12/01/2012

Four projects were selected on January 10 by Arte France Cinéma, which will support them through co-production and pre-acquisitions. Standing out among them is Abus de Faiblesse (“Abuse of Weakness”) by director Catherine Breillat, who is a regular at major festivals (The Last Mistress [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile] in competition at Cannes in 2007, Bluebeard [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile] in the Panorama at the Berlinale 2009 and The Sleeping Beauty in the Horizons section at the Venice Mostra 2010).

Produced by Flach Films, the feature will start shooting in the second half of 2012. The cast will include star thesp Isabelle Huppert and rapper Kool Shen, who will be appearing in his first major big-screen role (his partner from the group NTM, Joey Starr, has already made a successful breakthrough in cinema, notably with Poliss [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Maïwenn
film profile]).

Abus de Faiblesse will trace the autobiographical story of a self-destructive relationship between Maud, a film director suddenly left paralysed on one side, and Vilko, a flamboyant crook who attracts her and whom she wants to hire for her next film.

Arte France Cinéma has also decided to back White Elephant (working title) by Argentina’s Pablo Trapero (in competition at Cannes in 2008 with Lion’s Den), co-produced by French outfit Full House and currently shooting in Buenos Aires with a cast including Belgian actor Jérémie Renier, Ricardo Darin and Martina Gusman. The film will plunge into the harsh reality of Villa Virgen, the biggest shantytown in the Argentinean capital.

Another selected project is Parajanov, L’enfant Aux Diamants (“Paradjanov, the Child With Diamonds”) by directorial duo Serge Avedikian (Palme d’Or for Best Short Film at Cannes in 2010 with Barking Island) and Olena Fetisova. Produced by Araprod, this film will retrace the whimsical life of film director Sergei Parajanov (who died in 1990) whose films and montages earned him years of censorship and prison in USSR.

Finally, after Love and Bruises [+see also:
trailer
interview: Lou Ye
film profile], Arte France Cinéma continues its collaboration with Chinese filmmaker Lou Ye and Paris-based outfit Les Films du Lendemain. After a five-year ban on filming in his country since Summer Palace, the director (selected in competition at Cannes in 2003, 2006 and 2009) is currently shooting Mystery in China, with a cast including his favourite actors Hao Lei and Qin Hao.

(Translated from French)