and hit the road in France.
She was indisputably the most talked about person during the Cannes Film Festival 2015, both as an actress and a director. Thierry Frémaux surprised everyone by announcing that "Standing Tall," Emmanuelle Bercot’s fourth feature-length film would open the 68th Cannes Film Festival. Emmanuelle Bercot says that she has rediscovered the social fiber of her beginnings with this tale of juvenile delinquency. After the enthusiastic and unanimous reception of her film, she won the Best Actress Award for her role as a woman under the influence of love in the film "Mon Roi" by Maïwenn, with whom she co-wrote the script for "Polisse," which won the Prix du Jury at the Cannes Film Festival in 2012
Thomas Bidegain
Thomas Bidegain may well be one of the best known French screenwriters in the profession today, but it took him ten years to achieve this status. His career path in film is anything but ordinary. He started out in the 1990s by distributing and producing independent American films: "Ice Storm" by Ang Lee and "Chasing Sleep" by Michael Walker. He came back to France and joined MK2 where he became director of distribution. In 1999, he returned to production for "Why Not." In 2007, he told the story of his attempt to stop smoking in "Arrêter de fumer tue," a personal diary that was turned into a documentary, then a book.
In the meantime, he began screenwriting and worked on several projects. In 2009, he wrote the screenplay for Jacques Audiard’s film, "A Prophet," alongside Nicolas Peufaillit and Abdel Raouf Dafri, which won the Grand Prix du Jury in 2009. He participated in Audiard’s next film, "Rust and Bone" and "Our Children" by Joachim Lafosse. He was also the co-writer for "Saint Laurent" by Bertrand Bonello. Winning a César for the best original script and a César for the best adaptation, he presented "Cowboys" at the Quinzaine des Réalisateurs in Cannes this year, his first film as a director. He is also co-writer of "Ni le ciel ni la terre" by Clément Cogitore, presented during the Semaine de la Critique, as well as co-writer of the script for Jacques Audiard’s latest film, "Dheepan," which won the Palme d’Or.
Louise Bourgoin
Louise Bourgoin attended the Ecole des Beaux Arts for five years, during which she began her career as a model. After she graduated from art school in 2004, she radically changed direction and became a presenter on cable TV. She was Miss Météo in Le Grand Journal on Canal + from 2006 to 2008. Her slot became essential viewing and attracted a wide audience, including the attention of the film industry.
She began her acting career in "The Girl from Monaco" by Anne Fontaine, and her performance earned her a César nomination for Most Promising Actress. This recognition led to a whole series of roles and launched her career in film. She headed the bill of several films in 2010 ("White as Snow" by Christophe Blanc, "Sweet Valentine" by Emma Luchini, and "Black Heaven" by Gilles Marchand). The same year, Luc Besson selected her for the leading role in "The Extraordinary Adventures of Adèle Blanc-Sec."
Since then, Louise Bourgoin has played in film after film, and has taken her first steps in the international scene with her part in the American film "The Love Punch" by Joel Hopkins. She attracted attention at the Cannes Film Festival this year with her unusual role in Laurent Larivière’s first film, "I Am a Soldier," presented at Un Certain Regard.
Anaïs Demoustier
Her passion for acting started at a very young age and rapidly pushed her to take drama classes. She auditioned, when still a teenager, and got her first role alongside Isabelle Huppert in "Time of the Wolf" by Michael Haneke. After this, her career was launched and she played in a series of films among which "L’Année suivante" by Isabelle Czajka, "Hellphone" by James Huth, "The Beautiful Person" by Christophe Honoré, "Sois sage" by Juliette Garcias, "Sweet Evil" by Olivier Coussemacq, "Dear Prudene" by Rebecca Zlotowski, "Snows of Kilimanjaro" by Robert Guédiguian, "Thérèse Desqueyroux" by Claude Miller, "Quai d’Orsay" by Bertrand Tavernier, "Paris Follies" by Marc Fitoussi, etc.
A filmography rich of 30 films for an actress who isn’t 30 years old yet. In 2014, the press talked about the blooming of Anaïs Demoustier because her face and poise became essential to cinema. Present in "Bird People" by Pascale Ferran, "Caprices" by Emmanuel Mouret, "À trois on y va" by Jérôme Bonnell and "The New Girlfriend" by François Ozon, she is Marguerite in the last Valérie Donzelli’s film, "Marguerite et Julien" screened in Official selection in Cannes.
Louis Garrel
The son of actress Brigitte Sy and the director Philippe Garrel, he began his career in film thanks to his father, who started filming him at the age of six in "Emergency Kisses," alongside his mother and his grandfather, Maurice Garrel. He went onto study drama at the Conservatoire National d’Art Dramatique. He made his real cinema debut in 2001 in the film "Ceci est mon corps" by Rodolphe Marconi. Two years later, he played opposite Michael Pitt and the future Bond girl, Eva Green, in "The Dreamers" by Bernardo Bertolucci.
He then starred in another of his father’s films, "Regular Lovers". His performance earned him the César for the Most Promising Actor in 2005. Since then, he has played alongside the greatest, such as Isabelle Huppert in "Ma mère" by Christophe Honoré. This marked the beginning of a long collaboration between the filmmaker and the actor. They worked together in the film "In Paris" with Romain Duris, then in 2007 in "Love Songs" with Ludivine Sagnier, in "The Beautiful Person" with Léa Seydoux, in "Making Plans" for Lena with Chiara Mostroianni and, finally, in " Beloved" with Catherine Deneuve. He also topped the bill with Valéria Bruni Tedeschi in "Actresses," whom he worked with again in 2013 in "A Castle in Italy."
In 2010, he directed a short film, "The Little Tailor," in which he directed Léa Seydoux. He performed once again in one of his father’s films, "A Burning Hot Summer," followed by "Jealousy." In 2014, he starred in Bertrand Bonello’s film "Saint Laurent," a role which led to another César nomination, but this time in the best supporting role category. His first feature-length film, "Two Friends," presented at a Certain Regard, was applauded by the critics. He also starred in "Mon Roi," Maïwenn’s fourth feature-length film, alongside Emmanuelle and Vincent Cassel, presented as part of the official selection.
Guillaume Gouix
After studying at the Conservatoire in Marseille and the Ecole Régionale d’Acteur de Cannes, Guillaume Gouix began his career in television. He played the male lead in "The Lion Cubs," by Claire Doyon, in 2003. Noted for his performance, especially the highly physical aspect of it and his intense gaze, he then played a series of supporting roles as a young hoodlum in "Les Mauvais joueurs" by Frédéric Balekdjian and in "Chacun sa nuit," by Jean-Marc Barr and Pascal Arnold. He featured in the 2007 war film "Intimate Enemies" by Florent Emilio Siri, thus confirming his taste for complex characters.
The following year, he was applauded for his performance in the film "Behind the Walls" by Christian Faure. In 2010, he starred in "22 Bullets" by Richard Berry and in 2011, he established his reputation with roles in "Nobody Else But You" by Gérald Hustache-Mathieu, "Et soudain, tout le monde me manque" by Jennifer Devoldere, and "Jimmy Rivière," Teddy Lussi-Modeste’s film debut.
He also appeared in "Midnight in Paris" by Woody Allen. He more recently starred in "Attila Marcel," by Sylvain Chomet, in which he played the lead role, in "French Women" by Audrey Dana, and "The Connection" by Cédric Jimenez with Jean Dujardin and Gilles Lelouche. He performed in three films presented at Cannes this year ("Les Anarchistes" by Elie Wajeman, which opened the Semaine de la Critique, "La Vie en grand" by Mathieu Vadepied, which closed the week, and in "Enragés" by Eric Hannezo, screened at the Cinéma de la Plage). He also directed his first short film "Alexis Ivanovitch, vous êtes mon héros" in 2011 and will soon start on a feature-length film, which is currently being written. He will be topping the bill in 2015 with "Braqueurs," a thriller by Julien Leclercq.
Ariane Labed
Born in Greece to French parents, Ariane Labed has always navigated between her two countries. She studied drama at the University of Provence and began her acting career treading the boards. After setting up a company combining dance and theater, Ariane Labed returned to live in Greece where she played at the National Theater of Athens. 2010 was the year of her first film, "Attenberg," directed by Athiná-Rachél Tsangári. "Alps" by Yorgos Lanthi-mos, the following year, confirmed the talent of this strangely charming actress. Two years later, she starred in "Before Midnight" by Richard Linklater where she played the role of Anna. The follow-up to "Before Sunrise" and "Before Sunset," this third part of the saga was a great success, making Labed known to a wider audience.
