25/06/2015 - There is an exceptionally high-quality programme in store for the 43rd edition of the festival, which includes tributes to Marco Bellocchio and Olivier Assayas

Cannes competitor Mia Madre [+see also:
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interview: Nanni Moretti
film profile] by Nanni Moretti (read the interview) will have the honour of opening the 43rd edition of the La Rochelle International Film Festival (26 June-5 July) tomorrow and, as is the case every year, the programme rustled up by artistic director Prune Engler will showcase a plethora of top-notch titles. In total, more than 250 films (including almost 200 fiction features) will be on the line-up in the Charente-Maritime city, and the crème de la crème of the world’s arthouse films will be on offer in the Ici et Ailleurs (“Here and Elsewhere”) section (either shown as preview screenings ahead of their French theatrical releases or as-yet unreleased in the country).

Two world premieres are even on the menu with Le Caravage [+see also:
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film profile] by Alain Cavalier (which centres on a horse belonging to celebrity Bartabas) and Des Apaches [+see also:
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film profile] by Nassim Amaouche (read the article). They will be accompanied by a host of titles hailing from the recent Cannes Film Festival: the Grand Prix winner Son of Saul [+see also:
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Q&A: László Nemes
interview: László Rajk
film profile] by Hungarian director Laszlo Nemes (read the interview), competitors Louder Than Bombs [+see also:
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interview: Joachim Trier
film profile] by Norwegian director Joachim Trier (watch the interview), Mountains May Depart [+see also:
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film profile] by Chinese filmmaker Jia Zhang-ke and Our Little Sister by Japanese director Hirokazu Kore-eda, The High Sun [+see also:
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interview: Dalibor Matanic
interview: Tihana Lazovic
film profile] by Croatia’s Dalibor Matanic (watch the interview), One Floor Below [+see also:
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interview: Radu Muntean
film profile] by Romanian filmmaker Radu Muntean (watch the interview), The Treasure [+see also:
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interview: Corneliu Porumboiu
interview: Corneliu Porumboiu
film profile] by his fellow countryman Corneliu Porumboiu (watch the interview), The Other Side [+see also:
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interview: Roberto Minervini
film profile] by Italy’s Roberto Minervini (read the interview), Cemetery of Splendour [+see also:
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film profile] by Thai director Apichatpong Weerasethakul, the Arabian Nights [+see also:
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interview: Miguel Gomes
film profile] triptych by Portugal’s Miguel Gomes (read the interview), Peace to Us in Our Dreams [+see also:
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interview: Sharunas Bartas
film profile] by Lithuanian filmmaker Sharunas Bartas (read the interview), The Here After [+see also:
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interview: Magnus von Horn
film profile] by Swedish director Magnus von Horn (read the interview), the Swiss production Amnesia [+see also:
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film profile] by Barbet Schroeder, Fatima [+see also:
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interview: Philippe Faucon
film profile] by Philippe Faucon (read the interview), Les Deux amis [+see also:
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film profile] by Louis Garrel and Cosmodrama [+see also:
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film profile] by Philippe Fernandez, not to mention The Brand New Testament [+see also:
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interview: Jaco van Dormael
film profile] by Belgium’s Jaco Van Dormael (read the interview), which will bring the festival to a close.

Also of note among the other titles in this section are the Berlinale-awarded 45 Years [+see also:
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Q&A: Andrew Haigh
film profile] by Andrew Haigh (read the interview) and The Pearl Button [+see also:
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film profile] by Patricio Guzman, The Lesson [+see also:
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interview: Kristina Grozeva, Petar Val…
interview: Margita Gosheva
film profile] by Bulgarian duo Kristina Grozeva and Petar Valchanov (read the interview), Koza [+see also:
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interview: Ivan Ostrochovský
film profile] by Slovakian director Ivan Ostrochovský (read the interview), At Home [+see also:
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film profile] by Greek filmmaker Athanasios Karanikolas, Forever [+see also:
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film profile] by his fellow countrywoman Margarita Manda, The Reaper [+see also:
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interview: Zvonimir Jurić
film profile] by Croatia’s Zvonimir Juric (read the interview), Tsamo [+see also:
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film profile] by Finnish directors Anastasia Lapsui and Markku Lehmuskallio, The Life of Jean-Marie by Dutch filmmaker Peter van Houten, and Until I Lose My Breath [+see also:
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film profile] by Turkey’s Emine Emel Balci. 

The rest of the gathering’s programme boasts the same high level of quality, with tributes to Italy’s Marco Bellocchio (15 films scheduled), French director Olivier Assayas (ten films), Taiwanese filmmaker Hou Hsiao-hsien (13 films) and the Maakhmalbaf family (16 films), all with the respective honourees in attendance; a Discovery section dedicated to Georgian productions (ten films, including Brides [+see also:
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interview: Tinatin Kajrishvili
film profile] by Tinatin Kajrishvili, among others); a number of retrospectives (Louis Feuillade and Musidora, Alexander Mackendrick); the complete works of Luchino Visconti; a selection of 14 restored or re-edited films that have made their mark on cinematic history; 28 animated titles made by the Shanghai Animation Film Studio; a music class given by Jean-Claude Petit; and a John Carpenter Night.

(Translated from French)