20/01/2016 - Nine French productions and co-productions will sparkle in the showcase of Berlin’s parallel section

France is turning up in force on the line-up of the Forum section of the 66th Berlin Film Festival (11-21 February 2016), with nine films in the showcase: three majority productions, one parity title with Belgium and five minority productions.

Standing out among this raft of movies is The Wandering [+see also:
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film profile] by Guillaume Nicloux, a filmmaker whose face is a familiar one at the Berlinale, as he unveiled The Nun [+see also:
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interview: Guillaume Nicloux
film profile] there in competition in 2013 and The Kidnapping of Michel Houellebecq [+see also:
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film profile] in the Forum in 2014. The new opus by the director of Valley of Love [+see also:
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film profile] (which was popular in competition at Cannes last May) is a fantasy-thriller starring Gérard Depardieu, Audrey Bonnet, Swann Arlaud, Xavier Beauvois and Didier Abot. Written by Nicloux, the story recounts the misfortunes of a man who gets lost in the woods and comes across some mysterious creatures. Produced by Sylvie Pialat for Les Films du Worso, the feature was co-produced by LGM Cinéma and is being sold overseas by Gaumont.

There will also be a world premiere in the Forum for the Franco-Belgian co-production The Son of Joseph [+see also:
film review
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film profile] by Eugène Green (read the article). Starring Mathieu Amalric, Fabrizio Rongione, Natacha Régnier, Victor Ezenfils and Dominique Blanc, this feature produced by Coffee and Films and co-produced by Les Films du Fleuve will be distributed in French theatres from 20 April by Les Films du Losange, which is also in charge of the international sales.

Another interesting selection is that of the Franco-Belgian parity production Baden Baden [+see also:
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film profile] by Rachel Lang (read the article), a feature debut that generated quite a buzz at the recent Rendez-Vous with French Cinema in Paris. Produced by ChevalDeuxTrois together with Tarantula, the movie will be released in France on 30 March by Jour2Fête, which is also managing the international sales.

Two minority French co-productions by European filmmakers who made a splash with their previous features are also on the programme: We Are Never Alone [+see also:
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interview: Petr Vaclav
film profile] by Czech director Petr Vaclav (read the article – co-produced by Cinema Defacto and which benefited from post-production support from the Ile-de-France region) and Illegitimate by Adrian Sitaru (Romania/Poland/France).

Four documentaries involving France have also been selected in the Forum: Between Fences [+see also:
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film profile] by Israel’s Avi Mograbi (executive-produced by Les Films d'Ici – sold by Doc & Film), Ta’ang by China’s Wang Bing (co-produced by Aeternam Films), Eldorado XXI [+see also:
trailer
film profile] by Portugal’s Salomé Lamas (co-produced by Shellac Sud – backed by the CNC, the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region and Eurimages) and A Maid for Each [+see also:
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film profile] by Maher Abi Samra (Lebanon/France/Norway).

(Translated from French)