In 2014, she played a young sailor in "Fidelio, Alice’s Odyssey," who is torn between faithfulness and her desire to live her life. Winning the best actress award at the Locarno Film Festival and nominated for a César, the French actress gives a brilliant performance in Lucie Borleteau’s first feature-length film. She joined Yorgos Lanthimos in Cannes in 2015, where he won the Prix du Jury for his film "The Lobster."
Vincent Macaigne
Vincent Macaigne is the leading light in young French cinema. He joined the Conservatoire National Supérieur d’Art Dramatique in Paris in 1999, appearing on stage and assuming the role of director. His free adaptations of the great classics of literature and drama earned him public and critical acclaim. He directed "The Idiot" by Dostoïevski and presented "Au moins j’aurai laissé un beau cadavre in Avignon," inspired by Hamlet. He also rapidly made a name for himself in demanding art-house films. In 2001, he was seen for the first time in "Replay" by Catherine Corsini. In 2007, he starred in "On War" by Bertrand Bonello and in 2010, in "A Burning Hot Summer" by Philippe Garrel.
Since 2011, Vincent Macaigne’s presence in short, medium and full-length films has gradually increased. Faithful to his directors, he has starred in several of their films. As is the case with his friend Guillaume Brac, who directed him in "Le Naufragé," "Tonnerre" and "Un monde sans femmes." He was awarded the Grand Prix and the Prix Télérama at the Clermont-Ferrand International Short Film Festival, and the Prix Lutin for Best Actor in this film. Under the direction of Vincent Mariette, he played in "Les Lézards" then "Fool Circle." In 2013, we find the funny and touching thirty-something in "La fille du 14 juillet" by Antonin Peretjatko, "Age of Panic" by Justine Triet, and "2 Autumns, 3 Winters" by Sébastien Betbeder.
He was discovered by the general public at the 2013 Cannes Film Festival. Considered a figurehead of the revival of French cinema, Vincent has drawn the attention of the Cahiers du Cinéma, and even the British newspaper The Observer, which referred to him as the “new Gérard Depardieu”. In 2011, he directed "What We’ll Leave Behind," a very well-received medium-length film which won the Grand Prix at the Clermont-Ferrand Festival. He also starred in Mia Hansen-løve’s 2014 film "Eden." He plays one of the main roles in the actor Louis Garrel’s first feature-length film, "Two Friends," presented during the Semaine de la Critique. He also featured in his 2011 film, La Règle de trois.
Vimala Pons
From the Conservatoire National Supérieur d’Art Dramatique, where she attended drama classes even though she wanted to be a screenwriter, to circus tents, Vimala Pons is an acrobat in all senses of the word. The 29-year-old actress has established her physical and poetic presence in French art-house films. She began her career in film with Albert Dupontel in "Enfermés dehors" in 2006. She then starred in "Eden Log" by Franck Vestiel in 2007, then in "Granny’s Funeral" by Bruno Podalydès in 2012.
Since then, we have seen her cross France in a little blue dress in "La Fille du 14 juillet," (she plays the girl) by Antonin Peretjatko, and changing into a lioness in "Métamorphoses," by Christophe Honoré. The impetuous muse of French independent film, Vimala Pons played in "Vincent" by Thomas Salvador this year. The actress has made a name for herself in 2015, in particular with "Comme un avion" by Bruno Podalydès, "Je suis à vous tout de suite" by Baya Kasmi, "La vie très privée de Monsieur Sim" by Michel Leclerc, and "L’Ombre des femmes" by Philippe Garrel (presented at the Quinzaine des Réalisateurs this year in Cannes). She has also begun an international career, with a leading role in Paul Verhoeven’s latest film, "Elle."
Alice Winocour
The director Alice Winocour started out at Femis. After going into law, she returned to film and won three prizes for her short film "Kitchen: Prix TV5" for the best French-language short film, best international short film and the Silver Bear at the Festival of Nations (Ebensee). For "Magic Paris," she was awarded the jury prize at the St. Petersburg International Documentary, Short Film and Animated Film Festival.
She continued her career by writing the script for the film "Ordinary," by Vladimir Perisic. At the Cannes Film Festival 2012, Alice Winocour made a marked entry in the international arena with a film by a woman about women and the unchanging way of looking at them. In the film "Augustine," we are told the story of a professor and his patient, played by Vincent Lindon and Soko respectively. In 2015, she brought out her second feature-length film, "Maryland," which was screened in the Un Certain Regard section at the 68th Cannes Film Festival. She is also the co-writer of "Mustang," by Denis Gamze Ergüven, presented at the Quinzaine des Réalisateurs.
They are a force to be reckoned with. Unifrance films is ready to bet that you will certainly hear about these ten talented people. They represent the French cinema of today and will soon be on the screens worldwide.
Emmanuelle Bercot
An actress and a director, Emmanuelle Bercot began by enrolling at the Cours Florent drama school and taking dancing lessons after her baccalaureate. She graduated from Femis in 1998, after winning the Prix du Jury at the Cannes Film Festival for her short film "Les Vacances," in 1997. After her first few roles in the films of Jean-François Richet and Michel Deville, her career as an actress took off when Claude Miller gave her one of the main roles in "La Classe de neige" (1998). The following year, she made the headlines with the medium-length film she directed called "La Puce," presented in the selection of Un Certain Regard at Cannes. This film tells of the love affair between a 35-year-old man and a 14-year-old girl, played by Isild Le Besco.
Her first feature-length film, "Clément" (2001), is about the life of a troubled woman who has one adventure after another with various men until she meets a 14-yearold boy. Her second film, "Backstage" (2004), continues to explore teenage angst through a relationship between a hit singer and a young obsessional fan. She earned her first critical and public acclaim with "On My Way" (2013), the third film written by the director for Catherine Deneuve, in which the star plays a woman who has decided to leave everything behind and hit the road in France.
She was indisputably the most talked about person during the Cannes Film Festival 2015, both as an actress and a director. Thierry Frémaux surprised everyone by announcing that "Standing Tall," Emmanuelle Bercot’s fourth feature-length film would open the 68th Cannes Film Festival. Emmanuelle Bercot says that she has rediscovered the social fiber of her beginnings with this tale of juvenile delinquency. After the enthusiastic and unanimous reception of her film, she won the Best Actress Award for her role as a woman under the influence of love in the film "Mon Roi" by Maïwenn, with whom she co-wrote the script for "Polisse," which won the Prix du Jury at the Cannes Film Festival in 2012
Thomas Bidegain
Thomas Bidegain may well be one of the best known French screenwriters in the profession today, but it took him ten years to achieve this status. His career path in film is anything but ordinary. He started out in the 1990s by distributing and producing independent American films: "Ice Storm" by Ang Lee and "Chasing Sleep" by Michael Walker. He came back to France and joined MK2 where he became director of distribution. In 1999, he returned to production for "Why Not." In 2007, he told the story of his attempt to stop smoking in "Arrêter de fumer tue," a personal diary that was turned into a documentary, then a book.
In the meantime, he began screenwriting and worked on several projects. In 2009, he wrote the screenplay for Jacques Audiard’s film, "A Prophet," alongside Nicolas Peufaillit and Abdel Raouf Dafri, which won the Grand Prix du Jury in 2009. He participated in Audiard’s next film, "Rust and Bone" and "Our Children" by Joachim Lafosse. He was also the co-writer for "Saint Laurent" by Bertrand Bonello. Winning a César for the best original script and a César for the best adaptation, he presented "Cowboys" at the Quinzaine des Réalisateurs in Cannes this year, his first film as a director. He is also co-writer of "Ni le ciel ni la terre" by Clément Cogitore, presented during the Semaine de la Critique, as well as co-writer of the script for Jacques Audiard’s latest film, "Dheepan," which won the Palme d’Or.
Louise Bourgoin
Louise Bourgoin attended the Ecole des Beaux Arts for five years, during which she began her career as a model. After she graduated from art school in 2004, she radically changed direction and became a presenter on cable TV. She was Miss Météo in Le Grand Journal on Canal + from 2006 to 2008. Her slot became essential viewing and attracted a wide audience, including the attention of the film industry.
She began her acting career in "The Girl from Monaco" by Anne Fontaine, and her performance earned her a César nomination for Most Promising Actress. This recognition led to a whole series of roles and launched her career in film. She headed the bill of several films in 2010 ("White as Snow" by Christophe Blanc, "Sweet Valentine" by Emma Luchini, and "Black Heaven" by Gilles Marchand). The same year, Luc Besson selected her for the leading role in "The Extraordinary Adventures of Adèle Blanc-Sec."
