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RELEASES France

Three 50-something women hit the road in Thelma, Louise and Chantal

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Benoît Pétré’s sharp comedy Thelma, Louise and Chantal [+see also:
trailer
film profile
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is being released on French screens today by its producer La Fabrique de Films. Starring Jane Birkin, Caroline Cellier and Catherine Jacob as women in their fifties, this critically-acclaimed road movie was bought at the Berlinale EFM for Italy and Poland.

Written by the director, this debut feature centres on Chantal, Gabrielle and Nelly who are going to the wedding of an ex-boyfriend in La Rochelle. They decide to make the journey together. During this eventful drive, the three women will share the moments of love, yelling and feeling down experienced by 50-somethings, which are by turns funny, fragile and moving.

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"Women are strong, fearless and don’t let themselves go. That’s what I find touching" explained Pétré. "In my film, I thus want to hold them up as an example, by breaking the taboos surrounding their lives, including on a sexual level."

As for the title’s nod to Ridley Scott’s Thelma and Louise, the director said that as a road movie, this film "left its mark on more than a generation” and he used his feelings about it "to make a personal film that is close to viewers." Thelma, Louise and Chantal is co-produced by Studio 37 and its score is composed by Keren Ann.

Also hitting theatres this Wednesday are two films shown at Berlin: Pathé Distribution is launching The Ghost Writer [+see also:
trailer
film profile
]
, which earned Roman Polanski the Silver Bear for Best Director; while Ad Vitam is releasing Olivier Ducastel and Jacques Martineau’s moving Family Tree [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile
]
(see news).

Finally, the line-up of releases also includes Hèlene Cattet and Bruno Forzani’s Belgian/French co-production Bitter [+see also:
trailer
film profile
]
(distributed by Zootrope Films); Alexandre Messina’s Marais Criminels (“Criminal Marshes”, Kanibal Films Distribution); Hélène Duchemin’s Pourquoi Le Dire? (“Why Say It?”, Contre-Allée Distribution); Iannis Smaragdis’ Greek feature El Greco (Accatone Distribution); and Michael Winterbottom’s UK documentary The Shock Doctrine [+see also:
trailer
film profile
]
(Haut et Court).

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(Translated from French)

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