Big vitality for a small country
Belgium has an appointment on La Croisette. To start with, as soon as the Opening, on the stage of the Palais des Festivals, as Namur-born actress Cécile de France will be the master of ceremony for this year.
The official competition confirms the rumours: the Dardenne brothers’ latest film, starring two of their faithful actors: Jérémie Régnier and Olivier Gourmet. After Rosetta, gold palm in Cannes and best female interpretation award for Emilie Dequenne in 1999, after Le Fils (The Son ), best male interpretation award for Olivier Gourmet in 2002, L'enfant [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Luc & Jean-Pierre Dardenne
film profile] (The Child), might assess once again the originality of a self-produced (Les Films du Fleuve), powerful and uncompromising cinema. Also competing, Battle in Heaven [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Carlos Reygadas
interview: Jean Labadie
film profile], the second feature film by the Mexican director of Japón, Carlos Reygadas, was produced by Tarantula Belgique with Philippe Bober as coproducer for Germany(Essential Filmproduktion) and as seller for France (The Coproduction Office), and also supported by Belgium’s French Community. And there’s still another film, Amos Gitaï’s, in which Artémis Productions has invested 10% of the total budget constituted by France, Israel and Spain. Artémis is also to be found in the official selection this time, since it has invested along with France, Germany, the UK and Rumania in a European blockbuster: Joyeux Noël [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Christian Carion
interview: Christophe Rossignon
film profile] (Merry Christmas), by Christian Carrion.
Un Certain Regard also welcomes the first film by the Argentine director Juan Solanas, who already won the award for the best short film in 2003 for L’homme sans tête (The man without a Head): Nordeste, a co-production in which the Belgian K2 Productions finances 20 % of the total. Young talents also enjoy very good positions since the Flemish Peter Ghesquiere’s short film Schijn Van de Man (Under the moonlight) is taking part in the official competition whereas the Semaine de la Critique opens its short-film competition to Grand Vent by Valérie Liénardy. Finally, Joachim Lafosse is preparing his second full-length film, Révolte Intime, and the festival welcomes him at L’Atelier.
(Translated from French)
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