Premiers Plans showcases best of young European cinema

by Fabien Lemercier

21/01/2011 - Kicking off today in Angers is the 23rd Premiers Plans Festival, a showcase and launching pad for Europe’s most talented young directors.

The jury presided by Robert Guédiguian (assisted by Carmen Maura as co-president) will judge the nine features in competition. These include Austrian director Feo Aladag’s When We Leave [trailer, film focus] (Lux Prize 2010); Greek director Athina Rachel Tsangari’s Attenberg [trailer, film focus] (see review – in competition at Venice in 2010 where it won Best Actress); Swedish duo Johan Lundborg and Johan Storm’s nail-biting thriller Corridor [trailer, film focus]; The Mosquito Net [trailer] by Spain’s Agusti Vila (award-winner at Karlovy Vary); A Quiet Life [trailer, film focus] by Italy’s Claudio Cuppellini (see review; winner of Best Actor at Rome for Toni Servillo – co-produced with Germany and France); Romanian filmmaker Marian Crisan’s Morgen [trailer] (Jury Prize at Locarno – co-produced with France and Hungary); and Outbound by fellow Romanian Bogdan George Apetri (also in competition at Locarno – see review; co-produced with Austria). Also in the line-up are Turkish director Seren Yüce’s Majority (Lion of the Future Award at the 2010 Mostra); and Andrey Stempkovsky’s Russian film Reverse Motion.

The French competition includes Géraldine Bajard’s The Edge [trailer] (see news – co-produced by Germany); Teddy Lussi-Modeste’s Jimmy Rivière (see news); Jean-Charles Hue’s The Lord’s Ride [trailer]; Phan Dang Di’s French/Vietnamese/German co-production Bi, Don’t Be Afraid! [trailer] (unveiled in Cannes Critics’ Week 2010); and Olivier Babinet and Fred Kihn’s French/Belgian/Polish/Norwegian co-production Robert Mitchum Is Dead (see news).

The event, which runs until January 30, will show Portuguese director Joao Nicolau’s The Sword and the Rose [trailer] (see review of Venice screening) in the Free Forms section. It will also host traditional screenplay readings and a wave of short films from all over Europe, including six in 3D.

Finally, retrospectives and homages will honour director Barbet Schroeder, Swiss actor Bruno Ganz and French actress Isabelle Carré. Among the professional meetings is the conference "What future is there for cinema heritage?" with Olivier Assayas and other participants.

(Translated from French)