53 European films slated for release before end of 2006 (3)

by Fabien Lemercier

04/08/2006 - The diversity of European cinema is set to take French screens by storm from August 23 through December 27, 2006, with a spate of releases from Spain, Portugal, Austria, Hungary, Poland, the Czech Republic, Romania, Bosnia, Serbia-Montenegro and the Benelux countries set to join the already rich offerings from the UK, Germany, Italy and Scandinavia (see parts 1 and 2 of article).

First up are Spanish productions, with four planned releases. Heading the list is Cannes title Pan’s Labyrinth [trailer] by Guillermo Del Toro (see article), which opens on November 1 (Pan Européenne Edition).

Also lined up are Marcel Pineyro’s The Method [trailer] (see article) opening on September 20 (CTV International); Fernando Lean de Aranoa’s Princesas [trailer] (November, ARP Sélection) and Remake [trailer] by Roger Gual, also due to arrive on screens in November (Colifilms Diffusion).

Further titles from the Iberian Peninsula include three Portuguese productions. The first, Cannes title Colossal Youth [trailer] by Pedro Costa (see article), is slated for a November release (Equation), while Gémini Films are to distribute Teresa Villaverde’s Trance [trailer] (see article) sometime in December, along with the Portuguese/French co-production Take this Waltz [trailer] by Florence Colombani (still without a release date).

Meanwhile, Océan Films will release Argentinean/French/Italian/Spanish co-production Family Law [trailer] by Daniel Burman on September 6.

Wolfgang Murnberger will represent Austria with his 2006 Cognac Detective Film Festival winner, Silentium [trailer], which is set for an October release (Les Films sans Frontières), while four Eastern European titles are lined up: Taxidermia [trailer] by Györgi Pálfi (see interview; August 23, Memento Films); Retrieval [trailer] by Slawomir Fabicki (November 29, ARP Sélection – see article); animated Czech short Pojd'te pane budeme si hrat (French title: Monsieur et Monsieur; September 27, Les Films du Préau) and the French/Romanian co-production The Way I Spent the End of the World [trailer] by Catalin Mitulescu (August 30, Pyramide – see news).

The Balkans have also not been forgotten, with Golden Bear winner Grbavica [trailer, film focus] by Bosnia’s Jamila Zbanic scheduled for release on September 20 (ID Distribution); Summer in the Golden Valley by fellow Bosnian Sdrjan Vuletic (Floris Films), and the Serbian/Montenegrin production Midwinter’s Night Dream by Goran Paskaljevic (Eurozoom). Release dates for the latter two are yet to be announced.

Four productions from the Benelux countries will complete the European bill. First up is the eagerly awaited Black Book [trailer] (see news) by Paul Verhoeven, with its release date yet to be set by Pathé.

Other Benelux titles include the Dutch/Belgian co-production Winky’s Horse [trailer] by Mischa Kamp (December 6, Les Films du Préau); Private Madness by Belgium’s Joachim Lafosse, which will be unveiled by Floris Films; and Luxembourg/UK/Belgian co-production Bye Bye Blackbird [trailer] by Robinson Savary (October 11, Friday Films).

(Translated from French)