15/06/2011

You need a minimum of talent, a pinch of slightly caustic humour, and a good dose of cheekiness to call your film Hitler In Hollywood [+see also:
trailer
film profile]. Determined to do away with conventions, Frédéric Sojcher is not lacking in any of the three.

Referring to himself as a documentary maker, he tackles the vast issue of cultural exception in his film. Dismissing probable accusations of anti-Americanism, he recalls Roosevelt’s strategy on this subject: “Send films, the products will follow…”

A quick flashback in time: at the outbreak of World War II in1939, France banned the distribution of US films on its territory. In 1946, the Americans decided to put an end to this embargo, and the Blum-Byrnes agreements reintroduced the possibility of showing US films in France. Moreover, in October 1946 the CNC was set up to better defend French cinema.

Sojcher borrows from the history of archive images to spin an incredible story, sending Maria De Medeiros on a search for lost films. Starring alongside her is classy actress Micheline Presle (also playing herself) and her loyal cameraman (Wim Willaert, not seen in a Francophone film since When The Sea Rises). These films reveal a poisonous reality, a possible partnership between Hitler and Hollywood, united by their love of propaganda.

Hitler In Hollywood is being released by Paradiso Film on four prints in Brussels and Wallonia. As if to back up Sojcher’s theory, it will compete for audiences alongside Kung Fu Panda 2, released on 86 screens, i.e. 1,979 screenings per week, compared to 37 for Hitler In Hollywood.

This severe imbalance reflects the difficulty for Belgian Francophone films (and auteur films in general) to find distribution slots in a film exhibition market saturated by the ever-growing number of weekly releases, and the increasingly aggressive release strategies of majors in terms of the number of screens and prints.

(Translated from French)