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CANNES 2016 France

Assayas, Dumont, Garcia and Guiraudie: Four aces for the Palme d’Or

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- Personal Shopper, Slack Bay, From the Land of the Moon and Staying Vertical are all in the running at Cannes

Assayas, Dumont, Garcia and Guiraudie: Four aces for the Palme d’Or
Personal Shopper by Olivier Assayas

Four seasoned French filmmakers have been selected in competition at the 69th Cannes Film Festival (11-22 May 2016). The first is 61-year-old Olivier Assayas, who will be duking it out with his Personal Shopper [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Artemio Benki
interview: Olivier Assayas
film profile
]
. With this English-language film, which is his 15th feature, the director will be taking part in the Cannes competition for the fifth time, following Les destinées sentimentales (2000), Demonlover [+see also:
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]
(2002), Clean [+see also:
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]
(Best Actress Award in 2004) and Clouds of Sils Maria [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Charles Gillibert
interview: Olivier Assayas
film profile
]
(2014). He has also been selected in Un Certain Regard at Cannes, in 1994 (Cold Water) and 1996 (Irma Vep), and out of competition in 2007 (Boarding Gate [+see also:
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) and 2010 (the mini-series Carlos [+see also:
film review
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), as well as at Venice (in the Critics’ Week in 1986 with Disorder and in competition in 2012 with Something in the Air [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Olivier Assayas
film profile
]
, winning the Best Screenplay Award into the bargain). The cast of Personal Shopper boasts US actress Kristen Stewart, Germany’s Lars Eidinger, France’s Sigrid Bouaziz and Norway’s Anders Danielsen Lie. Written by the director, the story revolves around a young American woman earning her living in Paris by going shopping on behalf of a celebrity – and she is also able to communicate with ghosts... Produced by Charles Gillibert for CG Cinéma, Personal Shopper was co-produced by Arte France Cinéma, German outfit Detail Film, Belgium’s Scope Invest and Czech company Sirena Film. Having also been pre-purchased by Canal+, the feature will be distributed in France by Les Films du Losange from 19 October, and its international sales are being handled by MK2

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With Slack Bay [+see also:
film review
trailer
Q&A: Bruno Dumont
film profile
]
, 58-year-old Bruno Dumont will be battling it out for the Palme d'Or on the Croisette for the third time – he has already presented five of his films there (Caméra d’Or Special Mention in 1997 with The Life of Jesus, Grand Prix in 1999 with Humanity and in 2006 with Flanders [+see also:
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film profile
]
, Un Certain Regard in 2011 with Hors Satan [+see also:
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]
Directors’ Fortnight 2014 with the mini-series Li’l Quinquin [+see also:
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). He has also been in competition once at Venice (Twentynine Palms [+see also:
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in 2003) and at Berlin (Camille Claudel 1915 [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Bruno Dumont
film profile
]
in 2013). Slack Bay is the eighth feature by the director, and stars Juliette Binoche, Fabrice Luchini and Valeria Bruni Tedeschi in this tragicomedy set in the summer of 1910 in Northern France. It centres on a number of mysterious disappearances, the inquiry undertaken by an unlikely duo of police officers, and a strange and engrossing love story between the eldest son of a family of fishermen with dubious morals and the youngest daughter of a rich, decadent, middle-class family from Lille. Produced by Jean Bréhat, Rachid Bouchareb and Muriel Merlin for 3B, Slack Bay benefited from a budget of €7.21 million, including co-productions by Arte France Cinéma and German outfit Twenty Twenty Vision, pre-purchases by Canal+ and Ciné+, and an advance on receipts from the CNC. The feature will be released in French theatres immediately after its premiere at Cannes by Memento, which is also in charge of its international sales.

With From the Land of the Moon [+see also:
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]
, her eighth feature, 69-year-old Nicole Garcia will be locking horns for Cannes’ top prize for the third time, following The Adversary in 2002 and Charlie Says [+see also:
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]
in 2006. This time, the filmmaker, who also took part in the competition at Venice in 1998 with Place Vendôme, has adapted (together with Jacques Fieschi) the bestseller of the same name by Italian author Milena Agus.The story revolves around a woman willing to do anything to find true love. The cast includes Marion Cotillard, Spaniard Alex Brendemühl and Louis Garrel. Produced by Alain Attal for Les Productions du Trésor, From the Land of the Moon benefited from a budget of €10.3 million, including co-productions by France 3 Cinéma, StudioCanal (which will be in charge of distributing it in France from 19 October and is handling its international sales) and Pauline's Angels, in addition to pre-purchases by Canal+ and Ciné+.

Lastly, 51-year-old Alain Guiraudie will be making his very first appearance in the Cannes competition with his fifth feature: Staying Vertical [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Alain Guiraudie
film profile
]
. This will be the filmmaker’s fourth foray onto the Croisette, following No Rest for the Brave [+see also:
trailer
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]
(Directors’ Fortnight 2003), The King of Escape [+see also:
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]
(Directors’ Fortnight 2009) and Stranger by the Lake [+see also:
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interview: Alain Guiraudie
film profile
]
(Best Director Award in Un Certain Regard at Cannes in 2013). The cast comprises such names as Damien Bonnard, Indie Hair, Basile Meilleurat, Christian Bouillette and Laure Calamy. Penned by the director, the screenplay revolves around a man searching for the wolf in Lozère, when he meets a shepherdess with whom he will have a child. But the young woman runs away, abandoning both the baby and the father, who gradually sinks deeper and deeper into poverty... Produced by Sylvie Pialat and Benoît Quainon for Les Films du Worso, Staying Vertical benefited from a budget of €3.75 million, including a co-production by Arte France Cinéma, pre-purchases by Canal+ and Ciné+, and an advance on receipts from the CNC. The French theatrical release is slated for 24 August, courtesy of Les Films du Losange, while its international sales are managed by Wild Bunch.

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(Translated from French)

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