09/02/2006

Twenty-one French productions or co-productions will be on show at the 56th Berlin Film Festival , which begins today. In official competition are A Comedy of Power [+see also:
trailer
film profile] by Claude Chabrol, starring Isabelle Huppert, an Alicéléo production, with a €7m budget, co-produced with Ajoz Films, France 2 Cinéma (which put up €1.4m) and German company Integral Film to the tune of 20%. Also competing for the Bears are two minority French co-productions: El custodio [+see also:
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film profile] by Argentina’s Rodrigo Moreno (co-produced with Artcam International) and Crime Novel [+see also:
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interview: Michele Placido
film profile] from Italy’s Michele Placido (with Babe Films). The official selection also includes, out of competition, The Science of Sleep [+see also:
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film profile] by Michel Gondry, a Partizan Films production that was co-produced with Gaumont on a €6m budget (including €800,000 from France 3 Cinéma) and stars Gael Garcia Bernal and Charlotte Gainsbourg.

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Meanwhile, Panorama will include three French productions: Four Stars [+see also:
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film profile] by Christian Vincent (produced by Fidélité Production with a €8.9m budget, of which €2.7m came from the TF1 Film Production), Camping sauvage [+see also:
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film profile] (lit. "Savage Camping") by duo Christophe Ali and Nicolas Bonilauri (a Les Films à Un Dollar production, which benefited from a €76,000 post-production advance from the CNC) and Birds of Heaven by Eliane de Latour (a Les Films de Cinéma production, in association with Les Films d'Ici, Les Films du lendemain and Arte France Cinéma). France was also a minority partner in the Iranian feature Narcissus Blossom by Masoud Arif Salih and Hussein Hassan Ali, as well as in Family Law [+see also:
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film profile] ( Derecho de familia) from Argentina’s Daniel Burman (with Océan Films).

It is also worth noting that Marock [+see also:
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film profile] by Leïla Marrakchi (seen in Cannes 2005, see article) will participate in the Kinderfilmfest/14plus. And, as part of the Berlinale Special programme, two documentaries, The Perfect Friend [+see also:
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film profile] (Un ami parfait) by Francis Girod and Humbert Balsan producteur rebelle by Anne Andreu, will be screened in tribute to Humbert Balsan. The Forum offers five majority French productions: Hotel Harabati [+see also:
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film profile] (De Particulier à Particulier) by Brice Cauvin, Barakat! [+see also:
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film profile] by Djamila Sahraoui, Beyond Hatred [+see also:
film review
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film profile] (Au-delà de la haine) by Olivier Meyrou, Schuss! by Nicolas Rey and Là-bas (lit. "Over There") by Chantal Akerman). Also taking part in the Forum are four minority productions: Congo River from Belgium’s Thierry Michel, Tertium non datur by Rumania’s Lucian Pintilie, News From Home by Amos Gitai and L’Appel des arènes (lit. "The Call of the Arenas") from Senegalese director Cheikh Ndiaye).

(Translated from French)