20/10/2009

The impressive line-up for the 1st Les Arcs European Film Festival (December 5-12, 2009) was unveiled yesterday in Paris. The selection was put together by Frédéric Boyer, head of the Cannes Directors’ Fortnight.

Set to open with German director Fatih Akin’s Soul Kitchen [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile] (Special Jury Prize at Venice: see review and video interview), the event at the Savoyard ski resort will present 50 features, reflecting the quality, diversity and future of European film production.

In the competition, whose jury is presided by Hungarian filmmaker Istvan Szabo, 12 titles will battle it out for honours. These include Dorothée van den Berghe’s Belgian/Dutch/Luxembourg co-production My Queen Karo [+see also:
trailer
film profile]; Norwegian director Rune Denstad Langlo’s North [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Rune Denstad Langlo
film profile]; Piggies [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile] by Poland’s Robert Glinski (see news); Alexis dos Santos’ UK production Unmade Beds [+see also:
trailer
film profile], starring Belgian actress Deborah François; Filippos Tsitos’ Greek/German co-production Plato’s Academy [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Constantin Moriatis
interview: Filippos Tsitos
interview: Filippos Tsitos
film profile] (winner of three awards at Locarno); Serbian director Goran Paskaljevic’s Honeymoons [+see also:
Interview with Goran Paskaljevic, dire…
film profile] (unveiled at Venice: see review); Slovakian/Austrian/Czech co-production Cooking History by Peter Kerekes (see interview); The Good Heart [+see also:
trailer
film profile] by Iceland’s Dagur Kari; Italian director Luca Guadagnino’s I Am Love [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Luca Guadagnino - director
film profile]; and Cell 211 [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Daniel Monzón
film profile] by Daniel Monzón (see video interview), which received great acclaim at Venice (see review).

The Panorama section will give audiences the chance to discover 33 Scenes from Life [+see also:
trailer
film profile] by Polish director Malgorzata Szumowska (see interview); Ole Christian Madsen’s Danish blockbuster Flame and Citron; Finnish director Dome Darukoski’s The Home of Dark Butterflies [+see also:
trailer
film profile]; Nae Caranfil’s Rest is Silence [+see also:
trailer
film profile] (Best Romanian Film 2009); and Javor Gardev’s film noir Zift [+see also:
trailer
film profile] (Bulgarian representative in the 2010 Best Foreign Language Film Oscar nomination race - see news).

Also on the Panorama line-up are Damjan Kozole’s Slovenian/German/Serbian/Croatian co-production Slovenian Girl [+see also:
trailer
film profile] (see news); Estonian director Liina Paakspuu’s A Wish Tree; and Irish/Scandinavian co-production Kisses [+see also:
trailer
film profile] by Lance Daly (crowned Best Director at the IFTA Awards 2009).

Avant-premieres include Polish director Andrzej Wajda’s Sweet Rush [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile] (see news); Felix Van Groeningen’s The Misfortunates [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Felix van Groeningen
film profile] (Belgian hopeful for the 2010 Oscar - lauded in the Cannes Directors’ Fortnight - see review); French director Jean-Paul Guyon’s Sommeil Blanc (“White Sleep”); and Tommy Wirkola’s Norwegian parodic horror movie Dead Snow [+see also:
trailer
film profile].

The festival is also hosting a Focus on Hungarian cinema and numerous professional meetings (see news).

(Translated from French)