Since then, Louise Bourgoin has played in film after film, and has taken her first steps in the international scene with her part in the American film "The Love Punch" by Joel Hopkins. She attracted attention at the Cannes Film Festival this year with her unusual role in Laurent Larivière’s first film, "I Am a Soldier," presented at Un Certain Regard.
Anaïs Demoustier
Her passion for acting started at a very young age and rapidly pushed her to take drama classes. She auditioned, when still a teenager, and got her first role alongside Isabelle Huppert in "Time of the Wolf" by Michael Haneke. After this, her career was launched and she played in a series of films among which "L’Année suivante" by Isabelle Czajka, "Hellphone" by James Huth, "The Beautiful Person" by Christophe Honoré, "Sois sage" by Juliette Garcias, "Sweet Evil" by Olivier Coussemacq, "Dear Prudene" by Rebecca Zlotowski, "Snows of Kilimanjaro" by Robert Guédiguian, "Thérèse Desqueyroux" by Claude Miller, "Quai d’Orsay" by Bertrand Tavernier, "Paris Follies" by Marc Fitoussi, etc.
A filmography rich of 30 films for an actress who isn’t 30 years old yet. In 2014, the press talked about the blooming of Anaïs Demoustier because her face and poise became essential to cinema. Present in "Bird People" by Pascale Ferran, "Caprices" by Emmanuel Mouret, "À trois on y va" by Jérôme Bonnell and "The New Girlfriend" by François Ozon, she is Marguerite in the last Valérie Donzelli’s film, "Marguerite et Julien" screened in Official selection in Cannes.
Louis Garrel
The son of actress Brigitte Sy and the director Philippe Garrel, he began his career in film thanks to his father, who started filming him at the age of six in "Emergency Kisses," alongside his mother and his grandfather, Maurice Garrel. He went onto study drama at the Conservatoire National d’Art Dramatique. He made his real cinema debut in 2001 in the film "Ceci est mon corps" by Rodolphe Marconi. Two years later, he played opposite Michael Pitt and the future Bond girl, Eva Green, in "The Dreamers" by Bernardo Bertolucci.
He then starred in another of his father’s films, "Regular Lovers". His performance earned him the César for the Most Promising Actor in 2005. Since then, he has played alongside the greatest, such as Isabelle Huppert in "Ma mère" by Christophe Honoré. This marked the beginning of a long collaboration between the filmmaker and the actor. They worked together in the film "In Paris" with Romain Duris, then in 2007 in "Love Songs" with Ludivine Sagnier, in "The Beautiful Person" with Léa Seydoux, in "Making Plans" for Lena with Chiara Mostroianni and, finally, in " Beloved" with Catherine Deneuve. He also topped the bill with Valéria Bruni Tedeschi in "Actresses," whom he worked with again in 2013 in "A Castle in Italy."
In 2010, he directed a short film, "The Little Tailor," in which he directed Léa Seydoux. He performed once again in one of his father’s films, "A Burning Hot Summer," followed by "Jealousy." In 2014, he starred in Bertrand Bonello’s film "Saint Laurent," a role which led to another César nomination, but this time in the best supporting role category. His first feature-length film, "Two Friends," presented at a Certain Regard, was applauded by the critics. He also starred in "Mon Roi," Maïwenn’s fourth feature-length film, alongside Emmanuelle and Vincent Cassel, presented as part of the official selection.
Guillaume Gouix
After studying at the Conservatoire in Marseille and the Ecole Régionale d’Acteur de Cannes, Guillaume Gouix began his career in television. He played the male lead in "The Lion Cubs," by Claire Doyon, in 2003. Noted for his performance, especially the highly physical aspect of it and his intense gaze, he then played a series of supporting roles as a young hoodlum in "Les Mauvais joueurs" by Frédéric Balekdjian and in "Chacun sa nuit," by Jean-Marc Barr and Pascal Arnold. He featured in the 2007 war film "Intimate Enemies" by Florent Emilio Siri, thus confirming his taste for complex characters.
The following year, he was applauded for his performance in the film "Behind the Walls" by Christian Faure. In 2010, he starred in "22 Bullets" by Richard Berry and in 2011, he established his reputation with roles in "Nobody Else But You" by Gérald Hustache-Mathieu, "Et soudain, tout le monde me manque" by Jennifer Devoldere, and "Jimmy Rivière," Teddy Lussi-Modeste’s film debut.
He also appeared in "Midnight in Paris" by Woody Allen. He more recently starred in "Attila Marcel," by Sylvain Chomet, in which he played the lead role, in "French Women" by Audrey Dana, and "The Connection" by Cédric Jimenez with Jean Dujardin and Gilles Lelouche. He performed in three films presented at Cannes this year ("Les Anarchistes" by Elie Wajeman, which opened the Semaine de la Critique, "La Vie en grand" by Mathieu Vadepied, which closed the week, and in "Enragés" by Eric Hannezo, screened at the Cinéma de la Plage). He also directed his first short film "Alexis Ivanovitch, vous êtes mon héros" in 2011 and will soon start on a feature-length film, which is currently being written. He will be topping the bill in 2015 with "Braqueurs," a thriller by Julien Leclercq.
Ariane Labed
Born in Greece to French parents, Ariane Labed has always navigated between her two countries. She studied drama at the University of Provence and began her acting career treading the boards. After setting up a company combining dance and theater, Ariane Labed returned to live in Greece where she played at the National Theater of Athens. 2010 was the year of her first film, "Attenberg," directed by Athiná-Rachél Tsangári. "Alps" by Yorgos Lanthi-mos, the following year, confirmed the talent of this strangely charming actress. Two years later, she starred in "Before Midnight" by Richard Linklater where she played the role of Anna. The follow-up to "Before Sunrise" and "Before Sunset," this third part of the saga was a great success, making Labed known to a wider audience.
In 2014, she played a young sailor in "Fidelio, Alice’s Odyssey," who is torn between faithfulness and her desire to live her life. Winning the best actress award at the Locarno Film Festival and nominated for a César, the French actress gives a brilliant performance in Lucie Borleteau’s first feature-length film. She joined Yorgos Lanthimos in Cannes in 2015, where he won the Prix du Jury for his film "The Lobster."
Vincent Macaigne
Vincent Macaigne is the leading light in young French cinema. He joined the Conservatoire National Supérieur d’Art Dramatique in Paris in 1999, appearing on stage and assuming the role of director. His free adaptations of the great classics of literature and drama earned him public and critical acclaim. He directed "The Idiot" by Dostoïevski and presented "Au moins j’aurai laissé un beau cadavre in Avignon," inspired by Hamlet. He also rapidly made a name for himself in demanding art-house films. In 2001, he was seen for the first time in "Replay" by Catherine Corsini. In 2007, he starred in "On War" by Bertrand Bonello and in 2010, in "A Burning Hot Summer" by Philippe Garrel.
Since 2011, Vincent Macaigne’s presence in short, medium and full-length films has gradually increased. Faithful to his directors, he has starred in several of their films. As is the case with his friend Guillaume Brac, who directed him in "Le Naufragé," "Tonnerre" and "Un monde sans femmes." He was awarded the Grand Prix and the Prix Télérama at the Clermont-Ferrand International Short Film Festival, and the Prix Lutin for Best Actor in this film. Under the direction of Vincent Mariette, he played in "Les Lézards" then "Fool Circle." In 2013, we find the funny and touching thirty-something in "La fille du 14 juillet" by Antonin Peretjatko, "Age of Panic" by Justine Triet, and "2 Autumns, 3 Winters" by Sébastien Betbeder.
He was discovered by the general public at the 2013 Cannes Film Festival. Considered a figurehead of the revival of French cinema, Vincent has drawn the attention of the Cahiers du Cinéma, and even the British newspaper The Observer, which referred to him as the “new Gérard Depardieu”. In 2011, he directed "What We’ll Leave Behind," a very well-received medium-length film which won the Grand Prix at the Clermont-Ferrand Festival. He also starred in Mia Hansen-løve’s 2014 film "Eden." He plays one of the main roles in the actor Louis Garrel’s first feature-length film, "Two Friends," presented during the Semaine de la Critique. He also featured in his 2011 film, La Règle de trois.
Vimala Pons
From the Conservatoire National Supérieur d’Art Dramatique, where she attended drama classes even though she wanted to be a screenwriter, to circus tents, Vimala Pons is an acrobat in all senses of the word. The 29-year-old actress has established her physical and poetic presence in French art-house films. She began her career in film with Albert Dupontel in "Enfermés dehors" in 2006. She then starred in "Eden Log" by Franck Vestiel in 2007, then in "Granny’s Funeral" by Bruno Podalydès in 2012.
