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KARLOVY VARY 2016 France

29 French (co-)productions being showcased at Karlovy Vary

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- With 11 majority and 18 minority productions on the line-up, along with some hyperactive sales agents, France is popping up all over the Czech festival

29 French (co-)productions being showcased at Karlovy Vary
On Call by Alice Diop

At first glance, France seems to have rather a subtle presence at the 51st Karlovy Vary Film Festival (which kicked off today and wraps on 9 July). As it stands, only one French majority production is competing at the festival, in the running for the 2016 documentary Grand Prize: Alice Diop’s On Call [+see also:
film review
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]
. However, if you take a closer look at the Czech event, you will once again notice the extensive involvement that the French film industry has in the production, co-production and international sales of feature films the world over. This year’s line-up for the festival includes no fewer than 11 majority and 18 minority French productions. 

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The minority co-productions feature among the 12 fiction features duking it out for the Crystal Globe in the Official Selection: Zoology [+see also:
film review
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interview: Ivan I Tverdovsky
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]
by Russian filmmaker Ivan I Tverdovski (co-produced by Arizona Productions – read the article), The Confessions [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Roberto Andò
film profile
]
by Italian director Roberto Ando (co-produced by Barbary Films) and late Czech filmmaker Jan Nemec’s The Wolf of Royal Vineyard Street [+see also:
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interview: Tomáš Klein
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]
(co-produced by Bocalupo Films).

Three French executive-produced films are featured in the Another View section: the Camera d’Or-winning Divines [+see also:
film review
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interview: Houda Benyamina
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]
by Houda Benyamina (bought by Netflix, which will be released in French cinemas from 31 August through Diaphana), Cambodian director Rithy Panh’s Exile [+see also:
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(also unveiled on the Croisette, as a special screening – sold by Films Distribution) and Beijing Stories by Chinese filmmaker Pengfei (which appeared in Venice Days – produced by House On Fire and sold by Urban Distribution International). Also featured in the line-up are five minority French co-productions, three of which were heralded at Cannes: Spanish director Olivier Laxe’s fascinating Mimosas [+see also:
film review
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interview: Oliver Laxe
film profile
]
(winner of the Critics’ Week Grand Prize at Cannes – co-produced by Rouge International and sold by LuxBox, which has recently finalised a deal for its US distribution), Afghan director Shahrbanoo Sadat’s incredibly original Wolf and Sheep [+see also:
film review
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interview: Shahrbanoo Sadat
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]
(revealed in the Directors’ Fortnight – co-produced by La Fabrica Nocturna Productions and sold by Alpha Violet) as well as Lebanese filmmaker Vatche Boulghourjian’s gripping Tramontane [+see also:
film review
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film profile
]
(which had its premiere in the Critics’ Week at Cannes – co-produced by Le Bureau - Le Petit Bureau, which is also responsible for its international sales). Also on the Another View menu are two minority co-productions, which were unveiled in Berlin’s Panorama: The First, the Last [+see also:
film review
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interview: Bouli Lanners
film profile
]
by Belgian director Bouli Lanners (Europa Cinemas Label – co-produced by ADCB Films and sold by Wild Bunch) and Swiss filmmaker Tobias Nolle’s Aloys [+see also:
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interview: Tobias Nölle
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]
(co-produced by Petit Film).

The Horizons section includes four stunning majority co-productions: Bruno Dumont’s Cannes competitor Slack Bay [+see also:
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Q&A: Bruno Dumont
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]
, The Son of Joseph [+see also:
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by Eugène Green (unveiled in the Berlinale Forum) and the Mostra competitors Courted [+see also:
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by Christian Vincent and Rabin, the Last Day [+see also:
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by Israeli director Amos Gitaï. Eight minority co-productions feature alongside them, with the Cannes titles Graduation [+see also:
film review
trailer
Q&A: Cristian Mungiu
interview: Cristian Mungiu
film profile
]
by Romania’s Cristian Mungiu (produced by Why Not – sold by Wild Bunch), Aquarius [+see also:
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by Brazilian director Kleber Mendonça Filho (co-produced and sold by SBS International) and Canadian filmmaker Xavier Dolan’s It’s Only the End of the World [+see also:
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]
(co-produced by MK2 Productions), the Golden Bear-winning Fire at Sea [+see also:
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interview: Gianfranco Rosi
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]
by Italy’s Gianfranco Rosi (co-produced by Les Films d'Ici and sold by Doc & Film International), Sweet Dreams [+see also:
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Q&A: Marco Bellocchio
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]
by his compatriot Marco Bellocchio (which opened the Directors’ Fortnight and was co-produced by Ad Vitam), Turkish director Emin Alper’s Mostra-awarded Frenzy [+see also:
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interview: Emin Alper
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]
(co-produced by Paprika Films), Belgica [+see also:
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interview: Artemio Benki, Sylvie Leray
interview: Felix Van Groeningen
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]
by Belgian filmmaker Felix van Groeningen (co-produced by Pyramide) and the British executive-produced film A Hologram for the King [+see also:
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film profile
]
by Germany’s Tom Tykwer (co-produced by 22h22).

Featuring as a midnight screening is Jean-François Richet’s English-language thriller Blood Father [+see also:
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]
(a Why Not executive production – unveiled at Cannes and sold by Wild Bunch), while the Variety Critics' Choice section has selected the majority French production As I Open My Eyes [+see also:
film review
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interview: Leyla Bouzid
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]
by Leyla Bouzid (Europa Cinemas Label at Venice Days – sold by Doc & Film) and the minority production Death by Death [+see also:
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interview: Xavier Seron
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]
by Belgium’s Xavier Séron (co-produced by Tobina Film and sold by Stray Dogs). Last, but not least, the Imagina line-up includes Sfumato by Christophe Bisson (produced by Tryptique Films) and Notes on Blindness [+see also:
film review
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interview: James Spinney, Peter Middle…
film profile
]
by Peter Middleton and James Spinney (co-produced with the UK by Agat Films & Ex Nihilo).

French international sales agents have another ten titles on show at this year’s festival, including six as part of the Another View line-up: The Happiest Day in the Life of Olli Mäki [+see also:
film review
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interview: Juho Kuosmanen
film profile
]
by Finland’s Juho Kuosmanen (winner of Un Certain Regard at Cannes – sold by Les Films du Losange), Russian filmmaker Kirill Serebrennikov’s The Student (unveiled in the same section at Cannes and sold by Wide Management), Galloping Mind [+see also:
trailer
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]
by Belgian director Wim Vandekeybus (sold by Be For Films), Indian director Ruchika Oberoi’s Island City (unveiled in Venice Days and sold by Stray Dogs), Oscuro animal [+see also:
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trailer
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]
by Colombia’s Felipe Guerrero (unveiled at Rotterdam and sold by Pascale Ramonda) and You'll Never Be Alone by Chilean filmmaker Alex Anwandter (Berlinale Panorama – sold by Wide Management). As a final note, Films Distribution is selling the Cannes competitor Ma'Rosa by Philippine director Brillante Mendoza, which will be screened as part of the Horizons section, Celluloid Dreams is selling Bone Tomawak by US filmmaker S Craig Zahler, which will be presented as a midnight screening, and two titles in the Variety Critics’ Choice line-up are on French sales agents’ books: Canadian director Philippe Lesage’s The Demons for Be For Films and Neon Bull [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile
]
by Brazil’s Gabriel Mascaro for Memento Films International.

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(Translated from French)

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