30/04/2013 - Discovered in Locarno and distributed in theatres by Independencia, Virgil Vernier’s medium-length film confirms a very promising talent

Unveiled last year in Locarno in the Filmmakers of the Present section and presented at several other festivals (Premiers Plans in Angers, IndieLisboa, Bafici, Belfort, Montreal), Orléans [+see also:
trailer
film profile] by Virgil Vernier will be launched tomorrow in French cinemas by Independencia Distribution. The rather uncommon phenomenon of the release of a medium-length movie (58m30) confirms the talent of a filmmaker noticed for his short films (nominated for the César 2012 for Pandore, Directors’ Fortnight 2009 with Thermidor) and who will shoot his first feature film this summer: Mercuriales (produced like Orléans by Kazak Productions and backed by an advance on receipts from the CNC, Arte France Cinéma, the Centre region, and TorinoFilmLab).

Filmed in four-and-a-half days, Orléans is set in the city of the same name, and follows Joane (Andrea Brusque) and Sylvia (Julia Auchynnikava), who are both 20 years old and work as dancers in a strip-club on the outskirts of the city. In the town centre, celebrations are taking place in memory of Joan of Arc. The two girls find themselves engulfed in the midst of these strange festivities.

Virgil Vernier explains that "In Joan of Arc’s story, only the key points interested me: a girl hears voices, sets off to liberate a city, dies consumed by flames. Orléans is really more of an attempt to find a parallel between Joan of Arc and a girl from the years 2010: the generation that arrived after the reality TV decade. I thought about these girls for whom the city is a glittering promise. I wondered what was in Joan of Arc’s mind when she decided to leave the countryside. What fantasy had invaded her to the point that, as if possessed, she was not afraid of anything anymore, nothing seemed too daunting for her".

It is also worth noting the release of L’intervallo [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Leonardo Di Costanzo
film profile] by Italian director Leonardo Di Costanzo, a very welcome discovery in the Orizzonti section of the Venice Mostra (Bellissima Films on 13 screens) and the documentary The Lebanese Rocket Society [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Khalil Joreige
film profile] by duo Joana Hadjithomas – Khalil Joreige (video interview - Urban Distribution on 7 screens).

The other new films to be released tomorrow include the French comedies Mohamed Dubois [+see also:
trailer
film profile] by Ernesto Ona (with Eric Judor and Sabrina Ouazani – Wild Bunch Distribution), Family Matters [+see also:
trailer
film profile] by Nick Quinn (article - Mars Distribution on 131 screens) and Denis [+see also:
trailer
film profile] by Lionel Bailliu (with Fabrice Eboué, Jean-Paul Rouve and Audrey Dana – distribution SND). Also worth mentioning, Les yeux fermés [+see also:
trailer
film profile] by Jessica Palud (White Pictures), Pari(s) d’exil by Zirek (distribution ZA) and the French-Canadian coproduction Upside Down [+see also:
trailer
making of
film profile] by Juan Solanas (a Warner release).

In the box-office, French comedies are taking advantage of the school holidays with Les profs [+see also:
trailer
film profile] by Pierre-François Martin Laval with 1.63 million admissions in 12 days and Les gamins [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile] by Anthony Marciano with 765,000 over the same duration. L’écume des jours [+see also:
trailer
making of
interview: Michel Gondry
film profile] by Michel Gondry (video interview) started out with 297,000 spectators in five days, La cage dorée by Ruben Alves with 216,000. Finally, the animated film Tad, the Lost Explorer [+see also:
trailer
film profile] by Spanish director Enrique Gato chalked up 157,000 spectators in 12 days. 

(Translated from French)