18 films set out to conquer New York
Kicking off today is the 14th Rendez-Vous With French Cinema Today (March 5-15) organised in New York by Unifrance and the Lincoln Centre Film Society.
Opening with Christophe Barratier’s Paris 36 [+see also:
trailer
film profile] (to be released in US theatres by Sony Pictures Classics on April 3), the event will screen 18 features in avant-première at the Walter Reade Theatre and the IFC Centre.
The line-up includes Martin Provost’s multiple Cesar-winning Séraphine [+see also:
trailer
film profile] (bought for the US by Music Box Films); Berlin contenders Eden Is West [+see also:
trailer
film profile] by Costa Gavras and Bellamy by Claude Chabrol; and Pierre Schoeller’s Versailles [+see also:
film review
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interview: Geraldine Michelot
interview: Pierre Schoeller
film profile] (unveiled in the Un Certain Regard section at Cannes).
Also showing are numerous titles showcased at Venice: Claire Denis’ 35 Shots of Rum [+see also:
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film profile], Agnès Varda’s The Beaches of Agnès [+see also:
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film profile] (Best Documentary Cesar 2009; bought by Cinema Guild), The Other One [+see also:
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trailer
film profile] by Patrick Mario Bernard and Pierre Trividic (Best Actress Prize at Venice), Sylvie Verheyde’s Stella [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile] and Samuel Collardey’s The Apprentice [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile].
The programme also includes Jean-François Richet’s Public Enemy Number One [+see also:
trailer
film profile] diptych (set to be released by Senator Entertainment US), François Dupeyron’s With a Little Help from Myself [+see also:
trailer
film profile], Ilan Duran Cohen’s The Joy of Singing [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile], Anne Fontaine’s The Girl from Monaco [+see also:
trailer
film profile] (bought for the US by Magnolia) and Danièle Thompson’s Change of Plans [+see also:
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film profile].
Audiences will also get the chance to discover André Téchiné’s The Girl on the Train [+see also:
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film profile] and Benoît Jacquot’s Villa Amalia [+see also:
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film profile], which will be launched on French screens on March 18 and April 8, respectively.
The French delegation arrives in New York at a good time, for Pierre Morel’s Taken [+see also:
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film profile] has just garnered $108m in box office takings for 15.4m admissions (after five weeks on release). This marks a new record for French films at the US box office, outstripping the $77m for March of the Penguins [+see also:
trailer
film profile] and the 13.5m admissions for The Fifth Element.
Last year, French productions attracted over 17m viewers in the US, an increase of 59% over 2007.
(Translated from French)
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