Since then, we have seen her cross France in a little blue dress in "La Fille du 14 juillet," (she plays the girl) by Antonin Peretjatko, and changing into a lioness in "Métamorphoses," by Christophe Honoré. The impetuous muse of French independent film, Vimala Pons played in "Vincent" by Thomas Salvador this year. The actress has made a name for herself in 2015, in particular with "Comme un avion" by Bruno Podalydès, "Je suis à vous tout de suite" by Baya Kasmi, "La vie très privée de Monsieur Sim" by Michel Leclerc, and "L’Ombre des femmes" by Philippe Garrel (presented at the Quinzaine des Réalisateurs this year in Cannes). She has also begun an international career, with a leading role in Paul Verhoeven’s latest film, "Elle."
Alice Winocour
The director Alice Winocour started out at Femis. After going into law, she returned to film and won three prizes for her short film "Kitchen: Prix TV5" for the best French-language short film, best international short film and the Silver Bear at the Festival of Nations (Ebensee). For "Magic Paris," she was awarded the jury prize at the St. Petersburg International Documentary, Short Film and Animated Film Festival.
She continued her career by writing the script for the film "Ordinary," by Vladimir Perisic. At the Cannes Film Festival 2012, Alice Winocour made a marked entry in the international arena with a film by a woman about women and the unchanging way of looking at them. In the film "Augustine," we are told the story of a professor and his patient, played by Vincent Lindon and Soko respectively. In 2015, she brought out her second feature-length film, "Maryland," which was screened in the Un Certain Regard section at the 68th Cannes Film Festival. She is also the co-writer of "Mustang," by Denis Gamze Ergüven, presented at the Quinzaine des Réalisateurs.
- 7/5/2015
- by Sydney Levine
- Sydney's Buzz
Exclusive: Benoit Jacquot’s upcoming drama 3 Heartshas been finding plenty love with buyers on the back of first images.
Paris-based sales company Elle Driver has sold 3 Hearts into several territories including the UK (Metrodome), Canada (Métropole), Portugal (Leopardo Filmes), Cis and Baltics (Russian Report), Latin America (HBO Olé), Brazil (Mares Filmes), Spain (Golem), Switzerland (Agora Films), Australia (Madman) and Italy (Bim)
The picture stars Benoit Poelvoorde as a man who unwittingly falls in love with two sisters, played by Chiara Mastroianni and Charlotte Gainsbourg. Catherine Deneuve also features in the cast as their mother.
Elle Driver has also done good business on Audrey Dana’s French Women - starring an ensemble cast featuring Isabelle Adjani, Laetitia Casta, Vanessa Paradis and Sylvie Testud - which it is world premiering in the market at Cannes.
Territories to have picked up the film include Brazil (Mares Filmes), Cis (Premium Films), Switzerland (Filmcoopi), Spain (Vertigo Films) and Germany/Austria (Wild Bunch Germany...
Paris-based sales company Elle Driver has sold 3 Hearts into several territories including the UK (Metrodome), Canada (Métropole), Portugal (Leopardo Filmes), Cis and Baltics (Russian Report), Latin America (HBO Olé), Brazil (Mares Filmes), Spain (Golem), Switzerland (Agora Films), Australia (Madman) and Italy (Bim)
The picture stars Benoit Poelvoorde as a man who unwittingly falls in love with two sisters, played by Chiara Mastroianni and Charlotte Gainsbourg. Catherine Deneuve also features in the cast as their mother.
Elle Driver has also done good business on Audrey Dana’s French Women - starring an ensemble cast featuring Isabelle Adjani, Laetitia Casta, Vanessa Paradis and Sylvie Testud - which it is world premiering in the market at Cannes.
Territories to have picked up the film include Brazil (Mares Filmes), Cis (Premium Films), Switzerland (Filmcoopi), Spain (Vertigo Films) and Germany/Austria (Wild Bunch Germany...
- 5/18/2014
- ScreenDaily
Salaud on t’aime
Director: Claude Lelouch
Writers: Claude Lelouch, Valerie Perrin
Producer: Jean-Paul De Vidas
U.S. Distributor: Rights Available
Cast: Sandrine Bonnaire, Johnny Hallyday, Jacky Ido, Irene Jacob, Valerie Kaprisky
While his 2007 film, Roman de Gare received notable art house play and served as an introduction to Lelouche’s new muse, Audrey Dana, his next film, 2010′s What War May Bring never received a Us release. But we’re thinking his latest film shouldn’t follow that same fate, featuring a stellar cast, headlined by the resplendent Sandrine Bonnaire, supported by Johnny Hallyday and Jacky Ido. But then, check it out, Irene Jacob and Valerie Kaprisky are in the supporting cast.
Gist: Lelouch describes the film as being about the four cardinal points of life: love, work, friendship and family.
Release Date: With an April domestic release in France, we’re thinking this might end up at Tribeca.
Director: Claude Lelouch
Writers: Claude Lelouch, Valerie Perrin
Producer: Jean-Paul De Vidas
U.S. Distributor: Rights Available
Cast: Sandrine Bonnaire, Johnny Hallyday, Jacky Ido, Irene Jacob, Valerie Kaprisky
While his 2007 film, Roman de Gare received notable art house play and served as an introduction to Lelouche’s new muse, Audrey Dana, his next film, 2010′s What War May Bring never received a Us release. But we’re thinking his latest film shouldn’t follow that same fate, featuring a stellar cast, headlined by the resplendent Sandrine Bonnaire, supported by Johnny Hallyday and Jacky Ido. But then, check it out, Irene Jacob and Valerie Kaprisky are in the supporting cast.
Gist: Lelouch describes the film as being about the four cardinal points of life: love, work, friendship and family.
Release Date: With an April domestic release in France, we’re thinking this might end up at Tribeca.
- 2/6/2014
- by Nicholas Bell
- IONCINEMA.com
So begins my interview with Sophie Dulac, President of the Champs Élysées Film Festival, film distributor, exhibitor and producer. The first edition of the Festival, co-presided by actors Lambert Wilson and Michael Madsen reached an audience of 15,000 people in Paris, June 6 – 12, 2012.
"And I work with another real blond and her name is Isabelle” [Svanda, General Manager], she adds.
Champs Elysees Film Festival
We are sitting in the outdoor restaurant of Fouquet’s Barriere Hotel, Paris. Also with us are Astrid de Beauregard who has handled all the 50 industry-ites converging on the festival to view four well curated U.S. indie films for the second edition of U.S. in Progress. Maxine Leonard, the festival's publicist and Matthew Akers, the director and cinematographer of Marina Abramovic: The Artist Is Present are also present. Little did I know he was going to win the Audience Prize for a feature length film from the U.S.
The Festival ended for me with current French resident, with white hair and beard, Donald Sutherland presenting Klute by Alan J. Pakula and starring Jane Fonda, and then giving a A Hollywood Conversation in his American accented but fluent French in a good humored atmosphere. I could write an entire blog on what that film and all that he and Jane meant to me at the very beginning of my career in the film business, but I won’t do that here. He was subsequently post-film appointed Commandeur des Arts & Lettres by Frédéric Mitterrand.
My interview with Sophie is the summit of my experience so far as a "blogger". After all I am not a journalist, nor do I pal around with the glitterati or the “elite” folks in the film business. I knew I was entering a rare atmosphere strolling everyday along the Rue de Montaigne to the Champs Elysees. And now, I was going to talk to the granddaughter of one of France's most illustrious citizens. (and no slouch herself! What a truly lovely, amazing woman!!)
U.S. in Progress
The night before, we, the jury of 9, presented the winners of the 2nd edition of U.S. in Progress with their prizes of post production services. First Prize went to a film worthy of a Cannes slot in Un Certain Regard or Fortnight or Critics Week, A Teacher by Hannah Fidell ♀, whose about-to-turn-thirty protagonist is forced to acknowledge her sin of having an affair with a student. The film's affect upon us women was overwhelmingly cathartic. Receiving an Honorable Mention, I Am I, a Sundance-worthy film, well executed very interesting story, well acted by the extremely professional first-time director Joceyln Towne ♀ with additional casting by Ronnie Yeskel ♀, one of the top indie film casting agents. Julie Bergeron, one of the nine-member jury loved Desert Cathedral, a man's quest for peace after an increasing estrangement from his life. She liked its combination of documentary depiction of the desert and the fictional story about a contemporary and universal dilemma faced by too many people today. I want to see more of the three actors, Lee Tergesen is a young and handsome William Macy type and Chaske Spencer, a charismatic First Nation descendant of Lakota (Sioux) Nation, and Petra Wright. The fourth film Michael Bartlett's House Of Last Things is Bonnie Darko meets Twin Peaks, a paean to the Maestro, David Lynch. More than 50 distributors and sales agent watched these films with us.
