BERLINALE 2009 Panorama / France
Julie Delpy, Isabelle Adjani and Rie Rasmussen on line-up
One minority and two majority French productions are among the first 21 titles selected in the Panorama section of the 59th Berlinale (February 5-15). These are Rie Rasmussen’s Human Zoo [+see also:
trailer
film profile], Jean-Paul Lilienfeld’s La journée de la jupe [+see also:
trailer
film profile] (“The Day of the Skirt”, starring Isabelle Adjani), and Julie Delpy’s German/French co-production The Countess [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Anna Maria Mühe
film profile].
Two years after 2 Days in Paris [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Christophe Mazodier
interview: Julie Delpy
film profile], Delpy returns to the Panorama section with her English-language historical thriller The Countess (see news), in which she stars alongside German actor Daniel Brühl, Romania’s Anamaria Marinca and the US’ William Hurt. Produced by Germany’s X Filme International and France’s Tempête Sous un Crâne, the film is sold internationally by Celluloid Dreams.
The title received €400,000 from the Franco-German co-production fund and will be released in France by Bac Films.
Actress (Angel-A [+see also:
trailer
film profile]) and director (shorts competition at Cannes 2004), Rasmussen will present her debut feature, Human Zoo, at Berlin. Produced for €4.5m by EuropaCorp – who are also handling international sales and domestic distribution (release date: April 1) – the film traces the misadventures of a woman who goes from the atrocities of the Kosovo war to the difficult world of illegal immigrants in France.
The cast includes the 32-year-old Danish director and Hiam Abbass. The film was lensed by Thierry Arbogast.
The Panorama section will also screen Lilienfeld’s La journée de la jupe, which was unveiled at the latest La Rochelle Film Festival. This TV drama was co-produced by Mascaret Films, Arte France, Fontana and the R.T.B.F and received backing from the Ile-de-France region.
The title – which stars Adjani, Denis Podalydès, Yann Collette and Marc Citti – centres on a depressive French teacher who goes off the rails and takes her class hostage after finding a weapon in a pupil’s bag.
(Translated from French)
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