11/03/2015 - Unveiled in competition at Venice, Alix Delaporte’s film is being released across 116 screens; the critics have also fallen in love with In the Crosswind

Every major festival likes to mollycoddle young filmmakers in the hope that they will make good on all their promises, so that the festival can then accompany them as their careers progress. This has certainly been the case with Venice and French filmmaker Alix Delaporte, who took home the Golden Lion for Best Short Film at the Mostra in 2006 with Comment on freine dans la descente? before going on to bewitch the Critics’ Week in 2010 with her feature debut, Angèle and Tony [+see also:
trailer
film profile], and then jumping straight into the competition last year with her subsequent opus, The Last Hammer Blow [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile] (read the review). 

Having been honoured with the Marcello Mastroianni Award for Best Emerging Actor (for Romain Paul) at Venice, and then with the Best Actress Award handed to Clotilde Hesme at Marrakech, The Last Hammer Blow owes a great deal to its cast, which is rounded off by Grégory Gadebois. Following in the same vein as a delicate social film tinged with the odd hint of romanticism, the movie also puts the enormous talent of Claire Mathon to good use, as she serves as DoP. Produced by Hélène Cases (a European Film Promotion Producer on the Move 2012 – read the interview) for Lionceau Film, the feature is released today in 116 theatres, courtesy of Pyramide.

Also hitting screens this Wednesday is In the Crosswind [+see also:
film review
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interview: Martti Helde
interview: Martti Helde
film profile] by Estonian director Martti Helde (read the review and the interview with the filmmaker), which was unveiled at Toronto. The French film critics have truly fallen head over heels in love with this movie, which is being distributed in 63 cinemas by ARP Sélection.

There have also been positive reviews for White Shadow [+see also:
film review
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interview: Noaz Deshe
film profile] by Noaz Deshe, which won the Lion of the Future at the 2013 Venice Film Festival (Premium Films across eight screens), 1001 Grams [+see also:
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interview: Bent Hamer
film profile] by Norway’s Bent Hamer (read the interview – co-produced by France and Germany – Les Films du Losange in 30 theatres) and a French feature debut that was produced on a shoestring budget and is steeped in dream-like imagery: Horsehead [+see also:
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film profile] by Romain Basset (Tanzi Distribution in three cinemas). 

The opening-up of France to the world of European production is evident today in the guise of the excellent off-the-wall humour found in the US-German co-production The Voices [+see also:
trailer
film profile] by French director Marjane Satrapi (Le Pacte across 174 screens), the engaging UK-US co-production Selma by Ava DuVernay (nominated this year for the Oscar for Best Picture – Pathé in 168 theatres), the mesmerising Zendj Revolution [+see also:
interview: Tariq Teguia
film profile] by Tariq Teguia (co-produced by Algeria, France, Lebanon and Qatar – distributed by Zendj in six cinemas) and the exceptional documentary ‘Til Madness Do Us Part by Wang Bing (a co-production between Hong Kong, France and Japan – Les Acacias across 14 screens).

Also featuring among the avalanche of 17 new releases this Wednesday are the Italian-French co-production L'amore non perdona [+see also:
trailer
film profile] by Italy’s Stefano Consiglio (starring Ariane Ascaride in the lead – Bellissima Films in 53 theatres), the Franco-Swiss feature Kommunisten [+see also:
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film profile] by Jean-Marie Straub (JHR Films in three cinemas), Time of My Life [+see also:
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film profile] by Belgian filmmaker Nic Balthazar (Bodega Films in two theatres), and the documentaries Libres! [+see also:
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film profile] by Jean-Paul Jaud and Ma mère et mon père by Müret Isitmez.

(Translated from French)