05/02/2007

With five titles selected at the 57th Berlin International Film Festival, which begins on Thursday, French sales outfit Films Distribution are heading to the European Film Market with clear ambitions.

After the recent nomination of Rachid Bouchareb’s Days of Glory [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Jean Bréhat
interview: Rachid Bouchareb
film profile] for the 2007 Best Foreign Language Film Oscar (see Special Report), the outfit are now setting its hopes on Chinese director Yu Li’s Lost in Beijing, in competition at Berlin, and on three French titles in the Panorama sidebar: Michel Spinosa’s Anna M. (see news), Pascale Ferran’s Lady Chatterley [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile] (Louis-Delluc prize-winner and nine-time nominee at the upcoming Cesars) and Rodolphe Marconi’s documentary Lagerfeld Confidentiel [+see also:
trailer
film profile] (see article).

The Forum section will present Dutch/Belgian co-production Wolfsbergen by Nanouk Leopold, a director who came to public acclaim at Cannes 2005 with Guernsey [+see also:
trailer
film profile].

The remainder of the Films Distribution line-up is no less impressive, in particular Robert Guédiguian’s Lady Jane, a crime drama starring Ariane Ascaride and Jean-Pierre Darroussin, which begins its shoot in Marseille on February 26.

Other titles expected to do good business are Eran Riklis’ Lemon Tree, Nicolas Boukhrief’s Cortex with André Dussollier and Guillaume Canet (see news), Raphaël Nadjari’s Tehilim [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile], Arnaud des Pallières’s Park [+see also:
trailer
film profile] and La question humaine by Nicolas Klotz (see news).

Two Italian/French joint productions will also be on show, Ferzan Ozpetek’s Saturno Contro (see news), featuring Stefano Accorsi, Margherita Buy and Pierfrancesco Favino and Vincenzo Marra’s L’ora di punta (with Fanny Ardant), which starts lensing today in Rome.

Promo reels that will be presented at the EFM include Hou Hsiao-Hsien’s Ballon Rouge, starring Juliette Binoche, Céline Sciamma’s Les pieuvres (see news) and Gaël Morel’s Après Lui [+see also:
trailer
film profile], starring Catherine Deneuve (see article).

Market screenings lined up include Belgian productions – Diego Martinez Vignatti’s La Marea (in competition at Rotterdam) and Joachim Lafosse’s Private Property [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile] – as well as French animated title Piccolo & Saxo by directing duo Eric Gutierrez and Marco Villamizar and, last but not least, Gérald Hustache-Mathieu’s April in Love [+see also:
trailer
film profile].

(Translated from French)