email print share on Facebook share on Twitter share on LinkedIn share on reddit pin on Pinterest

FUNDING France

CNC grants €450,000 to Lignes de front

by 

Two final appraisals and five advances on receipts were confirmed this week, closing the year 2007 for the National Centre for Cinematography (CNC), which has allocated €140,000 to Auriol Canal’s documentary Sombras (produced by Corto Pacific) and €450,000 to Jean-Christophe Klotz’s Lignes de front.

Produced by Yaël Fogiel for Les Films du Poisson, Lignes de front marks Klotz’s return to Rwanda after his harrowing documentary Return to Kigali [+see also:
trailer
film profile
]
, screened in the Critics’ Week at Cannes 2006.

(The article continues below - Commercial information)

Trying his hand at a narrative feature, with a screenplay co-written by Antoine Lacomblez, the acclaimed former reporter who was injured in Kigali in 1994 here retraces the story of a young independent journalist (Jalil Lespert) sent to Rwanda during the genocide to film a special report. His direct encounter with the horrors of the situation leads the young Westerner to lose any illusions and become aware of the corrupt attitude of the press covering the human tragedy.

Shooting will get underway in February with 22 days in Rwanda followed by five weeks in the Ile-de-France region. The regional fund is also backing the project with a sum of €360,000 adding to an overall budget of €3.14m.

For its part, the first CNC board for advances on receipts selected five screenplays for debut features, including four narrative projects: Les gens ne savent pas peut-être (“Perhaps People Don’t Know”) by Roland Edzard (produced by Philippe Avril for Unlimited); Pierre Creton’s Mani Querville, le temps retrouvé (“Mani Querville: Time Regained”, Capricci Films); Domaine (“Domain”) by Austrian director Patric Chiha (Aurora Films); and Julien Donada’s Beau rivage (“Beautiful Shore”, Local Films).

An advance on receipts was also granted to Djamel Ouahab’s documentary Gerboise bleue (“Blue Jerboa”), a project that does not yet have a producer.

The board for advances on receipts will have a new president at the beginning of 2008, as Pierre Durand is leaving his position after three years. No name has yet been suggested for a possible successor, who will be appointed by the current Minister of Culture. However, it must be noted that the last woman to occupy the post was Isabelle Huppert in 1995.

(The article continues below - Commercial information)

(Translated from French)

Did you enjoy reading this article? Please subscribe to our newsletter to receive more stories like this directly in your inbox.

Privacy Policy