06/04/2006

After several weeks of US domination and unpopular domestic films on Dutch screens (see news), Europe has made a remarkable comeback this week.

Eight new productions are being released, five of which are European, including two documentaries: Italian filmmaker Sabina Guzzanti’s anti-Berlusconi film Viva Zapatero! [+see also:
trailer
film profile], distributed by 1 More Film, hits the screens only a few days before the Italian elections, as Fatih Akin’s Crossing The Bridge (The Sound Of Istanbul [+see also:
trailer
film profile]) also makes its way to cinemas.

After last week’s release of Basic Instinct 2, A-Film is today releasing Michael Caton-Jones’s most recent film, Shooting Dogs [+see also:
trailer
film profile] (see news). Shot entirely in Rwanda, the film retraces the first hours of genocide from the perspective of two characters embroiled in this bloody torment. Quite a different cup of tea to Sharon Stone!

As for fiction films, The Secret Life of Words [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Isabel Coixet
film profile] by Isabel Coixet continues it European tour in the Netherlands. This UK/Irish/Spanish co-production from the Almodovar outfit El Deseo snapped up several Goyas, including Best Director. As per usual, Coixet’s cast is an international one, and includes her favourite actress Sarah Polley (My Life Without Me [+see also:
trailer
film profile]), who stars here alongside Tim Robbins.

Finally, on the national release scene, UIP is distributing Sportsman of the Century by Mischa Alexander (see making of), a romantic comedy that has little to do with sport, as it’s about beating records by sitting on poles! This film marks the directorial debut of the young scriptwriter, who has already written several romantic comedies, including, most recently, Alice in Glamourland [+see also:
trailer
film profile], which won him the Golden Calf in 2004.

(Translated from French)