18/03/2009

In Belgium, this week’s line-up includes an eclectic trio of French productions and a cosmopolitan duo of festival favourites.

Straight from France, three very different Gallic films are arriving in theatres. Firstly, stand-up comedy king and TV star Gad Elmaleh makes his directorial debut, bringing his favourite character Coco [+see also:
trailer
film profile] to the big screen.

The film is co-produced by Légende Films and Elmaleh’s KS2 Productions, in partnership with TF1 Films and Studio Canal.

The film’s promotional campaign resembles an endless media marathon and we wonder if Elmaleh can repeat – on a smaller scale – the phenomenal success achieved last year by fellow comedian Dany Boon’s Welcome to the Sticks [+see also:
trailer
film profile]. The film is being released on 21 screens by UPI.

There’s an equally sumptuous setting but darker atmosphere in Laurent Tuel’s Inside Ring [+see also:
trailer
film profile], starring Jean Réno and Gaspard Ulliel, who go after one another against the backdrop of the Armenian mafia and the Côte d’Azur. Coopérative Nouveau Cinéma are launching the film on four screens.

Last but not least of the French releases is André Téchiné’s The Girl on the Train [+see also:
trailer
film profile], starring the director’s loyal collaborator Catherine Deneuve, Michel Blanc (who gave a deeply moving performance in The Witnesses [+see also:
trailer
film profile]) and Belgian actress Emilie Dequenne. This social drama – loosely based on a sordid crime story that shocked the nation in 2004 – centres on a young woman who falsely claims to have been the victim of an anti-semitic attack in the Paris area.

The film is being launched by BFD on 12 screens, including three in Flanders.

This week also sees the spring release of two choice picks from the latest Cannes Festival, both of which are sold by Pyramide International. Turkish director and Cannes favourite Nuri Bilge Ceylan’s new work Three Monkeys [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Zeynep Ozbatur
film profile] – which picked up Best Director on the Croisette – will try to win over Belgian viewers. The film is being released by Imagine Film Distribution.

Meanwhile, Aida Begic’s Snow [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile] – which won the Cannes Critics’ Week Grand Prize – will also try to conquer audiences, after impressing the jury at the Brussels Mediterranean Film Festival last December.

(Translated from French)