31/08/2009

With three titles selected in competition at the 66th Venice Film Festival, which kicks off this Wednesday, Franco-German international seller Coproduction Office dominates its competitors on the Lido and intends to make the most of this prestigious showcase to cement its reputation among international distributors.

Vying for the Golden Lion 2009 are Austrian/German/French co-productions Lourdes [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Jessica Hausner
film profile] by Austria’s Jessica Hausner (already bought by TFM for France, Cinecittà Luce for Italy, NFP for Germany, Lumière for Belgium, Filmmuseum for the Netherlands, Xenix for Switzerland and MTU Otaku for Estonia) and Women Without Men [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile] by Iran’s Shirin Neshat; as well as Japanese director Shinya Tsukamoto’s Tetsuo: The Bullet Man.

The company headed by Philippe Bober (who also frequently co-produces films on his line-up through French production arm Société Parisienne de Production and German-based Essential Filmproduktion) has other projects in production and development, including Henrich Sabl’s German animated film Memory Hotel; Iya Khrzhanovsky’s Russian/German/French/Swedish co-production Dau; Italian director Michelangelo Frammartino’s The Four Times; Aurora by Romania’s Cristi Puiu; Paradise by Austria’s Ulrich Seidl; and The Frankenstein Project by Hungary’s Kornel Mundruczo.

Finally, Coproduction Office will also continue sales for Stéphane Aubier and Vincent Patar’s Belgian/French/Luxembourg animated film A Town Called Panic [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Stéphane Aubier and Vincen…
interview: Stéphane Aubier & Vincent P…
film profile], which was selected at the latest Cannes Film Festival and will be released by Gebeka in French theatres on October 28.

(Translated from French)