19/07/2007

While Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix [+see also:
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film profile] continues to break the box office bank, Italian distributors are offering eight new films, including five European titles.

Richard Linklater’s Fast Food Nation is finally in theatres after screening in Cannes last year. Produced by US company Participant Productions with Jeremy Thomas’ Recorded Picture Company of the UK and a contribution from BBC Films, the film (distributed in Italy by DNC) is controversial, angry and disturbing, as is the eclectic Linklater’s habit. And is confirmation that co-productions between the two sides of the Atlantic are enjoying optimum health.

Something Joe Carnahan, the California-based director of Smokin’ Aces [+see also:
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film profile] (distributed by Universal), knows full well. His witty and frenetic noir, awarded at the Crime Film Festival in Cognac, was funded by the UK’s Working Title Films and Scion Films Limited, and France’s Studio Canal.

Then there is the Canadian participation (through Amerique Film) in Mr. Average [+see also:
trailer
film profile], with which Belgium’s Pierre-Paul Renders (whose Thomas est amoureux picked up an award in Venice in 2000) reworks The Truman Show. Produced by Belgian companies Entre Chien e Loup (Brussels), Araneo, Atelier de Baere and Moviestreams Filmed Entertainment, and with Samsa Film (Luxembourg), Rezo Production (France) and Tradewind Pictures (Germany), the film is being distributed in Italy by CDE and Warner Bros.

Hungarian-American Nimród Antal with Vacancy (released by Sony) returns to the taste for claustrophobia of his debut feature Kontroll [+see also:
trailer
film profile]. Whereas Gerardo Olivares’ The Great Match [+see also:
trailer
film profile] (dist. Mikado) is wholly European yet was shot in Mongolia, the Amazon and the Sahara, and depicts the passion for football of nomads, Tuaregs and Indios. Applauded at the Desert Nights Festival in Roma, the film was produced by Spain’s Wanda Films with TVE and Germany’s Greenlight Media.

Lastly, Istituto Luce is releasing a Italian feature debut, Solometro by Marco Cucurnia (produced by Metro Golden Minor), strongly backed by lead actor Michele Placido. The cast also includes Eleonora Giorgi, who returns to acting after producing several films recently.

(Translated from Italian)