09/07/2008

Two UK films, a couple of Italian titles and four Gallic productions dominate the 13 new releases hitting French screens this Wednesday. They are being launched alongside a Philippine feature (backed by the Hubert Bals Fund) and four US films, including animated blockbuster Kung Fu Panda (released by Paramount on 898 screens).

UK films include David MacKenzie’s Hallam Foe [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile], which was lauded in competition at last year’s Berlin Film Festival (see news) and is being launched by Pretty Pictures on 41 screens. La Fabrique de Films are releasing a 79-print run of Paul Andrew Williams’s comic horror title The Cottage [+see also:
trailer
film profile].

The line-up also includes two Italian/French co-productions. UGC are launching on 12 screens Ferzan Ozpetek’s Saturn in Opposition, starring Stefano Accorsi, Margherita Buy and Pierfrancesco Favino. Meanwhile, Océan Films are releasing a 79-print run of Marco Tullio Giordana’s Wild Blood [+see also:
trailer
film profile], which had a special screening at the latest Cannes Film Festival (see news) and stars Monica Bellucci, Luca Zingaretti and Alessio Boni.

Brothers Jean-Marie and Arnaud Larrieu lead the French contingent with a 179 print-run (Diaphana Distribution) of Le voyage aux Pyrénées [+see also:
trailer
film profile] (“Journey to the Pyrenees”), an absurd auteur comedy starring Jean-Pierre Darroussin and Sabine Azéma. The film was unveiled in the Cannes Directors’ Fortnight (see news).

Three French debut features are also hitting screens. Rezo Films are releasing a 76-print run of Sunny Spells [+see also:
trailer
film profile], the directorial debut by novelist and screenwriter Diastème. Produced by Cipango and co-written by Christophe Honoré, the film centres on a couple of actors who have to overcome their romantic disappointments and perform in a show at the Avignon Festival. The cast includes Bruno Todeschini, Linh Dan Pham and Emma de Caunes.

Cyril Gelblat’s directorial debut Les Murs porteurs [+see also:
trailer
film profile] (“The Carrier Walls”, see news) is being launched by Zelig Films on 25 screens. This French/German/Swiss co-production was produced by Delante Films and stars Giovanna Mezzogiorno, Miou-Miou, Charles Berling and Schulamit Adar. The film received a post-production advance on receipts from the National Film Centre (CNC), as well as backing from the Ile-de-France region and the French-German co-production mini-treaty.

The CNC also awarded an advance on receipts to François Magal’s Une épopée [+see also:
trailer
film profile] (“An Epic”), a debut feature set in Ireland and released on one screen by Initial (who co-produced with Saraghina Films).

(Translated from French)