Independent film is focus of International Meetings
After three years of summer programming, the International Film Meetings organised by the Forum des Images will be donning its winter clothes again for the 13th edition, which kicks off in Paris tomorrow and lasts until December 4 at the Reflet Médicis and l'Arlequin cinemas.
Devoted to independent film, the event comprises a competition of 12 features, including the French/Swedish co-production Captain Ahab [+see also:
trailer
film profile] by Philippe Ramos (lauded at Locarno); Aurélia Georges’s L'Homme qui marche [+see also:
trailer
film profile] (“The Man Who Walks”, which won acclaim at the San Sebastián Festival); The Art of Negative Thinking [+see also:
trailer
film profile] by Norwegian director Bard Breien; Battle For Haditha by UK director Nick Broomfield; Wolfsbergen by Dutch director Nanouk Leopold; and the Israeli/French co-production The Band’s Visit [+see also:
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film profile] by Eran Korilin (Coup de Coeur Award in the Un Certain Regard section at Cannes and nominated for an Best Screenwriter EFA Award).
The programme also includes avant-premières such as It's a Free World [+see also:
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film profile] by Ken Loach (see interview), Christian Nemescu’s California Dreamin’ [+see also:
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film profile] (winner of this year's Un Certain Regard) and Todd Haynes’ I'm Not There.
Haynes is expected to attend the Meetings, as is the documentary filmmaker of Polish descent Lech Kowalski (who won an award at the 2005 Venice Film Festival for East of Paradise, see report) along with several New Romanian Cinema directors: Cristi Puiu, Corneliu Porumboiu, Catalin Mitulescu, Cristian Mungiu and Radu Muntean, who will see their first works screened and have the opportunity to meet French producers and distributors in order to present their latest projects.
Industry professionals will have the chance to take part in two workshops analysing the current climate for auteur cinema today. The workshop on "International production of a low-budget film (less than €1m): Mission impossible?" will be led by producers Jacques Bidou and Marianne Dumoulin (JBA) while producer Bertrand Gore (Sunday Morning Productions), screenwriter Olivier Lorelle and director Jérôme Bonnell will speak on the topic of "The Screenplay in all its forms: How to develop your artistic project in order to attract producers and financial backers".
(Translated from French)
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