17/04/2015 - The documentary, co-produced by France and Italy, is the fourth film by an Italian director in competition in the official selection

Roberto Minervini is the fourth Italian competing in the official selection of the Cannes Film Festival. His film Louisiana (The Other Side) [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Roberto Minervini
film profile] has been selected for the Un Certain Regard section. His most recent film, Stop The Pounding Heart – Texas Trilogy, Part III [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile], was part of the official selection (out of competition) at the Cannes Film Festival in 2013, and received a number of awards, including the Special Jury Award for Best Documentary at the 2013 Turin Film Festival and the David di Donatello Prize for Best Documentary in 2014. 

Louisiana also delves into a hidden humanity in which the abysses of modern-day American gape wide open. Living in a place that is invisible to the rest of the world, on the margins of society, on the border between illegality and anarchy, is a community which is suffering, trying to react to the threat of being forgotten by the institutions and having their very rights as citizens trampled over. Retired war veterans, uncommunicative teens, drug addicts looking for a way out of their addiction through love, former special forces soldiers still battling against the world, young women and mothers-to-be drifting through life, an older generation which has not yet lost the will to live.

"I’m proud and honoured to once again be participating in the Cannes Film Festival, said Minervini. "Louisiana (The Other Side) is without a doubt my most complex film. So I think being invited to such a prestigious festival is a strong sign of openness towards uncompromising cinema. I find it very interesting that most of us Italians that are selected for Cannes have shot our films in a foreign language. I think it’s a sign that Italian film is becoming increasingly important on the international stage”.

Written by Roberto Minerviniwith Denise Ping Lee, the film is produced by Agat Films & Cie, Okta Film, in co-production with ARTE France Cinéma and Rai Cinema, with the contribution of MiBact-DG Cinema and the support of the Centre National de la Cinématographie. The photography is by Diego Romero Suarez-Llanos and the editing by Marie-Hélène Dozo. The film is scheduled for release in Italian cinemas on 28 May 2015 with Lucky Red.

(Translated from Italian)