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RELEASES France

Love, thrillers and Actresses for Christmas

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Today’s eight new releases and the twelve set to hit screens on December 26 will spice up the end of the year in French cinemas. The line-up includes nine French productions and co-productions, alongside seven US features, with the rest of world cinema represented by four titles from Germany, Korea, Iran and Brazil.

Sentimental films steal the show this week, as StudioCanal launches on 198 screens Marc Gibaja’s Ma vie n'est pas une comédie romantique [+see also:
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(“My Life Isn’t A Romantic Comedy”, see news), starring Gilles Lellouche and Marie Gillain, while TFM are releasing Laurent Charbonnier’s documentary Les animaux amoureux (“Animals in Love”) on a generous 400 screens.

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Should a son have to pay for his father’s crimes? The answer to this question lies in the dark thriller The Key [+see also:
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by Guillaume Nicloux (see news), released by SND on 193 screens. Starring Guillaume Canet, Jean Rochefort, Marie Gillain, Josiane Balasko, Vanessa Paradis and Thierry Lhermitte, this film ends the trilogy that began with A Private Affair (2002) and Hanging Offense (2003).

The thriller genre continues to occupy centre stage with the French/Belgian co-production Vous êtes de la police? [+see also:
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(“Are You With the Police?”) by Romuald Beugnon (see news), a debut feature starring the late Jean-Pierre Cassel and Jean-Claude Brialy, about an unusual investigation in a retirement home, released by Memento Films Distribution on 21 screens.

Also worthy of note is the release of the French/Israeli The Band’s Visit [+see also:
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by Eran Kolirin. Lauded in the Un Certain Regard section at Cannes and awarded the titles for Best Actor and European Discovery at this year’s European Film Awards, the film is being released on 88 screens by co-producer Sophie Dulac.

Young viewers will be able to enjoy the animated film Les Trois brigands (“The Three Bandits”) by German director Hayo Freitag, released by Gebeka Films on 169 screens.

Next week marks the return of Mars Distribution, who are sealing their comeback with the release of Actresses [+see also:
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. Directed by Valeria Bruni Tedeschi, who also stars alongside Mathieu Amalric, Louis Garrel, Noémie Lvovsky and Valeria Golino, this Fidélité Films production received a much-deserved Special Jury Prize at Cannes in the Un Certain Regard section.

Audiences who prefer more audacious films will also find titles to suit their taste: Franck Vestiel’s Eden Log [+see also:
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, starring Clovis Cornillac and distributed by Bac Films, and French/US co-production Hitman [+see also:
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by Xavier Gens, starring Timothy Olyphant (Deadwood) and Olga Kurylenko, which is being launched by its producer EuropaCorp on 450 screens.

Finally, on December 26 Pyramide will release Lucia Puenzo’s Argentine/French co-production XXY [+see also:
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, the prize-winner of Critics’ Week at Cannes 2007.

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(Translated from French)

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