RELEASES France
Bye Bye Blackbird: A European adventure
by Fabien Lemercier
11/10/2006 - A film produced by four European countries and made by a director who set up a distribution company especially for its release – Bye Bye Blackbird [trailer] by Robinson Savary – is the most original event in the news on releases in France this Wednesday (see news).
Released on 39 screens through Friday Films, the debut feature by the young director was funded by Eurimages (€560,000) and co-produced by Samsa Film (Luxembourg, 40%), Ipso Facto Film (UK, 40%), Reverse Angle Production (Germany, 20%) and Dor Film (Austria, 20%).
Starring Swiss actor James Thiérrée, Poland’s Izabella Miko, UK actors Derek Jacobi and Jodhi May and France’s Michael Lonsdale, Bye Bye Blackbird, with music by Mercury Rev, is the story of a young man in London at the beginning of the century. Drawn by the image of a beautiful trapeze artist on a poster, he decides to join the circus that she works for, carrying out all types of lowly tasks until the day when he presents the director with an insane and dangerous number that he dreams of presenting with her but which results in drama.
There is also no shortage of originality for three the French films of the week, in particular the animated feature U [trailer] by the directing duo Serge Elissalde and Gregoire Solotareff.
Produced by Prima Linea with backing from France 3 Cinéma and advances on receipts from the CNC, the poetic tale of a young girl and a unicorn is being released through Gebeka on 139 screens and will make its way to the RomeFilmFest at the end of the week.
From another international showcase, the Toronto Film Festival, comes the thriller A Crime [trailer] by Manuel Pradal, starring Emmanuelle Béart and Harvey Keitel (see article), which opens on 159 screens through its producer ARP Sélection.
A second Toronto title, The Man of My Life [trailer] by Zabou Breitman (see news), is being released by Wild Bunch Distribution on 213 screens.
Spanish horror also hits the big screen with The Nun, a Filmax production of the debut feature by Luis De La Madrid, based on an idea of Jaume Balagueró (distribution Carrere Group), while the documentary Banlieues : sous le feu des médias by Christophe-Emmanuel Del Debbio will greet audiences more interested in realism on five screens.
(Translated from French)
