09/12/2013 - Walesa. Man of Hope by Andrzej Wajda and Still Life by Uberto Pasolini stand out in the 2014 line-up of the young independent company

Launched last spring, the French distribution company Version Originale/Condor, managed by Eric Le Bot, purchased two quality European titles that will be released in French theatres in the second half of 2014: Walesa. Man of Hope [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile] by Polish director Andrzej Wajda(a huge box-office success in its country with 935,000 admissions) and the British-Italian co-production Still Life [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Uberto Pasolini
film profile] by Uberto Pasolini(Best Director award in the Orizzonti section of the Venice Mostra in 2013).

"We recently discovered two films at the Toronto Film Festival. We bought Walesa. Man of Hope after a small battle. It is a very effective work in its narrative and it deserves a large release because it conveys a very important historical message,” explains Eric Le Bot to Cineuropa. "We will launch the film in France on November 12 for the 25^th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall since the events led by Walesa were precursors.” Discovered out of competition in Venice, the film by famous director Andrzej Wajda ends the trilogy initiated with Man of Marble (1977) and Man of Iron (Palme d'Or in Cannes in 1981).

"As for Still Life by Uberto Pasolini, it was love at first sight in Toronto, but it took a while to make the deal. It’s a very emotional film, which will be released in the second half of 2014,” adds Eric Le Bot. "Both titles perfectly correspond to our editorial line since we wish to distribute films with an exciting potential, both for critics and the public. We are planning for four to five releases a year to give ourselves the time to work on the films first, for three or four months. There is a lot of competition between French distributors, and when you start, you need to show very quickly that you are credible, which we managed to do with the good results of Shokuzai by Kyoshi Kurosawa and The Way [+see also:
trailer
film profile] by Emilio Estevez. Next year, we will notably distribute the independent sensation States of Grace (Short Term 12) by Destin Creton, Real by Kyoshi Kurosawa and the ballet Giselle by Toa Fraser.

Version Originale started off with the distribution of Cosmopolis [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile] by David Cronenberg with Stone Angels, before partnering with editor Condor Entertainment last May.

(Translated from French)