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RELEASES France

Timbuktu and Song of the Sea stand out in the cinema listings

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- Also hitting screens are films by Ivano De Matteo, Jaime Rosales, Ester Martin Bergsmark, Abd Al Malik and Alexandre Coffre

Timbuktu and Song of the Sea stand out in the cinema listings
Timbuktu by Abderrahmane Sissako

While attendance levels in French theatres levelled off in November (-8.4%), the running total for the first 11 months of the year amounts to 186.28 million admissions (+9.3% compared to the same period in 2013), according to the CNC’s estimates, thus paving the way for an excellent total for 2014, which will be further increased by the scores racked up by the 19 new releases this Wednesday.

Boosted by some very strong backing from the critics, Abderrahmane Sissako’s majority French production Timbuktu [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile
]
is hitting screens today, among other titles; the movie was popular in competition at Cannes (read the review – distributed by Le Pacte in 150 cinemas).

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The press has also been highly enthusiastic about the splendid animated film Song of the Sea [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Tomm Moore
film profile
]
by Irish director Tomm Moore (co-produced by France, Belgium, Luxembourg and Denmark), released by Haut et Court in 240 theatres.

Also of note is the feature debut Qu'Allah bénisse la France! [+see also:
trailer
film profile
]
by Abd Al Malik (winner of the Fipresci Prize in the Discovery section at Toronto – read the articleAd Vitam across 102 screens), The Dinner [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Ivano De Matteo
film profile
]
by Italy’s Ivano De Matteo (winner of the Europa Cinemas Label at Venice Days 2014 – Bellissima Films in 32 cinemas, including six in Paris, and having already racked up 5,000 admissions during preview screenings), Beautiful Youth [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Jaime Rosales
film profile
]
by Spaniard Jaime Rosales (revealed in Un Certain Regard at Cannes – Bodega Films in 13 theatres) and Something Must Break [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile
]
by Swedish director Ester Martin Bergsmark (read the review – the big winner at Rotterdam – Outplay across seven screens).

The biggest release of the day is handled by Mars Distribution, which is pinning its hopes on 355 copies of Le père Noël by Alexandre Coffre, starring Tahar Rahim as a burglar thwarted by a six-year-old child, after he mistakes him for Father Christmas. Interestingly, the film (produced by Quad) came out last Thursday in Italy, distributed by M2 Pictures, where it took €372,000 in four days.

Standing out among the other new releases are the Franco-Georgian production Brother by Thierry and Teona Grenade (produced by MPM Films and co-produced by Arte France Cinéma – distributed by Zootrope Films in six cinemas) and Of Snails and Men [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Tudor Giurgiu
film profile
]
by Romanian filmmaker Tudor Giurgiu (distributed in one theatre by its co-producer, Agat Films & Cie).

Lastly of note are the Franco-Moroccan comedy Le veau d'or by Hassan Legzouli (Zelig Films Distribution), Ceci est mon corps by Jérôme Soubeyrand (Calm Distribution), Le visage du diable by Salvatore d'Agostini (Saint-André-des-Arts), and Que justice soit nôtre by Jean-Pierre Delépine and Alix Bénézech (Tous Seuls Production).

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(Translated from French)

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