HPG, Antoine Barraud, and Virgil Vernier at Filmmakers of the Present

by Fabien Lemercier

30/07/2012 - Three French films are to make their international premiere in the Filmmakers of the Present competition (for first and second feature films) at the 65th Locarno Film Festival (from August 1 to 11): Les mouvements du bassin by HPG, The Sinkholes by Antoine Barraud, and Orléans by Virgil Vernier.

After being selected for the Cannes 2006 Directors’ Fortnight with his narrative feature debut, We Should Not Exist, HPG (who previously directed porn films) is now to unveil Les mouvements du bassin (lit. “Pelvis movements”) in Locarno. The film is to feature the filmmaker himself, Rachida Brakni, Joana Preiss, and Eric Cantona (photo). In its screenplay (written by HPG and Thomas Wallon), Hervé is a solitary man who lives only for his self-defence classes. After he is fired from the zoo for making the animals depressed, he becomes a night watchman in a factory. To stave off boredom, he secretly observes the comings and goings of a strange couple of lovers, his colleague and the latter’s wife who prostitutes herself with his blessing. Marion is a pretty woman who would do anything to be able to have a child. One night, she meets a female nurse who falls for her. The latter promises her love and pregnancy, at the price of stealing from a sperm bank. The destinies of these two characters in search of happiness will become intertwined in a hospital corridor… Les mouvements du bassin is produced by Capricci Films who are also to distribute the film in France on September 19) in co-production with HPG Production and Le Fresnoy.

Filmmakers of the Present will also screen The Sinkholes by Antoine Barraud, a one-hour-five-minute-long film produced by Justin Taurand (European Film Promotion Producer on the Move 2011) for Les Films du Bélier and to star Mathieu Amalric, Natalie Boutefeu, and Marta Hoskins. The screenplay is written by the filmmaker, and starts with the discovery of five giant sinkholes on remote plateaux at the other end of the world. A team of scientists is sent over to explore their depths. Among them are Professor Georges Lebrun and his wife. Tense and worried, she is soon overwhelmed by the proximity of the abyss.

Orléans by Virgil Vernier has also made it to the Filmmakers of the Present competition. Produced by Jean-Christophe Reymond for Kazak Productions, Orléans is a one-hour-long film, on the border between documentary and fiction, about two exotic dancers following the Fêtes de Jeanne d’Arc in Orléans.

(Translated from French)