As part of the selection, the winner of U.S. in Progress from the 1st edition in Wroclaw, Poland last November, Not Waving But Drowning directed by Devyn Waitt and produced by Nicole Emanuele was also showing and Nicole was accompanied by the star, her boyfriend Steven Farneth from Cinetic, the godmother of the movie and other "family" members. Nicole is now working with Google and YouTube in Content Partnerships, Film/ TV while contemplating her next moves in the business.
Created by Sophie Dulac, the Festival programmed some 50 films enabling Parisian audiences to discover the variety of productions available from France and the United States, in the 5 cinema theaters of the Champs Elysees, the most beautiful avenue in the world: the normally rival cinemas Le Balzac and Le Lincoln, the rivals Gaumont Champs-Elysées and Ugc George V, and the Publicis Cinéma.
This success was thanks to an inquiring public which appreciated the simplicity of organization, the fact that projections started on time, and also the quality of programming, with a special heartfelt interest for the 10 independent films from the U.S. in the official selection.
What Makes Sophie Run?
One night at an extraordinary dinner at the Renault Restaurant on the Champs Elysees, where we sat with Julie Bergeron (of Cannes Marche prominence), Pascal Diot (former Paris based sales agent and now organizer in chief of both Venice and Dubai Ff’s Markets), Adeline Monzier (founder of U.S. in Progress and Europa Distribution), and Producer Christophe Bruncher (whose latest film, If We All Lived Together stars Jane Fonda), I learned about Sophie’s grandfather, Marcel Bleustein-Blanchet,who founded Publicis in 1926 and in effect, invented modern advertising in much the same way that Lucien Barriere invented the resort and the casino. Today Publicis is a French multinational advertising and communications company, headquartered in Paris, France and one of the world's three largest advertising holding companies holding among others, Saatchi & Saatchi and Leo Burnett Worldwide. The company conducts its operations in over 200 cities in 104 countries and has a strategic alliance with Dentsu, Inc. He began it as a young man and the Nazis confiscated it as Jewish property. He fled and fought with The Free French...and worked in the Resistance under the name of Blanchet. When he returned to France, he got back his advertising agency and continued doing the sort of pioneering work he loved the best. He also added Blanchet onto his surname. Publicis' current president is Maurice Lévy who was just in the news for having called for higher taxes on the wealthy and now objecting to France’s new President's pledging that he would tax the rich 75% of their income. Read more about the company here.
One more boast about this family: One of Bleustein-Blanchet’s daughters was a legislator and is responsible for abolishing capital punishment in France.
Aside from being totally impressed by all I was hearing, I was beginning to see what informed the personality of the festival and of Sophie herself who was there and everywhere, meeting and mixing with us all. As Maxine said, in effect, Sophie is a mensch. She is the real thing, feet planted firmly on the ground and real. And yet she seems so idealistic in the choices she makes. To this remark of mine, she responded, that in fact, she is very pragmatic, but one must take pleasure in life.
Her grandfather and grandmother raised her and her brother and half brother after their 27 year old mother died in an automobile accident. Sophie was eight years old at the time.
Her grandfather told her that when he began Publicis as a teenager, he never thought about the money he might make. He did it for pleasure. He thought of how best to do what he loved to do the most. For her too, life is about innovation and being happy. She hopes that in ten years the festival and her film business will continue to inspire and motivate her.
Sophie has three children and she tells them to do whatever they want as she would advise everyone: Do what is inside of you, even if it is not what you end up doing. It will make you a better person. Her first son, whom she had when she was 17 and who is now 24, lived one year in Australia and another year in Canada. He is now working with her at the festival. Her 22 year old daughter whom she had when she was 19, lives in London, and the 19 year old, following in his brother’s footsteps, is spending a year in Australia, alone and exploring on his own.
If she succeeds in the movie business, it is because she was not born into films. She has been in the business of Arthouse film production, distribution and exhibition for ten years. Before that she was a practicing psycho graphologist, counseling people from 16 to 60 years old, male and female. You can know a person totally through the handwriting she says. She also did a stint in PR which she hated, before going into film. Her father was a writer and told her to read and so she can talk of many things, not only of business. At the end of the day, she closes her door and business does not exist (unless of course there is a problem at one of her theaters which she does drop in on on Sundays when she is not expected.) She has no scripts at home and does not watch movies for work at home. She has a well rounded education and is proud not to be 100% business.
Today she is also a sort of guardian of Israeli films in France as well. She even wears a small gold Jewish star.
Film Career
She began her film career in 2003 producing a documentary DÉCryptage which examined the French media coverage of the Arab–Israeli conflictand concludes that the media's presentation of the Arab–Israeli conflict in France is consistently skewed against Israel and may be responsible for exacerbating anti-semitism. That documentary was very successful in France, drawing some 300,000 viewers and it caught the attention of Israeli filmmakers.
Famed Israeli actress Ronit Elkabetz, ♀a friend of hers, suggested she help her produce a film she wrote and wanted to direct and she agreed to make Rendre Femme (aka To Take A Wife ♀ produced by Marek Rozenbaum. When Ronit asked her to produce The Band’S Visit, she did not know what to make of the script. But when she saw the footage, she recognized its great potential and stepped in as producer. Unfortunately it could not qualify for the Academy Award Nomination for Best Foreign Language Film because it was filmed in Hebrew, Egyptian and English. She went on to produce My Father My Lord an implicit critique of ultra-Orthodox dogma by a filmmaker who grew up in a Hasidic community but abandoned it when he was 25 to study film.
Sophie produces other world films, including her second American film Benny And The Kids (Go Get Some Rosemary), Argentina’s Little Sky and The Camera Obscura both by Maria Victoria Menis ♀ and others including French films like the upcoming film by Jacques Douvenne.
In Cannes this year, she acquired Room 514 (Isa: Docs & Film) de Sharon Bar-Ziv ♀ which played in l'Acid in Cannes and Les Voisins De Dieu (God’S Neighbors) (Isa: Rezo) de Meni Yaesh which played in La Semaine de la Critique in Cannes as well as Directors’ Fortnight entry Le Repenti and Bence Fliegauf’s Berlin competition entry Just The Wind.
She sees festivals as a place where people can discover new films. Theaters need new ideas, directors, and distributors can take risks only if they own theaters. The triangle of festivals, distributors and exhibitors are complimentary and she finds that having all three allows her to keep selected films longer in theaters or allows for changing theaters (she owns 5 theaters including the famous St. Germain arthouse Harlequin). She recognizes that France has so many subsidies for production and distribution – 12 to 15 new films are released every week – and that gives her films more of a chance to succeed as well.
France also has, after 3 years of discussion, finally, in one year made all its theaters digital. The cost to convert is 1 million Euros. 30% of that is paid by Cnc, the government fund made up of a percentage of box office receipts. The digital norm is 2K and the Vpf (Virtual Print Fee is 5,000 Euros. All distributors must pay this first the first time showing for 4 weeks and then, there are not more VPFs.
When she asks Americans for DCPs, she is surprised to learn that they don’t have them. Even Harvey Weinstein who had a retrospective at the Festival did not have digital prints and he said that to use Blu-Ray or HD was all right with him.
Why Harvey?
Everyone loves a good Harvey story. We had heard that he did not want to travel and I was curious how she had such good luck to get him to Paris. Apparently he flew in, appeared, and flew out again.
“The opening night, with the tribute paid to American producer Harvey Weinstein who accepted, with modesty and as a film enthusiast, a trophy was presented by Sophie Dulac, in the presence of VIP guests: Virginie Ledoyen, Deborah François, Audrey Dana, Thomas Langmann, Olivier Nackache and Eric Toledan.”
What he said at this opening event was that Sophie’s brother is the godfather of his son. And when the Godfather makes a request, he cannot refuse to honor it.
So ended my interview with Sophie. As we all struck out to continue the day, Matthew Akers of Marina Abramovic said, “See you in Sarajevo”. And Sophie responded, “How chic!”...
"And I work with another real blond and her name is Isabelle” [Svanda, General Manager], she adds.
