Vallanzasca opens Beaune thriller fest

by Fabien Lemercier

29/03/2011 - Tomorrow marks the opening of the 3rd Beaune International Thriller Film Festival (March 30-April 3), which has quickly become an important date in France’s calendar of film events. Kicking off with an out-of-competition screening of Italian director Michele Placido’s Vallanzasca – Angels of Evil [trailer] starring charismatic Kim Rossi Stuart (see review of its premiere at Venice), the festival will offer a strong panorama of a genre that is riding high at the moment.

The international competition includes eight titles to be judged by a jury headed by Régis Wargnier and comprising Fred Cavayé, Stefano Accorsi, Clovis Cornillac and Gael Morel, among others. Four European features have been selected: Belgian director Michaël R.Roskam’s Bullhead [trailer, film focus] (see news – acclaimed in the Berlinale Panorama 2011); Baran Bo Odar’s German production The Silence [trailer] (to be released in France on April 27 by DistriB Films); Brit helmer John Madden’s The Debt (Universal Pictures International France on June 8); and A Quiet Life [trailer, film focus] by Italy’s Claudio Cupellini (Best Actor Award for Toni Servillo at the Rome Film Festival 2010 – see review – to be released by Bellissima Films on August 3).

In the competitive "New Blood” section, highlights include Brit director Bernard Rose’s Mr Nice [trailer] (Best Actor Award for David Thewlis at Edinburgh – UFO distribution on April 13); and Congolese/French/Belgian co-production Viva Riva! [trailer] by Djo Tunda wa Munga (see interview).

Also screening out of competition are Eric Valette’s The Prey [trailer] (see news – StudioCanal on April 13); and Claude Lelouch’s documentary From One Film to Another (Les Films 13 Distribution on April 13).

Finally, the Beaune festival will pay homage to Claude Chabrol, Michele Placido and actress Mireille Darc, while the Cinema Lesson will be given by Frédéric Schoendoerffer.

(Translated from French)