29/07/2009

A total of 29 new films will hit French theatres this midsummer season with nine releases this Wednesday and ten on August 5 and August 12. Among them, 17 European productions and co-productions will try to win over audiences.

Today sees the launch by Mars Distribution of Jennifer Devoldere’s Shoe At Your Foot [+see also:
trailer
film profile], featuring Shooting Star 2007 Mélanie Laurent (Inglourious Basterds [+see also:
trailer
film profile]). Produced by Quad Films in co-production with Studio 37, TF1 Films Production and Canada’s Remstar, this €4m debut feature received pre-sales from Canal + and Ciné Cinéma.

This week’s line-up also includes French/Belgian co-production Simon Konianski [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Micha Wald, director of Sim…
film profile] by Micha Wald (discovered in Cannes Critics’ Week 2007 with Horse Thieves [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile]), starring Jonathan Zaccaï. The film is being released by its French producer Haut et Court.

Meanwhile, Ad Vitam is unveiling UK director Shane Meadows’ Somers Town [+see also:
trailer
film profile] (winner of four nominations at the British Independent Film Awards 2008) and Sophie Dulac Distribution is releasing Maria Victoria Menis’ Argentinean/French co-production The Camera Obscura.

On August 5, StudioCanal will be hoping for success with the launch of Caroline Bottaro’s Queen To Play [+see also:
trailer
film profile], featuring Sandrine Bonnaire and Kevin Kline, while EuropaCorp Distribution will release its production Little New York by James DeMonaco, starring Ethan Hawke and Vincent D'Onofrio.

Zelig Films Distribution will launch Alessandro Capone’s French/Italian/UK co-production Hidden Love [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile], starring Isabelle Huppert, while Les Films du Losange will release Claude Miller’s documentary Marching Band.

Also hitting theatres is François Girard’s  [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile]Silk (distributed by Metropolitan Filmexport - co-produced by Canada, France, Italy, the UK and Japan), whose cast includes Keira Knightley.

Finally, the line-up also includes Eran Merav’s Israeli/French co-production Zion and His Brother [+see also:
trailer
film profile] (MK2 Distribution) and Lisandro Alonso’s Liverpool, co-produced by Argentina, France, the Netherlands, Germany and Spain (Zootrope Films).

On August 12, French productions will take centre stage with Denis Dercourt’s Tomorrow at Dawn [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Denis Dercourt
film profile] (distributed by Diaphana), which stars Vincent Perez and Jérémie Renier and won acclaim in the Un Certain Regard section at Cannes; Catherine Corsini’s Leaving [+see also:
trailer
film profile], whose cast includes Kristin Scott Thomas, Sergi López and Yvan Attal (Pyramide Distribution); and Gabriel Julien-Laferrière’s comedy Neuilly Sa Mère! [+see also:
trailer
film profile] (“Neuilly His Mother!”, TFM Distribution).

The rest of Europe will be represented by German director Stefan Ruzowitzky’s Lilly the Witch: The Dragon and the Magic Book [+see also:
trailer
film profile] (Metropolitan Filmexport); Tears for Sale by Serbia’s Uros Stojanovic (EuropaCorp Distribution); and Palestinian director Elia Suleiman’s The Time That Remains [+see also:
trailer
film profile], unveiled in competition at the latest Cannes Film Festival (distributed by Le Pacte).

(Translated from French)