Rendez-vous with new French cinema off to a start

by Camillo De Marco

17/04/2012 - Nanni Moretti is Jury president at the next Cannes Film Festival, Intouchables [trailer] one of the biggest French successes in Italy since the beginning of the years 2000 with total takings of €15M, the presence of many Italian actors in French productions, the very warm welcome of young directors such as Emanuele Crialese, Michelangelo Frammartino and Alice Rohrwacher in France. There is no doubt that the two countries reciprocally think of each other as a privileged market.

Dedicated to this elective affinity is the second edition of the Rendez-vous with New French Cinema in Rome, which this year takes places April 17-22 and is being replicated in Palermo on April 24-26, in Milan on May 7-10 and in Turin on May 11-13.

Carole Bouquet,Charlotte Rampling, Léa Seydoux, Virginie Ledoyen, Valérie Donzelli, Ursula Meier, Tony Gatlif and Dominik Möll are only a few of the many guests who will be in Rome to present the best in new French production in Italy, at the end of a golden two-year period in French cinema.

The event opens with Valérie Donzelli, who writes, directs and acts in La guerre est declare [trailer] (invite only screening). A big revelation at the Cannes 2011 Semaine de la Critique del Festival, and French candidate to the Oscars for Best Foreign Language Film, it is a symbol of the eclecticism of French production, a title which, with a small budget (€1.5M), cleaned out the box office.

And then the director and revelation Ursula Meier, Jury Special Silver Bear at the 62nd Berlin film Festival, with L’enfant d’en haut [trailer, film focus]; at the same time with French release, Florent-Emilio Siri's Cloclo [trailer]; Éric Guirado’s Possessions [trailer], a Chabrol-style psychological thriller; Benoît Jacquot’sLes adieux à la reine, the opening film of the 62nd Berlin Film Festival; the comedy Rio Sex Comedy byJonathan Nossiter; the multi award-winning L’exercice de l’État [trailer, film focus] by Pierre Schoeller, an investigation into politics and power; Mathieu KassovitzL’ordre et la morale [trailer].

"Many directors are on their first or second film", said the event’s artistic director, Vanessa Tonnini. "A model which promotes young people is a model worth imitating".

In the framework of the Rendez-vous, there will be a second edition of the mini-marché for producers and distributors, two intense days during which about ten leading film export companies (indipendents, mini-studios or television chains such as Canal +) will present their Italian counterparts with new features, launch co-production projects and plan the coming film season.

(Translated from Italian)