03/06/2015 - Mehdi Charef makes his comeback to the big screen with a film produced by KG, and starring Rossy De Palma, Denis Lavant and Claire Nebout

Eight years after Cartouches gauloises [+see also:
trailer
film profile], Mehdi Charef is back on the cinema listings today with Graziella [+see also:
trailer
film profile], released in 60 theatres by KG Distribution. Having won the César Award for Best Debut Film in 1986 with Tea in the Harem, the filmmaker then went on to direct such titles as Miss Mona (two nominations for the César Awards in 1988) and In the Country of Juliets (in competition at Cannes in 1992). This time, he has assembled a cast including Spaniard Rossy De Palma, Denis Lavant and Claire Nebout; they star in a movie that once again examines characters that society has left by the wayside. Written by the director, the story revolves around a complicated love affair (which smouldered for almost 20 years) between two prisoners who work during the day in a boarding school before going back to their cells at night. Produced by Michèle Ray-Gavras for KG Productions, Graziella was pre-purchased by Canal+ and made use of the skills of talented Greek DoP Yorgos Arvanitis.

Also coming out today is the British science-fiction film Ex Machina [+see also:
film review
trailer
making of
film profile] by Alex Garland (read the review), which has a cast that includes Irish actor Domhnall Gleeson and Swedish actress Alicia Vikander (distributed by UPI France in 72 cinemas), the German-Israeli co-production The Farewell Party [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Tal Granit & Sharon Maymon
film profile] by Tal Granit and Sharon Maymon (read the review and watch the video interview – winner of the Audience Award in last year’s Venice Days – Eurozoom across 28 screens), Lifelong [+see also:
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film profile] by Turkish director Asli Ozge (read the review – Zootrope Films in 13 theatres) and the US-British co-production Far from the Madding Crowd [+see also:
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making of
film profile] by Danish filmmaker Thomas Vinterberg, toplined by English actress Carey Mulligan and Belgium’s Matthias Schoenaerts (20th Century Fox France in 106 cinemas).

Also of note is Fort Buchanan [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile] by Benjamin Crotty (read the review – Norte Distribution on one screen) and two French comedies: Qui c'est les plus forts? [+see also:
trailer
film profile] by Charlotte de Turckheim (starring Alice Pol and Audrey Lamy – adapted from the play Sunderland by Clément Koch - produced by Ciné@ and Someci, co-produced by M6 Films, Orange Studio and Wild Bunch, which is handling its distribution in 344 theatres) and We Were Young [+see also:
trailer
film profile] by Philippe Guillard (with Kad Merad, Charles Berling and Benoît Magimel – produced by LGM, co-produced by Nexus Factory, TF1 Films Production, Chaocorp and Gaumont, which is distributing it in almost 400 cinemas).

Three documentaries round off the batch of new releases: the Franco-Japanese co-production I, Kamikaze [+see also:
trailer
film profile] by Masa Sawada (Haut et Court Distribution), Anna’s Gate by duo Patrick Dumont and François Hebrard (Gebeka Films), and Pour de vrai, pour de faux by Laurent Chevalier (Hévadis Films).

At the box office, The Measure of a Man [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Stéphane Brizé
film profile] by Stéphane Brizé (read the review and the interview) is still performing excellently, having racked up 420,000 admissions in 13 days (Diaphana Distribution across 320 screens), as is Standing Tall [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Emmanuelle Bercot
film profile] by Emmanuelle Bercot (read the review), which has taken a total of 498,000 admissions in 19 days (Wild Bunch Distribution in 393 theatres). 

(Translated from French)