Champs Elysees Film Festival
We are sitting in the outdoor restaurant of Fouquet’s Barriere Hotel, Paris. Also with us are Astrid de Beauregard who has handled all the 50 industry-ites converging on the festival to view four well curated U.S. indie films for the second edition of U.S. in Progress. Maxine Leonard, the festival's publicist and Matthew Akers, the director and cinematographer of Marina Abramovic: The Artist Is Present are also present. Little did I know he was going to win the Audience Prize for a feature length film from the U.S.
The Festival ended for me with current French resident, with white hair and beard, Donald Sutherland presenting Klute by Alan J. Pakula and starring Jane Fonda, and then giving a A Hollywood Conversation in his American accented but fluent French in a good humored atmosphere. I could write an entire blog on what that film and all that he and Jane meant to me at the very beginning of my career in the film business, but I won’t do that here. He was subsequently post-film appointed Commandeur des Arts & Lettres by Frédéric Mitterrand.
My interview with Sophie is the summit of my experience so far as a "blogger". After all I am not a journalist, nor do I pal around with the glitterati or the “elite” folks in the film business. I knew I was entering a rare atmosphere strolling everyday along the Rue de Montaigne to the Champs Elysees. And now, I was going to talk to the granddaughter of one of France's most illustrious citizens. (and no slouch herself! What a truly lovely, amazing woman!!)
U.S. in Progress
The night before, we, the jury of 9, presented the winners of the 2nd edition of U.S. in Progress with their prizes of post production services. First Prize went to a film worthy of a Cannes slot in Un Certain Regard or Fortnight or Critics Week, A Teacher by Hannah Fidell ♀, whose about-to-turn-thirty protagonist is forced to acknowledge her sin of having an affair with a student. The film's affect upon us women was overwhelmingly cathartic. Receiving an Honorable Mention, I Am I, a Sundance-worthy film, well executed very interesting story, well acted by the extremely professional first-time director Joceyln Towne ♀ with additional casting by Ronnie Yeskel ♀, one of the top indie film casting agents. Julie Bergeron, one of the nine-member jury loved Desert Cathedral, a man's quest for peace after an increasing estrangement from his life. She liked its combination of documentary depiction of the desert and the fictional story about a contemporary and universal dilemma faced by too many people today. I want to see more of the three actors, Lee Tergesen is a young and handsome William Macy type and Chaske Spencer, a charismatic First Nation descendant of Lakota (Sioux) Nation, and Petra Wright. The fourth film Michael Bartlett's House Of Last Things is Bonnie Darko meets Twin Peaks, a paean to the Maestro, David Lynch. More than 50 distributors and sales agent watched these films with us.
As part of the selection, the winner of U.S. in Progress from the 1st edition in Wroclaw, Poland last November, Not Waving But Drowning directed by Devyn Waitt and produced by Nicole Emanuele was also showing and Nicole was accompanied by the star, her boyfriend Steven Farneth from Cinetic, the godmother of the movie and other "family" members. Nicole is now working with Google and YouTube in Content Partnerships, Film/ TV while contemplating her next moves in the business.
Created by Sophie Dulac, the Festival programmed some 50 films enabling Parisian audiences to discover the variety of productions available from France and the United States, in the 5 cinema theaters of the Champs Elysees, the most beautiful avenue in the world: the normally rival cinemas Le Balzac and Le Lincoln, the rivals Gaumont Champs-Elysées and Ugc George V, and the Publicis Cinéma.
This success was thanks to an inquiring public which appreciated the simplicity of organization, the fact that projections started on time, and also the quality of programming, with a special heartfelt interest for the 10 independent films from the U.S. in the official selection.
What Makes Sophie Run?
One night at an extraordinary dinner at the Renault Restaurant on the Champs Elysees, where we sat with Julie Bergeron (of Cannes Marche prominence), Pascal Diot (former Paris based sales agent and now organizer in chief of both Venice and Dubai Ff’s Markets), Adeline Monzier (founder of U.S. in Progress and Europa Distribution), and Producer Christophe Bruncher (whose latest film, If We All Lived Together stars Jane Fonda), I learned about Sophie’s grandfather, Marcel Bleustein-Blanchet,who founded Publicis in 1926 and in effect, invented modern advertising in much the same way that Lucien Barriere invented the resort and the casino. Today Publicis is a French multinational advertising and communications company, headquartered in Paris, France and one of the world's three largest advertising holding companies holding among others, Saatchi & Saatchi and Leo Burnett Worldwide. The company conducts its operations in over 200 cities in 104 countries and has a strategic alliance with Dentsu, Inc. He began it as a young man and the Nazis confiscated it as Jewish property. He fled and fought with The Free French...and worked in the Resistance under the name of Blanchet. When he returned to France, he got back his advertising agency and continued doing the sort of pioneering work he loved the best. He also added Blanchet onto his surname. Publicis' current president is Maurice Lévy who was just in the news for having called for higher taxes on the wealthy and now objecting to France’s new President's pledging that he would tax the rich 75% of their income. Read more about the company here.
One more boast about this family: One of Bleustein-Blanchet’s daughters was a legislator and is responsible for abolishing capital punishment in France.
Aside from being totally impressed by all I was hearing, I was beginning to see what informed the personality of the festival and of Sophie herself who was there and everywhere, meeting and mixing with us all. As Maxine said, in effect, Sophie is a mensch. She is the real thing, feet planted firmly on the ground and real. And yet she seems so idealistic in the choices she makes. To this remark of mine, she responded, that in fact, she is very pragmatic, but one must take pleasure in life.
Her grandfather and grandmother raised her and her brother and half brother after their 27 year old mother died in an automobile accident. Sophie was eight years old at the time.
Her grandfather told her that when he began Publicis as a teenager, he never thought about the money he might make. He did it for pleasure. He thought of how best to do what he loved to do the most. For her too, life is about innovation and being happy. She hopes that in ten years the festival and her film business will continue to inspire and motivate her.
Sophie has three children and she tells them to do whatever they want as she would advise everyone: Do what is inside of you, even if it is not what you end up doing. It will make you a better person. Her first son, whom she had when she was 17 and who is now 24, lived one year in Australia and another year in Canada. He is now working with her at the festival. Her 22 year old daughter whom she had when she was 19, lives in London, and the 19 year old, following in his brother’s footsteps, is spending a year in Australia, alone and exploring on his own.
If she succeeds in the movie business, it is because she was not born into films. She has been in the business of Arthouse film production, distribution and exhibition for ten years. Before that she was a practicing psycho graphologist, counseling people from 16 to 60 years old, male and female. You can know a person totally through the handwriting she says. She also did a stint in PR which she hated, before going into film. Her father was a writer and told her to read and so she can talk of many things, not only of business. At the end of the day, she closes her door and business does not exist (unless of course there is a problem at one of her theaters which she does drop in on on Sundays when she is not expected.) She has no scripts at home and does not watch movies for work at home. She has a well rounded education and is proud not to be 100% business.
Today she is also a sort of guardian of Israeli films in France as well. She even wears a small gold Jewish star.
Film Career
She began her film career in 2003 producing a documentary DÉCryptage which examined the French media coverage of the Arab–Israeli conflictand concludes that the media's presentation of the Arab–Israeli conflict in France is consistently skewed against Israel and may be responsible for exacerbating anti-semitism. That documentary was very successful in France, drawing some 300,000 viewers and it caught the attention of Israeli filmmakers.
Famed Israeli actress Ronit Elkabetz, ♀a friend of hers, suggested she help her produce a film she wrote and wanted to direct and she agreed to make Rendre Femme (aka To Take A Wife ♀ produced by Marek Rozenbaum. When Ronit asked her to produce The Band’S Visit, she did not know what to make of the script. But when she saw the footage, she recognized its great potential and stepped in as producer. Unfortunately it could not qualify for the Academy Award Nomination for Best Foreign Language Film because it was filmed in Hebrew, Egyptian and English. She went on to produce My Father My Lord an implicit critique of ultra-Orthodox dogma by a filmmaker who grew up in a Hasidic community but abandoned it when he was 25 to study film.
Sophie produces other world films, including her second American film Benny And The Kids (Go Get Some Rosemary), Argentina’s Little Sky and The Camera Obscura both by Maria Victoria Menis ♀ and others including French films like the upcoming film by Jacques Douvenne.
In Cannes this year, she acquired Room 514 (Isa: Docs & Film) de Sharon Bar-Ziv ♀ which played in l'Acid in Cannes and Les Voisins De Dieu (God’S Neighbors) (Isa: Rezo) de Meni Yaesh which played in La Semaine de la Critique in Cannes as well as Directors’ Fortnight entry Le Repenti and Bence Fliegauf’s Berlin competition entry Just The Wind.
