09/03/2017 - The CNC is backing the feature debut by Caroline Poggi and Jonathan Vinel, plus those by Florence Miailhe, Filippo Meneghetti and Vanessa Filho

Directors Jonathan Vinel and Caroline Poggi (© Berlinale)

Four feature-debut projects have been accepted during the first 2017 session of the CNC’s first advance on receipts committee. Standing out among them is Jessica Forever [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile] by Caroline Poggi and Jonathan Vinel, a duo who won the Golden Bear for Short Film at the Berlinale in 2014 with As Long as Shotguns Remain and were once again selected in competition at Berlin with Our Legacy in 2016. Written by the two filmmakers themselves, the story is centred on a group of violent youngsters, warriors who yearn to live a life of peace. What unites and mollifies them is Jessica, a young woman with whom they attempt to create a world where they will have the right to stay alive... The production is being staged by Emmanuel Chaumet for Ecce Films, and the movie will be co-produced by Arte France Cinéma.

The CNC will be backing another project (but this time an animated one) that has also received support from Arte France Cinéma: La Traversée by Florence Miailhe. Known for her technique of using oil paintings under camera and her extremely poetic universe, so far earning her myriad awards for her short films (Jean Vigo Award Special Mention for Hammam in 1991, César Award for Best Short Film in 2002 for A Summer Night Rendez-vous, Special Jury Mention at Cannes in 2006 for Conte de quartier, Honorary Crystal at Annecy in 2015), the filmmaker has written the screenplay for her feature debut with Marie Desplechin. The plot depicts the coming of age of a brother and sister as they attempt to escape from the people hunting them down and reach a country under a more lenient regime. They will cross a whole continent scarred by migrant hunts, and will have to endure countless ordeals – both imaginary ones and very real ones – before reaching a New World, free at last. The production will be staged by Les Films de l’Arlequin.

Another advance on receipts has been granted to Two of Us [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Filippo Meneghetti
film profile] by Filippo Meneghetti. Produced by Paprika Films, the film, with a screenplay written by the director, Malysone Bovorasmy and Florence Vignon, will revolve around two female pensioners who are head over heels in love with one another. In everyone else’s eyes, they are just neighbours. Every day, they come and go between the two flats they share on the top floor of their apartment block. But one day, a tragic event leads to the doors closing again...

Lastly, the CNC will be throwing its weight behind Angel Face [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile] by Vanessa Filho, which will be produced by De Films en aiguille. Written by the director together with Diastème and François Pirot, the story focuses on a self-destructive young woman who lives alone with her eight-year-old daughter. But the little girl’s torment goes totally unnoticed by her mother: she drinks while her back is turned. One night, after meeting someone in a club, the mother decides to leave, abandoning her child, who is then left to her own devices...

(Translated from French)