08/03/2006

On May 18, the French capital and its romantic encounters will open the Un Certain Regard section of the 59th edition of the Cannes Film Festival (May 17-28, 2006) with the collective film Paris je t'aime. Produced by Victoire Productions, the film is made up of 20 five-minute shorts devoted to the 20 arrondissements (neighbourhoods) of the City of Light and linked by transitions to create a single story.

Ten European filmmakers participated in the adventure, including the UK’s Gurindher Chadha (5th arrondissement), Germany’s Tom Tykwer (on the 10th arrondissement, with Natalie Portman), Spain’s Isabel Coixet (12th, with Sergio Castellito and Miranda Richardson) and Denmark’s Christoffer Boe (15th). France is represented by six directors: Olivier Assayas (3rd), Sylvain Chomet (7th, with Yolande Moreau), Raphaël Nadjari (11th, with Julie Depardieu), Bruno Podalydès (18th) and the Frédéric Auburtin/Gérard Depardieu duo (6th, with Gena Rowlands and Ben Gazzara).

With a budget of approximately €13.5m, Paris je t'aime also brought together Joel et Ethan Coen (1st arrondissement, with Steve Buscemi), Nobuhiro Suwa (2nd, with Juliette Binoche and Willem Dafoe), Gus van Sant (4th, with Marianne Faithful and Gaspard Ulliel), Vincenzo Natali (8th, with Elijah Wood), Richard LaGravenese (9th, with Fanny Ardant and Bob Hoskins), Christopher Doyle (13th, with Barbet Schroeder in the cast), Alexander Payne (14th), Walter Salles (16th), Alfonso Cuarón (17th, with Nick Nolte and Ludivine Sagnier), Oliver Schmitz (19th) and Wes Craven (20th, with Rufus Sewell and Emily Watson).

This is an attractive line-up for a project that started in 2001 and has experienced some ups and downs before being put back on track by Amélie [+see also:
trailer
film profile] producer Claudie Ossard, who oversaw the final version of Paris je t'aime with Emmanuel Benbihy.

(Translated from French)