She sees festivals as a place where people can discover new films. Theaters need new ideas, directors, and distributors can take risks only if they own theaters. The triangle of festivals, distributors and exhibitors are complimentary and she finds that having all three allows her to keep selected films longer in theaters or allows for changing theaters (she owns 5 theaters including the famous St. Germain arthouse Harlequin). She recognizes that France has so many subsidies for production and distribution – 12 to 15 new films are released every week – and that gives her films more of a chance to succeed as well.
France also has, after 3 years of discussion, finally, in one year made all its theaters digital. The cost to convert is 1 million Euros. 30% of that is paid by Cnc, the government fund made up of a percentage of box office receipts. The digital norm is 2K and the Vpf (Virtual Print Fee is 5,000 Euros. All distributors must pay this first the first time showing for 4 weeks and then, there are not more VPFs.
When she asks Americans for DCPs, she is surprised to learn that they don’t have them. Even Harvey Weinstein who had a retrospective at the Festival did not have digital prints and he said that to use Blu-Ray or HD was all right with him.
Why Harvey?
Everyone loves a good Harvey story. We had heard that he did not want to travel and I was curious how she had such good luck to get him to Paris. Apparently he flew in, appeared, and flew out again.
“The opening night, with the tribute paid to American producer Harvey Weinstein who accepted, with modesty and as a film enthusiast, a trophy was presented by Sophie Dulac, in the presence of VIP guests: Virginie Ledoyen, Deborah François, Audrey Dana, Thomas Langmann, Olivier Nackache and Eric Toledan.”
What he said at this opening event was that Sophie’s brother is the godfather of his son. And when the Godfather makes a request, he cannot refuse to honor it.
So ended my interview with Sophie. As we all struck out to continue the day, Matthew Akers of Marina Abramovic said, “See you in Sarajevo”. And Sophie responded, “How chic!”...
- 6/19/2012
- by Sydney Levine
- Sydney's Buzz
Paris -- The lights went down on Paris’ most famous avenue on Tuesday night as the Champs-Elysées Film Festival closed after a successful first run. Matthew Akers’ documentary Marina Abramovic: The Artist is Present won the Audience Prize for a feature film at the closing ceremonies held at Publicis Cinema on Tuesday night. The event attracted more than 15,000 people during its week-long run that kicked off last week with an homage to Harvey Weinstein and A-list guests including The Artist producer Thomas Langmann, The Intouchables directing duo Olivier Nakache and Eric Toledano, Virginie Ledoyen, Audrey Dana
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- 6/12/2012
- by Rebecca Leffler
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
*Sniffle* Take one long last longing look. You might not see this much glittery movie talent assembled again until the Golden Globes. Today there is no red carpet conversation for the lineup -- all of my blogging friends have vanished (was it The Rapture?) -- other than what you bring to the comments.
Twenty-three more to wrap up.
Left to right: Audrey Dana who was so awesome in Roman de Gare - remember that?, Ultimate being Milla Jovovich, statuesque jury queen Uma Thurman, and sexy French bitches Ludivine Sagnier & Raphaël Personnaz.
Left to right: Antonio Banderas had a good fortnight, didn't he? Ryan Gosling went blue but Drive was red hot, Jude Law juried (winners coming at'cha tomorrow), and Saïd Tagmaoui walked the red carpet (he'll finally be back on the big screen in Conan the Barbarian but given that he speaks four languages and is a very good actor...
Twenty-three more to wrap up.
Left to right: Audrey Dana who was so awesome in Roman de Gare - remember that?, Ultimate being Milla Jovovich, statuesque jury queen Uma Thurman, and sexy French bitches Ludivine Sagnier & Raphaël Personnaz.
Left to right: Antonio Banderas had a good fortnight, didn't he? Ryan Gosling went blue but Drive was red hot, Jude Law juried (winners coming at'cha tomorrow), and Saïd Tagmaoui walked the red carpet (he'll finally be back on the big screen in Conan the Barbarian but given that he speaks four languages and is a very good actor...
- 5/22/2011
- by NATHANIEL R
- FilmExperience
To celebrate the release of Revolver’s new movie, What War May Bring on 2nd May, they’ve been kind enough to give us two copies of the movie on DVD to give away.
Over 10 years in production, Academy Award-winning director Claude Lelouch celebrates his 50th anniversary of film-making with What War May Bring, an epic World War II film, starring Dominique Pinon (Micmacs, Alien: Resurrection) and Jacky Ido (Inglourious Basterds). It’s an unforgettable journey with explosive action and dramatic battle sequences of the Normandy Landings which effectively convey the chaos of war.
The story is told through the eyes of two American soldiers and Ilva Lemoine (Audrey Dana), a beautiful and enigmatic woman who reflects on her turbulent life in war-torn Europe.
As France struggles to cope with the German occupation and the battles across the continent get ever more bloody, Ilva betrays her resistance roots and becomes...
Over 10 years in production, Academy Award-winning director Claude Lelouch celebrates his 50th anniversary of film-making with What War May Bring, an epic World War II film, starring Dominique Pinon (Micmacs, Alien: Resurrection) and Jacky Ido (Inglourious Basterds). It’s an unforgettable journey with explosive action and dramatic battle sequences of the Normandy Landings which effectively convey the chaos of war.
The story is told through the eyes of two American soldiers and Ilva Lemoine (Audrey Dana), a beautiful and enigmatic woman who reflects on her turbulent life in war-torn Europe.
As France struggles to cope with the German occupation and the battles across the continent get ever more bloody, Ilva betrays her resistance roots and becomes...
- 4/24/2011
- by Competitons
- HeyUGuys.co.uk
Yes, we're excited to see "Iron Man 2," "Inception" and God help us, "Predators." But what we're really looking forward to spending a few hours in the company of an undertaking Bill Murray ("Get Low"), an Italian-speaking Tilda Swinton ("I Am Love") and a toga-wearing Rachel Weisz ("Agora") in the comfort of air-conditioned theater over the next three months. (Either that or we'll be enjoying them from the comfort of home online, on demand or on DVD.)
There are no less than 114 independently produced movies arriving in theaters this summer to compete with the big studio blockbusters and we've compiled this helpful guide that covers all of them. Yet realizing that the latest arthouse and foreign fare is subject to changing dates, particularly if you don't live in Los Angeles or New York, we've also included links to follow the films on Twitter, Facebook and release schedules where available, so...
There are no less than 114 independently produced movies arriving in theaters this summer to compete with the big studio blockbusters and we've compiled this helpful guide that covers all of them. Yet realizing that the latest arthouse and foreign fare is subject to changing dates, particularly if you don't live in Los Angeles or New York, we've also included links to follow the films on Twitter, Facebook and release schedules where available, so...
- 5/11/2010
- by Stephen Saito
- ifc.com
"A Prophet" from director Jacques Audiard won nine awards at the 35th annual Cesar Awards. The Oscar nominated film for best foreign language took home best French film of the year, director, screenplay, editing, cinematography, production design, best actor, and most promising actor (best male newcomer) for Tahar Rahim. Niels Arestrup won best supporting actor also for "A Prophet."
Clint Eastwood's "Gran Torino" was named best foreign film of the year, beating out last year's Oscar winner "Slumdog Millionaire" and this year's blue contender, "Avatar."
Meanwhile, "Avatar's" Sigourney Weaver presented Harrison Ford with a Cesar of Honor award. Aw...
Here's the list of nominees and winners of the 35th annual Cesar Awards (winners are highlighted):
Best Film
A l.Origine, Xavier Giannoli
Le Concert, Radu Mihaileanu
Les Herbes Folles, Alain Resnais
La Journee de la Jupe, Jean-Paul Lilienfeld
Rapt, Lucas Belvaux
Un Prophete, Jacques Audiard
Welcome, Philippe Lioret...
Clint Eastwood's "Gran Torino" was named best foreign film of the year, beating out last year's Oscar winner "Slumdog Millionaire" and this year's blue contender, "Avatar."
Meanwhile, "Avatar's" Sigourney Weaver presented Harrison Ford with a Cesar of Honor award. Aw...
Here's the list of nominees and winners of the 35th annual Cesar Awards (winners are highlighted):
Best Film
A l.Origine, Xavier Giannoli
Le Concert, Radu Mihaileanu
Les Herbes Folles, Alain Resnais
La Journee de la Jupe, Jean-Paul Lilienfeld
Rapt, Lucas Belvaux
Un Prophete, Jacques Audiard
Welcome, Philippe Lioret...
