22/08/2007

Distributed by BFD, Horse Thieves [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile], the feature debut by Ukrainian-born Belgian director Micha Wald, finally makes its appearance on Belgian screens this week after having made a name for itself on the festival circuit, including at Cannes, where it screened in the Critics’ Week sidebar (see article).

Horse Thieves is a bold film that can be surprising for a debut feature, and promises not to leave viewers indifferent. Half Leone western, half Herzog odyssey, the period adventure film has a fluid structure, following two pairs of brothers through hate and recognition, brotherliness and revenge.

Co-produced by Canada’s Forum Films and France’s Rezo (who also hold international rights), the film was made on a €3m budget by Liège outfit Versus Production.

UK title Venus [+see also:
trailer
film profile] by Roger Mitchell, starring Vanessa Redgrave and Peter O’Toole (the well-known Irish actor earned an Academy Award nomination for this role) opens on five screens through A-Film België NV.

The French release of the week is 13 m² [+see also:
trailer
film profile], the first feature from young autodidact Barthélémy Grossman. Written, produced and starring the director, 13 m² is a behind-the-scenes urban thriller about a hold-up between three accomplices who find refuge in a hideout after committing their crime (also released by BFD).

A blend of documentary and experiment, Claudio Pazienza’s medium-length Belgian feature Scènes de chasse au sanglier, which was screened as part of the Ecran Total Festival at the Arenberg Cinéma, gets a limited release.

This week’s eleven new releases includes four US productions, Ray Lawrence’s down under film Jindabyne, The Art of Losing by Colombian director Sergio Cabrera and Johnnie Too’s Hong King thriller Exiled.

(Translated from French)