The 51^st Directors’ Fortnight (15-25 May, unspooling as an integral part of the 72^nd Cannes Film Festival) will be opened by an arthouse film bristling with utterly off-the-wall humour – and this is undoubtedly a strong message from Paolo Moretti, the parallel section’s new General Delegate. Indeed, the title that he has chosen to kick off his tenure is Deerskin [+leggi anche:
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intervista: Quentin Dupieux
scheda film] by iconoclastic French director Quentin Dupieux (also known globally in the world of electronic music under the moniker of Mr Oizo).

Deerskin has a brilliant duo of actors in the lead roles – namely, Jean Dujardin (Best Actor Award at Cannes in 2011 and winner of the Oscar the following year for The Artist [+leggi anche:
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intervista: Michel Hazanavicius
scheda film], popular recently in I Feel Good [+leggi anche:
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scheda film]) and Adèle Haenel (César Award for Best Actress in 2015 for Love at First Fight [+leggi anche:
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intervista: Thomas Cailley
scheda film], and nominated for the same award this year for The Trouble With You [+leggi anche:
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intervista: Pierre Salvadori
scheda film], also nominated for the César Award for Best Supporting Actress in 2018 for BPM (Beats Per Minute) [+leggi anche:
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intervista: Arnaud Valois
intervista: Robin Campillo
scheda film], a trophy that she actually took home in 2014, for Suzanne [+leggi anche:
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intervista: Katell Quillévéré
scheda film]). In the story, written by the director, Georges drops everything overnight in order to buy the 100% suede jacket of his dreams. It’s a purchase that will cost him all of his life savings and will snowball into an obsession. This possessive and jealous relationship will eventually suck Georges into a frenzied crime spree…

This is the seventh feature by the filmmaker, following Steak [+leggi anche:
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scheda film]. 

Produced by Thomas and Mathieu Verhaeghe for Atelier de Production, Deerskin was co-produced by Arte France Cinéma, pre-purchased by Canal+, and supported by the CNC’s advance on receipts and the Nouvelle Aquitaine region, among other sources of funding. The French distribution will be handled from 19 June onwards by Diaphana, and the international sales have been entrusted to WTFilms.

The complete selection of the 2019 Directors’ Fortnight will be unveiled on Tuesday 23 April, at the Forum des Images in Paris.