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VENICE 2014 Competition / France

Jacquot, Beauvois, Delaporte and Oelhoffen to duke it out for the Golden Lion

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- Trois coeurs, La rançon de la gloire, Le dernier coup de marteau and Loin des hommes will do battle on the Lido

Jacquot, Beauvois, Delaporte and Oelhoffen to duke it out for the Golden Lion
Trois coeurs by Benoît Jacquot

Four features directed by French filmmakers have been selected in official competition at the 71st Venice Film Festival (27 August – 6 September 2014). And to these four aces we should also add the majority French production Pasolini [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Abel Ferrara
film profile
]
 by Abel Ferrara, headed by Capricci Films (with Belgium and Italy), which is sharing responsibility for international sales with Funny Balloons.

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With Trois coeurs [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Benoît Jacquot
film profile
]
 (read the article), Benoît Jacquot will be taking part in the competition at Venice for the fourth time, following his Seventh Heaven in 1997, No Scandal in 1999 and The Untouchable [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile
]
 in 2006. He was also in the running for the Palme d'Or at Cannes in 1998 and for the Berlinale Golden Bear in 2012 (Farewell My Queen [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Benoît Jacquot
film profile
]
). His new opus features a cast comprising Belgian actor Benoît Poelvoorde, Charlotte Gainsbourg, Chiara Mastroianni and Catherine Deneuve. Produced by Edouard Weil for Rectangle Productions, the feature was co-produced by Arte France Cinéma, German firm Pandora Film and Belgian outfit Scope Pictures. The French release will be handled by Wild Bunch on 17 September 2014, and international sales are managed by Elle Driver.

With La rançon de la gloire [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Xavier Beauvois
film profile
]
 (read the article), Xavier Beauvois will be back at Venice for the third time, following According to Mathieu (in competition in 2000) and The Young Lieutenant [+see also:
trailer
film profile
]
 (Venice Days in 2005). The cast of the new movie by the filmmaker, who has won two awards at Cannes (the Jury Prize in 1995 for Don’t Forget You’re Going to Die and the Grand Prix in 2010 for Of Gods and Men [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Xavier Beauvois
film profile
]
), includes Benoît Poelvoorde, Roschdy Zem, Peter Coyote, Nadine Labaki, Chiara Mastroianni, Olivier Rabourdin and Dolores Chaplin. Produced by Pascal Caucheteux for Why Not ProductionsLa rançon de la gloire was co-produced by France 3 CinémaRita Productions (Switzerland) and Les Films du Fleuve (Belgium). It was pre-purchased by Canal+ and Ciné+, and was backed by, among others, Eurimages and an advance on receipts from the CNCMars Distribution will handle the French release, and Wild Bunch will take care of international sales.

Le dernier coup de marteau [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile
]
 is the second feature by Alix Delaporte (read the article), a revelation at the Critics’ Week at Venice in 2010 with Angèle and Tony [+see also:
trailer
film profile
]
. Her new opus stars Clotilde Hesme, Grégory Gadebois and Spanish actress Candela Peña. Produced by Hélène Cases for Lionceau Film, the movie was co-produced by France 2 Cinéma, pre-purchased by Canal+ and OCS, and backed by the CNC’s advance on receipts and the Languedoc-Roussillon and Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur regions, among others. Distribution in France and international sales are headed by Pyramide.

Loin des hommes by David Oelhoffen (read the article) is another second feature. After shooting to fame at the Cannes Critics’ Week in 2007 with Nos retrouvailles [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile
]
, this time the director is trying his hand at an adaptation of an Albert Camus short story, with a cast that sees Viggo Mortensen and Reda Kateb in the leads. Produced by Marc du Pontavice and Matthew Gledhill for One World Films, the title was co-produced by Pathé (which is due to release it in France on 14 January 2015 and is heading international sales) and Kaléo Films. Pre-purchased by Canal+ and Ciné+, the film also received backing from Backup Films and Indéfilms, among others. 

Interestingly, three minority French co-productions are also in the running for this year’s Golden Lion: The Cut [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Fatih Akin
interview: Tahar Rahim
film profile
]
 by German director Fatih Akin (starring Tahar Rahim in the lead – produced by Francis Boespflug for Orsans Productions), A Pigeon Sat on a Branch Reflecting on Existence [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Roy Andersson
film profile
]
 by Sweden’s Roy Andersson (a co-production with Société parisienne de production – sales by Coproduction Office) and Black Souls by Italian filmmaker Francesco Munzi (co-produced by Babe Films – French release scheduled for 17 September via Bellissima Films).

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(Translated from French)

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