30/04/2014 - The Belgian filmmaker puts his name to his first subtle sentimental comedy on cultural and social barriers. An Agat Films production, distributed by Diaphana

The borders between people, from prejudices to unheard of advancements, constitute classical and fertile territory for cinema, as demonstrated by comedy Serial (bad) Weddings [+see also:
trailer
film profile] by Philippe de Chauveron, which is shaking up the French box office (2.95 million spectators in 12 days - UGC Distribution) and is also doing well in Belgium (Cinéart) and Switzerland (Frenetic).

Cultural and social barriers are at the centre of French Belgian co-production Not My Type [+see also:
trailer
interview: Lucas Belvaux
film profile] (read the article), which signals the director Lucas Belvaux’s first steps into sentimental comedy. Launched this week by Diaphana in 185 cinemas, the film, which stars Loïc Corbery and Emilie Dequenne, tells the story of an encounter between a Parisian philosophy professor who moves to the provinces for a year and a gracious hairdresser who becomes his lover.

“This man is emotionally handicapped. Someone who is unable to love or commit, because this would mean him losing all possibility of remaining open to the possibilities offered up to him by life,” the director says.

As for the female character, “she is generous, fulfilled, but she knows that with her age, as a single 35-year-old mother of Arras, she is not in the same league as the Parisian intellectual who is 38 […] You wonder throughout the film whether he loves her or not […] It is not a question of intelligence because she is intelligent. It is a question of baggage, of cultural difference.” 

Also hitting movie theatres is For Those Who Can Tell No Tales [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile] by Bosnian Jasmila Zbanic (discovered in competition in San Sebastian – read the review - Happiness Distribution in 20 cinemas), Alì Blue Eyes [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Claudio Giovannesi
film profile] by Italian Claudio Giovannesi (special jury prize and best newcomer in Rome in 2012 - Bellissima Films in 18 cinemas) and Spanish film Hijos de las nubes [+see also:
trailer
film profile] by Alvaro Longoria (Chapeau Melon Distribution).

The diversity within French production was represented this Wednesday by the drama (inspired by real facts) 24 jours, la vérité sur l'affaire Ilan Halimi [+see also:
trailer
film profile] by Alexandre Arcady (Paradis Films in 150 cinemas), thriller The Last Diamond [+see also:
trailer
film profile] by Eric Barbier (article - Océan Films Distribution), horror film Among the Living [+see also:
trailer
film profile] by duo Julien Maury - Alexandre Bustillo (Tanzi Distribution in 15 cinemas) and comedy Barbecue [+see also:
trailer
film profile] by Eric Lavaine (distribution StudioCanal).

Also of note are documentaries Conversation animée avec Noam Chomsky [+see also:
trailer
film profile] by Michel Gondry (screened in the Panorama section at the latest Berlinale - distribution Shellac) and 3X3D [+see also:
trailer
film profile] by Jean-Luc Godard, Peter Greenaway and Edgar Pêra, which closed last year with the Cannes Critics’ Week (Urban Distribution in three cinemas).

(Translated from French)