French wave hits Rotterdam with Odoul, Belvaux and Gondry

by Fabien Lemercier

24/01/2012 - With 30 features selected at the 41st Rotterdam International Film Festival which opens tomorrow, French cinema once again shows its firepower and great diversity for 17 of these films are co-productions involving 18 countries (Germany, Italy, UK, Ireland, Belgium, Luxembourg, Portugal, Sweden, Denmark, Turkey, Morocco, Syria, South Africa, China, Canada, Colombia, Brazil, Argentina).

Among the 15 titles vying for the Tiger Awards, there is only Orhan Eskiköy and Zeynel Dogan’s co-production Voices of my Father, with participation from Arizona Films (Guillaume de Seille), along with Turkey and Germany. There are two world premieres in the Spectrum section: Lucas Belvaux’s French/Belgian title 38 Witnesses [trailer] (see news - sales: Films Distribution), which will open the festival; and Damien Odoul’s The Rest of the World. Produced by D.O. Films and Arte France, this latter title is centred on family secrets. The cast includes Marie-Eve Nadeau, Judith Morisseau, Aurélie Mestres, Jean-Louis Coulloc'h, Mathieu Amalric, Emanuelle Béart and Charles Berling. International sales are managed by Le Pacte.

The Spectrum section will show ten other French (co-)productions, including Bertrand Bonello’s House of Tolerance [trailer], Christine Laurent’s French/Portuguese feature Demain? (“Tomorrow?”, inspired by the life of Uruguayan poet Delmira Agustini - Mact Productions), Mia Hansen-Love’s Goodbye First Love [trailer, film focus], Laurent Achard’s Last Screening [trailer] and Cédric Kahn’s A Better Life [trailer, film focus].

The Bright Future line-up is set to unveil the world premieres of directorial duo Jeanne Balibar and Pierre Léon’s Electra, For Instance and Felipe Guerrero’s Corta (co-produced with Colombia and Argentina). Eleven other features flying the French flag are showcased in this section, including Srinath Christopher Samarasinghe’s A Cloud in a Glass of Water (featuring Romanian actress Anamaria Marinca - Avenue B Productions), Cyril Mennegun’s Louise Wimmer [trailer] and John Shank’s Last Winter [trailer] (see video interview).

Screening in the other sections are the documentaries It May Be That Beauty Has Reinforced Our Resolve - Masao Adachi by Philippe Grandrieux and The Extraordinary Voyage by Serge Bromberg. Filmmaker Michel Gondry will also be there with his installation Home Movie Factory.

Finally, at the co-production market Cinemart, there will be presentations of the projects Reality by Quentin Dupieux (Realitism Films) and The Revolution Will Not Be Tweeted by David Dusa (initiated by Sciapode).

(Translated from French)