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OSCARS 2007 France

Orchestra Seats in the running

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Danièle Thompson’s third directorial feature, Orchestra Seats [+see also:
trailer
film profile
]
, has been chosen as the French candidate in the 2007 Oscar nominations for Best Foreign Language Film.

Starring Cécile de France, Valérie Lemercier, Claude Brasseur, Albert Dupontel, Laura Morante, Suzanne Flon and Sydney Pollack, the film – co-scripted by the director and her son Christopher – intertwines the destinies of characters that frequent the Bar des Théâtres on Avenue Montaigne, a stone’s throw from the Champs Elysées in Paris.

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Produced by Christine Gozlan for Thelma Films, the €8.7m Orchestra Seats included €1.8m in pre-sales and co-production financing from TF1 Films Production, co-production support from StudioCanal, as well as backing from Canal+, Ciné Cinémas and the Ile de France region.

Released through Mars Distribution in February, the film garnered almost 2m admissions in France (almost €11.5m in box office takings).

Daughter of filmmaker Gérard Oury, who passed away recently, Thompson scripted several of his films, such as Don’t Look Now, We’ve Been Shot At, Delusions of Grandeur and The Adventures of Rabbi Jacob, as well as The Party by Claude Pinoteau and two features by Patrice Chéreau (Those Who Love Me Can Take the Train and Queen Margot).

Thompson’s successful transition behind the camera with the box office success Season’s Beatings (1999), followed by Jet Lag (2002), won her three Best Script César nominations. She also made the shortlist of nominees for Best Script Oscar in 1977 with Cousin, cousine by Jean Charles Tacchella.

Comprising members appointed by the Minister for Culture, the selection committee of France’s Oscar candidates includes Margaret Menégoz (Unifrance president), Thierry Frémaux (artistic director of the Cannes Film Festival) and five presidents of the Centre National de la Cinématographie (CNC) commissions: Claude Durand (advances on receipts), Frédéric Brillion (certification), Pierre Chevalier (scriptwriting support), Marc Tessier (selective support for distribution) and Laurent Vallet (funding for promotion abroad).

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(Translated from French)

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