25/10/2006

Diaphana is thinking big for Kirkou-creator Michel Ocelot, whose new animated film Azur and Asmar [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile] opens today on an impressive 551 screens, well ahead of the other14 releases of the week, which include 10 European features and four US titles.

Screened at Cannes' Directors' Fortnight (see article), the European co-production is headed by France's Nord-Ouest Production in association with Artémis (Belgium), Lucky Red (Italy), and Intuitions Films and Zahorimedia (Spain). The film also received funding from Eurimages, France 3 Cinéma, Rhône-Alpes Cinéma, Mac Guff and the CNC (advances on receipts).

The non-local European titles are no less enticing, starting with Aki Kaurismäki's Lights in the Dusk [+see also:
trailer
film profile] (see article), a production by Finnish outfit Sputnik Oy and co-produced by Pandora (Germany), Arte France Cinéma and Pyramide (France), who will also handle the film's French release on 85 screens.

Trying to make the most of the 10-day holiday beginning today in France, British title Alex Rider Stormbreaker by Geoffrey Sax (see news), the adventures of a 14 year-old secret agent, opens through Metropolitan Filmexport on 330 screens.

Another big release is lined up for Eric Lavaine's comedy Poltergay [+see also:
trailer
film profile], starring Clovis Cornillac and Julie Depardieu, which opens on 390 screens (TFM Distribution ). Meanwhile, debut feature by scriptwriter Jacques Fieschi French California [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile] (see Cannes article), starring Nathalie Baye, Roschdy Zem and Ludivine Sagnier opens on 150 screens (Mars Distribution ).

Other releases this Wednesday include: French/Australian co-production Elephant Tales by Mario Andreacchio (40 screens, UIP); Midwinter Night's Dream by Serbian helmer Goran Paskaljevic (three screens, Eurozoom ); French/Tunisian production The Wanderers by Nacer Khemir (three screens, POM Films); and Octobre by Pierre Léon (one screen, Spy Films).

Last, but not least, there are also documentary titles on release: French/Belgian production Down There by Chantal Akerman (5 screens, Shellac Distribution) and Nuremberg – Les nazis face à leurs crimes (lit. "Nuremburg – Nazis Confront Their Crimes") by Christian Delage (1 screen, Compagnie des Phares et Balises).

(Translated from French)