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CANNES 2011 Directors’ Fortnight

Six-strong French contingent in line-up

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In a bumper year in terms of the quantity and quality of French features submitted for the 43rd Directors’ Fortnight (running from May 12-22 at the 64th Cannes Film Festival), delegate general Frédéric Boyer has selected six French films, including three debut features.

Heading the line-up is Unforgivable [+see also:
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by seasoned director André Téchiné (selected six times in competition at Cannes between 1979 and 2003, once at Venice in 2001, twice at Berlin in 2005 and 2007, and in the Directors’ Fortnight in 1969 and 1975). Adapted from a novel by Philippe Djian, the film stars Mélanie Thierry, André Dussollier, Carole Bouquet and Adriana Asti. It centres on a love-at-first-sight encounter in Venice between a writer and a much younger woman.

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The film was produced by SBS Films. Its €7.5m budget included co-production support from France 3 Cinéma and pre-acquisitions from Canal + and Ciné Cinéma. It will be distributed in French theatres by UGC and sales are being managed by TF1 International.

Also in the line-up is Joan Captive [+see also:
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(see news), the third feature by Philippe Ramos who won Best Director at Locarno in 2007. Starring Clémence Poésy as Joan of Arc, the film was produced by Sophie Dulac Productions (who will release it in France).

Its €2.55m budget included co-production support from Echo Films and an advance on receipts from the National Film and Moving Image Centre (CNC). It is sold internationally by Films Distribution.

The Directors’ Fortnight will also unveil three debut features. First up, Jean-Jacques Jauffret’s Après le Sud [+see also:
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interview: Adèle Haenel
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(“After the South”, see news) was produced for €920,000 by Explicit Film in co-production with Neon Productions and with backing from the CNC. It will be distributed in France by Jour2Fête.

Meanwhile, Roland Edzard’s End of Silence [+see also:
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(see news) was produced by Unlimited for €1.5m. This included an advance on receipts from the CNC and co-production support from Poly-Son Post Production, Galerie Heine, Les Films de l’Étranger, Swift Productions and Austria’s Dor Film. French distribution is being handled by Equation, and sales by Doc & Film International.

Finally, Valérie Mrejen and Bertrand Schefer’s En Ville (“In Town”) was produced by Aurora Films for €770,000 in co-production with Le Fresnoy. Starring Lola Creton, Stanislas Merhar and Adèle Haenel, the film centres on a romantic encounter in the provinces between a young 16-year-old girl and a Parisian photographer in his forties. It will be distributed in France by Shellac and is sold by Germany’s Films Boutique.

There will also be a special screening of Jérôme de Missolz’s The Kids of Today [+see also:
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, in which a legendary 1970s rock music critic takes in hand a group of today’s young night revellers. Produced by Love Streams Agnès B. Productions in co-production with Arte France Cinéma for €820,000, this experimental documentary is being sold by Memento Films International.

Eight French co-productions are also screening in the Directors’ Fortnight. These include The Fairy [+see also:
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interview: Dominique Abel, Fiona Gordon
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by Dominique Abel, Bruno Romy and Fiona Gordon (co-produced byMK2 and France 3 Cinéma); Bouli Lanners’s The Giants [+see also:
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(co-produced by Haut et Court and Arte France Cinéma, with an advance on receipts from the CNC); Alice Rohrwacher’s Corpo Celeste [+see also:
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interview: Alice Rohrwacher
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(JBA Production); Ruben Ostlund’s Play [+see also:
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interview: Ruben Östlund
interview: Ruben Ostlund
film profile
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(Société Parisienne de Production); Leila Kilani’s Sur la Planche [+see also:
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(“On the Board”, Aurora Films with INA and DKB Productions); Alejandro Landes’s Porfirio (Atopic); Vimukthi Jayasundara’s Chatrak (“Mushrooms”, Les Films de l'Étranger, Wallpaper Productions and Bear Called Dog); and Natalia Almada’s The Night Watchman.

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(Translated from French)

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