12/11/2008

After the release of Eldorado [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile] in June and Lorna’s Silence [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Arta Dobroshi
interview: Arta Dobroshi
interview: Jean-Pierre et Luc Dardenne
interview: Olivier Bronckart
film profile] and Rumba [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Charles Gillibert
interview: Dominique Abel and Fiona Go…
film profile] this autumn, two new Belgian co-productions – which were presented at Cannes – are hitting Belgian screens this week, ahead of the January launch of Joachim Lafosse’s Private Lessons [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Jacques-Henri Bronckart
interview: Joachim Lafosse
film profile].

Swiss director Ursula Meier’s Home [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Kacey Mottet Klein
interview: Thierry Spicher
interview: Ursula Meier
film profile] enjoyed resounding success among audiences in Switzerland (with over 30,000 admissions, the film could well become the Swiss box office hit of the year) and has got off to a good start in France. With its heavyweight but popular cast, the film has received an enthusiastic response from the press, who hail the birth of a young filmmaker.

Everything augurs well for Home [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Kacey Mottet Klein
interview: Thierry Spicher
interview: Ursula Meier
film profile]’s success in Belgium. The film attracted attention in Cannes Critics’ Week in May, where it made a strong impression on festival-goers. Benelux Film Distributors are releasing Home on eight screens, for the most part in Wallonia.

Claire Simon’s God’s Offices [+see also:
trailer
film profile] is also hitting screens. Produced by France’s Les Films d’Ici and Ciné@, and co-produced by Belgium’s La Parti Production, the film – which screened in the Cannes Directors’ Fortnight – is being launched on seven screens.

Last, but certainly not least, Steve McQueen’s Hunger [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Laura Hastings-Smith Rob…
interview: Steve McQueen
film profile] is the third Cannes sensation to be released this week. Co-produced by the UK and Ireland, the film scooped the Camera d’Or on the Croisette.

Hunger boldly explores the fatal hunger strike of Bobby Sands, who protested about the detention conditions of IRA militants in UK prisons. Paradiso Filmed Entertainment are releasing the title on seven screens, one of which is in Wallonia.

Finally, this week’s French releases will lighten things up with three quirky comedies. Pascal Thomas plunges viewers into the outdated world of Agatha Christie with his playful adaptation Le Crime est notre affaire [+see also:
trailer
film profile] (“Crime is Our Business”).

Marylou Berri looks set to take over from her mother, Josiane Balasko, as the queen of French comedy, judging by her performance in Vilaine [+see also:
trailer
film profile] (“Nasty”) by Jean-Patric Benes and Allan Mauduit. Meanwhile, Didier Bourdon makes light of death in Michel Delgado’s Bouquet Final [+see also:
trailer
film profile].

(Translated from French)