Menzel, Courtois, Thaleim and Aractingi in the shadow of Cannes

07/05/2008

There is a final flurry of new releases in French theatres today, before the Cannes Film Festival gets underway next week. Thirteen films are hitting screens this Wednesday. Another nine titles will be launched on May 14 and three on May 21.

Among the new releases are several European titles, including I Served the King of England [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile] by Czech director Jiri Menzel, which screened in competition at Berlin last year and is being released in France by CTV International.

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The line-up also includes Miguel Courtois’ Spanish film G.A.L, starring José Garcia, Natalia Verbeke and Jordi Mollà. The film – which looks at the dark side of counter-terrorism – is being launched by EuropaCorp on 102 screens.

But German animated films dominate the programme with Océan Films’ 284 print-run of Impy, le petit dinosaure (“Impy, the Little Dinosaur”) by directorial duo Holger Tappe and Reinhard Klooss.

German films will also be in the spotlight on May 14 with the release of Robert Thalheim’s And Along Come Tourists [+see also:
trailer
interview: Alexander Fehling
film profile] (Alsace Piquantes Distribution), which screened last year at Cannes in the Un Certain Regard section.

Next week, all eyes will also be on Philippe Aractingi’s Under the Bombs [+see also:
trailer
film profile] (art’Mell Distribution), which was unveiled at last year’s Venice Days and was recently released in Italy (see news).

Today’s French releases include Alexandre Arcady’s Tu peux garder un secret ? [+see also:
trailer
film profile] (“Can You Keep a Secret?”, 259 screens - Wild Bunch Distribution); Joseph Morder’s j'aimerais partager le printemps avec quelqu'un (“I’d Like to Share Spring with Someone”, distribution Baba Yaga); and co-productions Agnus Dei [+see also:
trailer
film profile] by Argentinean director Lucia Cedron (Ad Vitam on 17 screens) and Loin de Sunset Boulevard (“Far From Sunset Boulevard”) by Russian filmmaker Igor Minaev (Zelig Film Distribution on three screens).

May 14 will see the release of Jacques Sarrasin’s On the Rumba River (Faire Bleu Distribution) and Serge Avédikian’s Nous avons bu la même eau (“We’ve Drunk the Same Water”, distribution Les Films d'Ici).

Hitting screens on May 21 are Cannes titles Conte de Noël [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile] by Arnaud Desplechin (Bac Films) and Steven Spielberg’s Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull.