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PRODUCTION France

Stéphane Brizé’s At War in the running for the Palme d’Or

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- The filmmaker and his favourite thesp, Vincent Lindon, are back in the Cannes competition three years after they won the Best Actor Award for The Measure of a Man

Stéphane Brizé’s At War in the running for the Palme d’Or
Vincent Lindon in At War

Working together for the fourth time, French director Stéphane Brizé and his pet actor Vincent Lindon will be duking it out for the Palme d'Or at the 71st Cannes Film Festival (8-19 May) with At War [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Stéphane Brizé
film profile
]
, just as they did successfully in 2015 with The Measure of a Man [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Stéphane Brizé
film profile
]
, which scooped the Best Actor Award on the Croisette before going on to enjoy a great run in theatres (racking up one million admissions in France) and amass myriad other prizes (including the César and Lumières Awards for Best Actor). In addition, the two films seem to have some core similarities, as they both feature a socially orientated subject matter and an identical approach (the lead actor is surrounded by non-professionals, and the DoP – Eric Dumont – comes from a documentary background). 

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This will be the director’s second time participating in the Cannes competition. It is the ninth feature by the filmmaker, whose filmography includes titles such as Hometown Blue (Directors’ Fortnight 1999), Not Here to Be Loved [+see also:
trailer
film profile
]
(in competition at San Sebastián in 2005), Mademoiselle Chambon [+see also:
trailer
film profile
]
 (César Award for Best Screenplay in 2010), A Few Hours of Spring [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile
]
 (popular at Locarno in 2012 – four nominations for the César Awards in 2013) and A Woman’s Life [+see also:
film review
trailer
Q&A: Stéphane Brizé
film profile
]
 (in competition at Venice in 2016, Louis-Delluc Prize and two César nominations).

In the story of At War, written by Stéphane Brizé and Olivier Gorce (nominated for the César Award for Best Adaptation in 2012 for Omar Killed Me [+see also:
trailer
film profile
]
 and who previously paired up with the filmmaker for The Measure of a Man), the management of the Perrin Industrie factory decides to completely shut down the site, despite the employees making great financial sacrifices and the company raking in record profits. With agreements flouted and promises broken, the 1,100 employees, led by their spokesman, Laurent Amédéo, reject this abrupt decision and will try everything in their power to save their jobs.

Produced (like The Measure of a Man) by Christophe Rossignon and Philip Boëffard for Nord-Ouest FilmsAt War had a budget of €4.19 million, including a co-production and a pre-purchase by France 3 Cinéma. Boasting additional pre-purchases by OCS and Ciné+, the feature was also backed by the CNC’s advance on receipts, the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region, the Lot-et-Garonne department, and the La Banque Postale Image and Cofinova Soficas. The movie will be released in French theatres by Diaphana during the Cannes Film Festival, and its international sales are being handled by mk2 films.

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(Translated from French)

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