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FESTIVALS Luxembourg

Local co-productions set to enchant in Rome

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Two Luxembourg co-productions, A Distant Neighbourhood and The Runway, will be competing in the Alice in the City section of the upcoming Rome International Film Festival, which kicks off October 28.

A Distant Neighbourhood is German-born, Belgium-based director Sam Garbarski’s much-anticipated follow up to his pan-European hit Irina Palm [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Sam Garbarski
interview: Sébastien Delloye
film profile
]
, which played in competition at the Berlin Film Festival in 2007.

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The film is based on the eponymous manga from Jiro Taniguchi, which has been re-imagined in a French setting, with the main character now played by Pascal Greggory as an adult, and young actor Leo Legrand as a child. The film is about a middle-aged man who is magically able to relive his childhood again.

The film was co-produced by Luxembourg outfit Samsa Film, which has been a regular co-producer of Garbarksi’s film since his debut feature, The Rashevski Tango. Garbarksi’s latest was already released in Germany in May and will be released in France, Belgium and Luxembourg in November.

Also premiering in the same section is Irish feature The Runway from director Ian Power. It was co-produced by Luxembourg producer Bernard Michaux for Lucil Film.

Like Neighbourhood, the film has a child protagonist that looks at the world in his own way. Power, who also wrote the film, was inspired by the true story of a pilot from Mexico (and from Colombia in the film) who crash-landed in rural Ireland. The film stars Demian Bechir (from Steven Soderbergh’s Che) and young Jamie Kierans.

Another fest favourite (though not in Rome), Special Treatment from Jeanne Labrune, a Toronto title, is also a Luxembourg co-production – again from Samsa Film. The film stars Isabelle Huppert and Bouli Lanners as a prostitute and an analyst, respectively, and was launched in French and Luxembourg cinemas last week.

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