25/04/2013 - Films by Bozon, Gallienne, Peretjatko, de Pereiti and Yolande Moreau, as well as Nadjari, Marcel Ophüls and Jodorowsky

With eight majority and four minority productions, the 45th Directors' Fortnight (from May 16th to 26th, as part as of the 66th Cannes Film Festival (news) will a have a strong French accent. Brief overview of the selected films.

Revealed at the 2007 Directors’ Fortnight with France [+see also:
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Three 100% French first feature films are also on the bill. Guillaume Gallienne will unveil the comedy Me Myself and Mum [+see also:
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A scathing portrait of a certain Corsica, and especially the relationships between young locals and those from immigrant families, Les Apaches by Thierry de Perretti (article) was produced by Ferris & Brockman. This first feature film benefited from a budget of 1.07 M€, including in particular an advance on receipts from the CNC and a Stanley White coproduction. French distribution and international sales are still being negotiated.

La fille du 14 juillet by Antonin Peretjatko, with Vimala Pons, Vincent Macaigne, Grégoire Tachnakian and Marie-Lorna Vaconsin amongst others, sees a quartet embark on French roads because one of the protagonists wants to seduce a girl by taking her to the sea. But a turbulent stop will break up the group... Produced by Ecce Films with a budget of 1 M€, this first feature film has also received funding from the Midi-Pyrénées and Ile-de-France regions. It will be distributed in French cinemas by Shellac on June 5th. 

Henri by Yolande Moreau will close the Directors’ Fortnight, starring Miss Ming and Pippo Delbono. The director’s second feature film after When The Sea Rises (César 2005 for Best First Film) was produced 80% by France via Christmas in July (coproduction by F comme Film and France 3 Cinéma, pre-purchases by Canal+ and Ciné+, advance on receipts from the CNC) and 20 % by Belgium (news) with a total budget of 7.4 M€. The French release on December 8th and international sales will be handled by Le Pacte.

A return to the Directors’ Fortnight with A Strange Course of Events for the filmmaker from Marseille Raphaël Nadjari, who already presented Apartment #5C in 2002. The director, a regular in Cannes (Tehilim [+see also:
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La danza de la realidad by cult Franco-Chilean director Alejandro Jodorowsky (84 years old – El Topo, La montagne magique) was produced by Michel Seydoux for Camera One, which also coproduced the American-French documentary Jodorowsky’s Dune which will be screened in the Directors’ Fortnight.

French contributions are completed by the documentary Un voyageur by Marcel Ophüls (director of Chagrin et la pitié in 1971 and the son of the renowned director Max Ophüls), produced by The Factory, coproduced by Arte France and the INA, and sold internationally by Wide House.

Finally, as regards French minority coproductions which have been selected, it is worth mentioning the documentary L’escale by Swiss-Iranian director Kaveh Bakhtiari (coproduced by the Parisian company Kaléo Films), El verano de los peces voladores by Chilean director Marcela Said (a Cinéma Defacto coproduction) and the film which will open the 2013 Directors’ Fortnight: The Congress [+see also:
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(Translated from French)