- 2/28/2010
- by Manny
- Manny the Movie Guy
Quickcard Review
Welcome
Directed by: Philippe Loiret
Cast: Vincent Lindon, Firat Ayverdi, Audrey Dana
Running Time: 2hrs 15 min
Rating: R
Complete Coverage – 33rd Portland International Film Festival
Plot: Bilal (Ayverdi), a seventeen-year-old Kurdish refugee, arrives in France. He needs to get to London, where the love of his life is now situated with her family, but the French government is not allowing refugees to leave the country. Bilal pays a swimming coach named Simon (Lindon) to train him to swim across the English Channel.
Who’S It For? I think everyone should see this movie. Not only to catch a glimpse of how people are treated in other countries, but we need to see our own shadow as well.
Overall
The Kurdish refugees who fled to Europe were regarded as criminals and interlopers and treated like human detritus. Welcome is unrelenting in its depiction of how these people were treated.
Welcome
Directed by: Philippe Loiret
Cast: Vincent Lindon, Firat Ayverdi, Audrey Dana
Running Time: 2hrs 15 min
Rating: R
Complete Coverage – 33rd Portland International Film Festival
Plot: Bilal (Ayverdi), a seventeen-year-old Kurdish refugee, arrives in France. He needs to get to London, where the love of his life is now situated with her family, but the French government is not allowing refugees to leave the country. Bilal pays a swimming coach named Simon (Lindon) to train him to swim across the English Channel.
Who’S It For? I think everyone should see this movie. Not only to catch a glimpse of how people are treated in other countries, but we need to see our own shadow as well.
Overall
The Kurdish refugees who fled to Europe were regarded as criminals and interlopers and treated like human detritus. Welcome is unrelenting in its depiction of how these people were treated.
- 2/13/2010
- by Morrow McLaughlin
- The Scorecard Review
Saving one more Euro fare from drowning into obscurity, Film Movement have announced the pick-up of Philippe Lioret's Welcome - a trilingual drama in French, English and Arabic that paints a portrait of two men wrestling with their own issues of lost love and alienation, while exploring larger contemporary dilemmas like illegal immigration and covert border crossings. Film Movement is planning a Spring-ish release. - Saving one more Euro fare from drowning into obscurity, Film Movement have announced the pick-up of Philippe Lioret's Welcome - a trilingual drama in French, English and Arabic that paints a portrait of two men wrestling with their own issues of lost love and alienation, while exploring larger contemporary dilemmas like illegal immigration and covert border crossings. Film Movement is planning a Spring-ish release. Welcome was recently selected as one of the nominees for the prestigious Louis Delluc Prize (A Prophet won) and since it preemed in Berlin,...
- 12/16/2009
- IONCINEMA.com
- This week Claude Lelouch began lensing Ces amours-là, his 45th film is you can believe that. Filmed in parts of the Beaune region in France and in Romania's Bucharest, the picture is said to be some using vintage footage that Lelouch filmed over the past decades to compliment a story about one woman's romantic life. Audrey Dana (who was among the trio of leads in Lelouch's previous film Roman de Gare) plays the woman who reflects back the flings she had with a pair of French men, two Americans and a German. The film follows her over a twenty year span between 1940 all the way up to 1960. Looking at the time period, I'm guessing that the 2nd World War might offer on of the backdrops to one of the five narratives. Dana is re-teaming with Dominique Pinon and the film will also see legend Anouk Aimée, Judith Magre, Christine Citti,
- 6/11/2009
- IONCINEMA.com
Paris -- The French awards season wrapped in Paris on Monday night as the Romy Schneider/Patrick Dewaere prizes for the year's most promising young talents went to Deborah Francois and Louis Garrel at a lavish awards ceremony at Paris' Hotel de Ville.
Francois was honored for her performance in Remi Bezancon's "The First Day of the Rest of Your Life," which also won her the 2009 Cesar award for most promising actress. Garrel starred in Christophe Honore's telefilm "La Belle Personne" and in the 2008 Festival de Cannes competition title "Frontier of Dawn," directed by his father Philippe. "Dawn" hit Gallic theaters in October.
An all-male jury of French journalists voted for the Schneider prize -- awarded since 1984 -- while an all female jury picked Garrel for the Dewaere prize. Replacing the traditional Jean Gabin award, the Dewaere prize is named for French actor Patrick Dewaere, who committed suicide in 1982 at...
Francois was honored for her performance in Remi Bezancon's "The First Day of the Rest of Your Life," which also won her the 2009 Cesar award for most promising actress. Garrel starred in Christophe Honore's telefilm "La Belle Personne" and in the 2008 Festival de Cannes competition title "Frontier of Dawn," directed by his father Philippe. "Dawn" hit Gallic theaters in October.
An all-male jury of French journalists voted for the Schneider prize -- awarded since 1984 -- while an all female jury picked Garrel for the Dewaere prize. Replacing the traditional Jean Gabin award, the Dewaere prize is named for French actor Patrick Dewaere, who committed suicide in 1982 at...
- 4/20/2009
- by By Rebecca Leffler
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
With the addition of the following 26 titles (14 of which have been invited), the competition section is almost completed. You'll notice the kid with wings flick Ricky by Francois Ozon that we reported on earlier. Also having it's world premier is Mitchell Lichtenstein's (Teeth) newest film Happy Tears which sounds nothing it's predecessor (a genre piece) as it's a family drama.
You can check out the list after the break.
Competition (some out)
Cheri UK
By Stephen Frears (The Queen, Dangerous Liaisons)
With Michelle Pfeiffer, Kathy Bates, Rupert Friend, Felicity Jones
World premiere
Darbareye Elly (About Elly) Iran
By Asghar Farhadi (Fireworks Wednesday)
With Golshifteh Farahani, Taraneh Alidousti, Mani Haghighi
World premiere
Deutschland 09 Germany - Out of Competition
Compilation film by Fatih Akin, Tom Tykwer, Wolfgang Becker, Sylke Enders, Dominik Graf, Romuald Karmakar, Nicolette Krebitz, Isabelle Stever, Hans Steinbichler, Hans Weingartner, Christoph Hochhäusler, Dani Levy and Angela Schanelec
World...
You can check out the list after the break.
Competition (some out)
Cheri UK
By Stephen Frears (The Queen, Dangerous Liaisons)
With Michelle Pfeiffer, Kathy Bates, Rupert Friend, Felicity Jones
World premiere
Darbareye Elly (About Elly) Iran
By Asghar Farhadi (Fireworks Wednesday)
With Golshifteh Farahani, Taraneh Alidousti, Mani Haghighi
World premiere
Deutschland 09 Germany - Out of Competition
Compilation film by Fatih Akin, Tom Tykwer, Wolfgang Becker, Sylke Enders, Dominik Graf, Romuald Karmakar, Nicolette Krebitz, Isabelle Stever, Hans Steinbichler, Hans Weingartner, Christoph Hochhäusler, Dani Levy and Angela Schanelec
World...
- 1/15/2009
- QuietEarth.us
Smarting from the critical and commercial failure of his two-thirds-completed "La Genre humain" trilogy, director Claude Lelouch (A Man And A Woman) premièred Roman De Gare under a pseudonym, a fitting debut for a movie that is rife with deception onscreen and off. Oozing brittle hauteur, Fanny Ardant plays an author of glossy thrillers who has just released her first literary novel. But as Ardant savors the praise of critics, Lelouch cuts away to an encounter between a distraught woman (Audrey Dana) whose fiancé has just dumped her by the side of the road,† and a man (Dominique Pinon) who claims to be Ardant's long-term ghostwriter. In Roman De Gare, no one is who they say they are, and identities are picked up and discarded as the need arises. Without withdrawing the possibility that Pinon is who he claims, Lelouch also stirs up suspicion that he may be an...
- 4/24/2008
- by Sam Adams
- avclub.com
- Finding film narratives that establish a healthy rapport with international audiences has helped veteran French helmer Claude Lelouch be a mainstay in French language film offerings for U.S audiences. This coming April is a continuation of that relationship. Today, we get a first look at Samuel Goldwyn Films artwork for Roman de Gare. Since splitting up with Roadside Attractions - SamGoldwyn have concentrated on foreign films with recognizable faces for adult audiences. The new Lelouch film sees three lives that are about to cross: a woman abandoned (Audrey Dana, Cesar nominee for Best Female Newcomer) a stranger awaiting his chance (Dominique Pinon,) and a best-selling author (Fanny Ardant,) who imagines the thriller of the year. Deceptively layered and intriguingly misleading, in a game with high stakes – and deadly consequences. ...
- 2/21/2008
- IONCINEMA.com
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