14/01/2013 - Camille Claudel 1915, Elle s'en va and The Nun to represent French cinema in the hunt for the Golden Bear 2013

Starring Juliette Binoche, Catherine Deneuve and a quintet composed of Isabelle Huppert, Louise Bourgoin, Pauline Etienne, Martina Geddeck and Françoise Lebrun, the three French films selected in competition for the 63rdBerlinale (February 7th to 17th, 2013) will immerse spectators in a feminine universe of seclusion and the desire to escape.

Selected four times in Cannes (Mention Spéciale in the Caméra d’Or 1997 with The Life of Jesus, Grand Prix in 1999 with L’humanité and in 2006 for Flanders [+see also:
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trailer
film profile] in competition in 2003), Bruno Dumont (54 years old - photo) will make his debut in Berlin with his 7th feature film: Camille Claudel 1915. Starring Juliette Binoche, the film chronicles the reclusive life of Camille Claudel, committed by her family to an asylum in the South of France, where she will no longer sculpt but simply wait for a visit from her brother Paul throughout the winter of 1915. Produced by Jean Bréhat, Rachid Bouchareb and Muriel Merlin for 3B Productions, Camille Claudel 1915 was co-produced by Arte France Cinéma, the CRRAV and Le Fresnoy, pre-purchased by Canal+ and Ciné+, and backed in particular by the PACA region. The film will be released in France by ARP Sélection on March 13th, with Wild Bunch taking care of its international sales.

After Clément (Un Certain Regard, Cannes, 2001) and Backstage [+see also:
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Guillaume Nicloux (aged 46), also a new-comer to major competitions, will present his 9th feature film at the Berlinale: The Nun. Based on Diderot’s novel (1796), the film features French actresses Françoise Lebrun, Isabelle Huppert and Louise Bourgoin, Belgian actress Pauline Etienne and Martina Gedeck of Germany. The screenplay (written by the director with Jérôme Beaujour) recounts the rebellion and tragic destiny of a young woman shut away in a convent against her will, following the discovery that she was an illegitimate child... Produced by Sylvie Pialat for Les Films du Worso, The Nun was co-produced by France 3 Cinéma, Rhône-Alpes Cinéma, Belgium (Versus Production and the RTBF) and Germany (Belle Epoque and Gifted Films). Pre-purchased by Canal+ and Ciné+, the film was also backed, amongst others, by the French Community of Belgium, Eurimages, the German fund MFG Baden-Württemberg and DFFF, as well as by the mini-treaty for Franco-German co-productions. The film will be distributed in Belgium by O’Brother, in Germany by Camino Films and in France by Le Pacte (March 20th), which will also handle its international sales.

(Translated from French)