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RELEASES France

Fehner makes dazzling debut with Silent Voices

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A flurry of French films is hitting screens today, with eight domestic productions and co-productions among the 12 new releases on this week’s line-up.

Auteur film takes pride of place with Patrice Chéreau’s Persecution [+see also:
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and its stellar cast (Romain Duris, Charlotte Gainsbourg and Jean-Hugues Anglade). Launched by Mars Distribution on a 100-print run, the film won acclaim in competition at Venice (see review), but has sharply divided French critics.

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Meanwhile, press enthusiasm has been almost unanimous for Silent Voices [+see also:
film review
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interview: Qu'un seul tienne et les au…
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by newcomer Léa Fehner (see video interview), whose ambition and skill are impressive.

Starring Pauline Etienne, Reda Kateb, Vincent Rottiers, Marc Barbé and Farida Rahouadj, this debut feature took part in the Cinéfondation Workshop at the 2008 Cannes Film Festival and was unveiled in this year’s Venice Days (see review). It was produced by Rezo (who are releasing it on 41 screens) for a budget of €1.95m, including an advance on receipts from the National Film and Moving Image Centre (CNC) and pre-sales from Canal + and Ciné Cinéma.

Other releases include Steve Suissa’s Mensch [+see also:
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(see news), featuring Shooting Star 2008 Nicolas Cazalé (ARP Sélection on 104 screens); Nicolas Vanier’s Wolf [+see also:
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(Pathé Distribution on over 560 screens); and Frédéric Berthe’s comedy Time Off [+see also:
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, starring Kad Merad and Mélanie Doutey (StudioCanal on around 550 screens).

Among the co-productions on this week’s line-up are Eric-Emmanuel Schmitt’s French/Belgian/Canadian feature Oscar and the Lady in Pink [+see also:
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interview: Amir “Oscar” and Eric-Emman…
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, starring Michèle Laroque, Amir, Amira Casar, Mylène Demongeot and Max von Sydow (Wild Bunch Distribution - 275 screens); and two titles unveiled at Cannes in May: Yuki & Nina [+see also:
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by Hippolyte Girardot (see video interview) and Nobuhiro Suwa (see review - released by Ad Vitam on 26 screens); and Huacho [+see also:
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by Alejandro Fernandez Almendras (see review - Sophie Dulac Distribution on seven screens).

Finally, non-domestic European cinema is represented by Jiri Barta’s Czech animated film In the Attic: Who Has a Birthday Today? (Gebeka Films on 30 screens), while three US productions are also hitting theatres.

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(Translated from French)

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