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FUNDING France

Kervern and Delépine’s I Feel Good for Arte France Cinéma

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- The upcoming films by Christophe Honoré, Corneliu Porumboiu and Jia Zhangke will also be co-produced by the film arm of the French-German channel

Kervern and Delépine’s I Feel Good for Arte France Cinéma
Directors Gustave Kervern and Benoît Delépine (© Berlinale)

Arte France Cinéma’s (managed by Olivier Père) first selection committee of 2017 has decided to get involved in the co-production and pre-purchasing of four projects. Standing out among them is I Feel Good [+see also:
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by Gustave Kervern and Benoît Delépine, which will be the eighth feature by the duo, following Saint Amour [+see also:
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(out of competition at Berlin last year), NDE (Near Death Experience) [+see also:
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(unveiled at Venice in 2014, in the Horizons section), Le Grand Soir [+see also:
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(Un Certain Regard at Cannes in 2012), Mammuth [+see also:
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interview: Gustave Kervern, Benoî…
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(in competition at the Berlinale in 2010), Louise-Michel [+see also:
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interview: Benoît Delépine and Gustav…
interview: Benoît Jaubert
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(Best Screenplay Award in 2008 at San Sebastián and Special Jury Prize in 2009 at Sundance), Avida [+see also:
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(out of competition at Cannes in 2006) and Aaltra (in competition at Rotterdam in 2004). 

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Produced by No Money Production and JD Prod, I Feel Good will be filmed in Pau this summer and will star Jean Dujardin (Oscar for Best Actor for The Artist [+see also:
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interview: Michel Hazanavicius
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, gracing screens last year in Up for Love [+see also:
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) and Belgium’s Yolande Moreau (César Award for Best Actress in 2005 and 2009 for When the Sea Rises and Séraphine [+see also:
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; hitting French screens next month in Do It Right [+see also:
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). The plot will revolve around Jacques, an ambitious forty-something. Chucked out of the family home by his elderly parents, he resolves to become rich and famous by tapping the “low cost” cosmetic surgery market. To finalise his business venture, he takes refuge at the house owned by his sister, the manager of an Emmaus village. By luring them with the promise of a better future, he will eventually lead an entire group of companions to a clinic in Romania, to enable them all to come back more beautiful... 

Arte France Cinéma will also be lending its support to Sorry Angel [+see also:
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Q&A: Christophe Honoré
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 by Christophe Honoré (in competition at Cannes in 2007 with Love Songs [+see also:
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). This production staged by Les Films Pelléas will be toplined by Louis Garrel (nominated for the César Award for Best Supporting Actor in 2015 and 2016 for Saint Laurent [+see also:
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Q&A: Bertrand Bonello
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and My King [+see also:
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; soon to be seen playing Godard in Redoubtable [+see also:
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Q&A: Michel Hazanavicius
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) and Vincent Lacoste (nominated for the César Award for Most Promising Actor in 2010 for The French Kissers [+see also:
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, for Best Actor in 2015 with Hippocrates [+see also:
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interview: Thomas Lilti
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and in the Best Supporting Actor category in 2016 for In Bed with Victoria [+see also:
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interview: Justine Triet
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). The film will tell the story of an encounter between a pessimistic author and a radiant young student. 

Two French co-productions by filmmakers who are very well known on the international stage round off the list of the lucky films selected. Romania’s Corneliu Porumboiu (winner of the Caméra d'Or at Cannes in 2006 with 12:08 East of Bucharest [+see also:
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interview: Corneliu Porumboiu
interview: Daniel Burlac
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, and awarded in Un Certain Regard in 2009 with Police, Adjective [+see also:
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interview: Corneliu Porumboiu
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and again in 2015 with The Treasure [+see also:
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interview: Corneliu Porumboiu
interview: Corneliu Porumboiu
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) is preparing Gomera, which will be produced by Les Films du Worso and Rouge International for France, 42 Km Film for Romania and Apache Films for Spain. The film, which will be shot in Romania, on the Canary island of La Gomera and in Singapore, will reunite us with the character of Cristi (played by Vlad Ivanov) from Police, Adjective, who has come to the island to learn Silbo, the language of coded whistles used by the natives on La Gomera, in order to help his boss escape and recover a whole heap of money.

Lastly, Arte France Cinéma has selected Money and Love (working title) by Chinese master Jia Zhangke (selected four times in competition at Cannes, nabbing the Best Screenplay Award in 2013, and three times at Venice, with the Golden Lion into the bargain in 2006). Produced by French outfit MK Productions and China’s X Stream Pictures, the movie will depict three moments in the life of a woman (set to be played by Zhao Tao) who is in love with a key player from the criminal underworld. Set in modern-day China between 2001 and 2016, the action will unfold from Shanxi province to Sichuan province. 

As a reminder, Arte France Cinéma is supporting the upcoming films by Andrey Zvyagintsev, Sergei Loznitsa, Santiago Mitre, Nuri Bilge Ceylan, Mia Hansen-Love, Pawel Pawlikowski, Philippe Faucon, Leos Carax, Philippe Garrel, Serge Bozon, Benoît Jacquot, Nadav Lapid, Mahamat-Saleh Haroun, Cédric Kahn, Mikhaël Hers, Emmanuel Mouret, Thierry de Peretti, Jean-Bernard Marlin, Jayro Bustamante, Hafsia Herzi, Rayhana Obermeyer, Felipe Barbosa, Samuel Maoz, Karim Moussaoui, Dror Moreh, the duos Agnès Varda & JR and Caroline Poggi & Jonathan Vinel, Florence Miailhe and Michel Ocelot.

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(Translated from French)

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