06/09/2006

The beginning of September is distinctly French in local theatres, with four ambitious domestic films and two minority co-productions out of a total of 12 releases opening today.

Straight from Venice is Santiago Amigorena’s A Few Days in September [+see also:
trailer
film profile], starring Juliette Binoche, John Turturro, Sara Forestier and Nick Nolte, which opens on 204 screens.

Screened out of competition at Venice (see article), the €5.27m film – produced, distributed and sold internationally by Gémini Films – was funded through a co-production with Italy’s Production Group, advances on receipts from the CNC (CNC), €900,000 in co-production and pre-sales from France 2 Cinéma and financing from Canal + and TPS.

Don’t Worry, I’m Fine [+see also:
trailer
film profile] by Philippe Lioret opens on an impressive 215 screens through Mars Distribution . Starring Mélanie Laurent, Julien Boisselier, Isabelle Renauld, Kad Mérad and Aïssa Maiga, the fifth feature by the director of The Light is an adaptation of a popular novel by Olivier Adam (see article).

Produced by Nord-Ouest Production on a €4.5m budget, the film was co-produced by Fin Août Production and backed by France 3 Cinéma (€750,000), Canal + and Ciné Cinéma.StudioCanal is handling world sales.

Selected in the Zabaltegi – New Directors section at the upcoming San Sebastian International Film Festival (September 21-30), Lionel Bailliu’s Fair Play [+see also:
trailer
film profile] opens on 120 screens through TFM Distribution . The film stars a young, top quality cast, with Benoît Magimel, Marion Cotillard, Jérémy Rénier, Eric Savin and Mélanie Doutey.

A psychological thriller about sport and harassment in the workplace (see news), the debut feature is a European co-production between Les Films Manuel Munz (70%), Belgium’s Entre Chien et Loup (20%) and Czech outfit Okko Productions (10%). The film’s €5.3m budget included €1.2m from M6, €400,000 from Eurimages and support from TPS. TF1 International is handling international sales.

A likely competition entrant at October’s Rome Film Festival, Gardens in Autumn [+see also:
trailer
film profile] by Georgian director Otar Iosseliani is being released on 67 screens through Les Films du Losange – also the film’s producer and sales agent.

The €3.8m tale of a minister’s sentimental and professional misadventures was co-produced by Cinemaundici (Italy) and Cinema Without Frontiers (Russia), backed by Canal + and TPS, and got a preview screening at the recent Paris Cinéma festival.

Rounding up this Wednesday’s releases are two minority co-productions: Family Law [+see also:
trailer
film profile] by Daniel Burman (Argentina/ Italy/France/Spain) (29 screens, Océan Films) and Dunia by Jocelyne Saab (Lebanon/Egypt/France), opening on 7 screens through Clair Obscur.

(Translated from French)