Having opened last Friday with Emir Kusturica’s Promise Me This [trailer], the 29th edition of the Mediterranean Film Festival in Montpellier will be in full swing until November 4.

The programme features 206 films, including previews such as The Secret of the Grain [trailer] by Abdellatif Kechiche (see interview), an award winner at Venice; Summer Rain [trailer] by Antonio Banderas (Label Europa Cinemas at the Berlinale 2007, see news); Valeria Bruni-Tedeschi’s Actresses [trailer]; and Shelter [making of] by Marco Simon Puccioni.
There will also be special screenings of Mario Monicelli’s The Roses of the Desert, One Hundred Nails [trailer, making of] by Ermanno Olmi and Romanian director Nicolae Caranfil’s The Rest is Silence [trailer].

Eleven film make up the feature film competition, including The Contestant and Butterfly by Spanish directors Rodrigo Cortés and Pablo García, respectively; Andalucia [trailer] by French/Senegalese director Alain Gomis; Greek/German co-production Eduart [trailer] by Angeliki Antoniou; L'Abbuffata (“The Feast”) and Don’t Think About It [trailer] by Mimmo Calopresti and Gianni Zanasi, respectively; and Philippe Aractingi’s Lebanese/French/UK co-production Under The Bombs [trailer].

The 16 films of the Panorama section include the German/Romanian co-production Offset [trailer] by Didi Danquart, Night and Day by Bulgarian director Krassimir Krumov, Estrellita [trailer, film focus, making of] by Slovenian director Metod Pevec (Slovenia, 2007), Lino by French director Français Jean-Louis Milesi and two Spanish features: Life on the Edge [trailer] by Ventura Pons and Modesty [trailer] by duo David Ulloa and Tristán Ulloa.

Italian films nonetheless steal the show with Andrea Molaioli’s The Girl by the Lake [trailer], Davide Marengo’s Notturno Bus [trailer, making of] (“Night Bus”) and Una Notte by Toni D'Angelo.

Offering a selection of films rarely seen in France, Montpellier also pays tribute to Spanish director Vicente Aranda and gives carte blanche to French director Pierre Salvadori. In addition, there will be a Screenplay Day with Alain Guiraudie and professional symposia on regional production.