24/01/2006

French productions will arrive in great number for the start of the 35th Rotterdam festival (25 January – 5th February) with a total of 35 features that have been produced or co-produced by France. In line for the Tiger Awards, Franck Guérin will screen his first fiction feature Un jour d’été (one Day in summer), interpreted by Baptiste Bertin, Catherine Mouchet and Jean-François Stévenin (Ostinato Production, co-production Arte Fiction, with the support of the CNC and the Pays de la Loire region). The main competition offers, too, a majority French co-production (Un Matin Bonne Heure (A happy morning) by Guinean Gahité Fofana – production Key Light) and three minority co-productions: The Gaze by Iranian Sepideh Farsi (Reves d'Eau Productions), Walking on the Wild Side by Chinese Chinois Han Jie (Les Petites Lumières) and La Perrera by Uruguayen Manolo Nieto (co-produced by Arte France).

The section Sturm und Drang centres around young talent and this year features 13 (Tzameti) [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Fanny Saadi
interview: Gela Babluani
film profile] by Gela Babluani, Alex by José Alcala, Frankie by Fabienne Berthaud, as well as the French co-productions Battle in Heaven [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Carlos Reygadas
interview: Jean Labadie
film profile] by Carlos Reygadas, Sangre [+see also:
trailer
film profile] by Amat Escalante and Friday or an other day by Yvan Le Moine. As for filmmakers confirmed for the programme Kings & Aces, films being screened include Hidden [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Margaret Menegoz
interview: Michael Haneke
film profile] by Michael Haneke, Le filmeur [+see also:
trailer
film profile] by Alain Cavalier, Gabrielle [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile] by Patrice Chéreau, Seven Invisible Men by Sharunas Bartas and the minority co-productions Mary [+see also:
trailer
film profile] by Abel Ferrara and Three Times by Hou Hsiao-hsien. For his part, Philippe Garrel sees three of his films on the menu of the section White Light, among them his latest work which won at Venice: Regular Lovers [+see also:
trailer
interview: Philippe Garrel
film profile]. But the French presence is above all evident in the section Time & Tide with another Venice winner East of Paradise by Lech Kowalski, Nuit noire, 17 octobre 1961 by Alain Tasma, Avenge But One of My Two Eyes by Avi Mograbi, Delwende by S. Pierre Yaméogo, The Forsaken Land by Vimukthi Jayasundara, J'ai vu tuer Ben Barka by Serge Le Péron, Lili et le baobab by Chantal Richard, A Perfect Day by Joana Hadjithomas and Khalil Joreige, Three Burials by Tommy Lee Jones, La trahison (The betrayal) [+see also:
trailer
film profile] by Philippe Faucon and Attente (Waiting) by Rashid Masharawi. Finally, the section Vita Brevis includes By The Ways, A Journey With William Eggleston from the duo Vincent Gérard - Cédric Laty and the minority co-productions The Sun by Alexander Sokurov, Figner, the End of a Silent Century by Nathalie Alonso Casale and Klimt [+see also:
trailer
film profile] by Raoul Ruiz (director's cut).

(Translated from French)