16/07/2008

Among the 15 new releases hitting screens this Wednesday, four of the five French features on the line-up deal with the subject of adolescence in the broadest sense of the term: Laurence Ferreira-Barbosa’s Soit je meurs, soit je vais mieux [+see also:
trailer
film profile] (“Either I’m Dying or I’m Better”), Frédéric Berthe’s Nos 18 ans [+see also:
trailer
film profile] (“When We Were 18”), Emmanuel Saget’s Les Grands s'allongent par terre (“Grown-ups Lie Down on the Ground”) and Frédéric Balekdjian’s Un Monde à nous [+see also:
trailer
film profile] (“The World is Ours”).

Having enjoyed acclaim since her debut film There’s Nothing Special About Normal People, Ferreira-Barbosa takes an original and lyrical look at adolescence in her fifth feature: Soit je meurs, soit je vais mieux. Co-written by Nathalie Najem, the film centres on 16-year-old Martial (François Civil), who is having difficulty fitting in at his new high school after moving house with his whimsical mother (Florence Thomassin), whose husband has left her. The boy makes friends with two rebellious twins (Marine and Karine Barbosa) and is introduced to some troubling and exciting experiences.

The film was produced by Paulo Branco for Alfama Films on a €2.4m budget, which included an advance on receipts from the National Film Centre (CNC). Soit je meurs, soit je vais mieux is being released by Bac Films.

Launched by TFM Distribution, Berthe’s Nos 18 ans is a remake of Fausto Brizzi’s Italian hit film Night Before the Exams [+see also:
trailer
film profile]. Adapted by Eric Assous, the film stars Michel Blanc, Théo Frilet and Valentine Catzéflis.

The €6.83m film was produced by Rectangle Productions and Mes Films in co-production with TF1 Films Production.

Gena – almost 16 – is the heroine of Saget’s debut feature, Les Grands s'allongent par terre (distributed by Pyramide). Written by the director and starring Victoire Thivisol and Laurent Suire, the film retraces the encounter between a daughter and father who have never met each other.

The title was produced by Films Pelléas for €1.55m, which included an advance on receipts from the CNC and backing from the Ile-de-France region.

Noé, the 11-year-old protagonist of Balekdjian’s thriller Un Monde à nous (see news, released by Mars Distribution) explores his father’s paranoia. Lauded at Berlin for his debut feature, Gamblers [+see also:
trailer
film profile], the director – who co-wrote the title with Fabien Vehlmann – cast his son Anton Balekdjian and Edouard Baer in the lead roles.

The €4.74m film was produced by Alain Chabat for Chez Wam and co-produced by Studio 37 and TF1.

Other releases this Wednesday include Jérôme L'Hotsky’s comedy Fool Moon (AFCD Production - distributed by Zelig Films); Gonzalo López-Gallego’s terrifying Spanish feature King of the Hill (distributed by Wild Side Films); and Italian documentary Bìutiful Cauntri, which looks at the causes of the refuse problems in Naples (distributed by Chrysalide Films).

Finally, Eurozoom are launching Zoe Cassavetes’ Broken English, co-produced by French company Backup Films and starring Melvil Poupaud.

(Translated from French)