email print share on Facebook share on Twitter share on LinkedIn share on reddit pin on Pinterest

FUNDING France

Until the Birds Return supported by the Gan Foundation

by 

- The feature debut by Karim Moussaoui is one of the lucky titles selected during the 2016 session, along with the projects helmed by David Perrault, Benedikt Erlingsson and Lorenzo Mattotti

Until the Birds Return supported by the Gan Foundation
Director Karim Moussaoui

Since 1987, the Gan Foundation for Film has been supporting first or second feature-length fiction projects, awarding €53,000 per title, a sum that can potentially be boosted thanks to partnerships with Panavision Alga and Mikros Image. Among the movies selected over the years, we could mention the feature debuts by Bruno Dumont, Mia Hansen-Løve, Catherine Corsini, Rachid Bouchareb, Jean-Pierre Jeunet, Christophe Honoré, Thomas Lilti, Cyril Mennegun and Alice Winocour, to name just a few. And the most recent Cannes Film Festival certainly didn’t overlook the involvement of the Gan Foundation, with Divines [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Houda Benyamina
film profile
]
by Houda Benyamina, My Life as a Courgette [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Claude Barras
film profile
]
by Claude Barras, Mercenary [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Sacha Wolff
film profile
]
by Sacha Wolff, The Red Turtle [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile
]
by Michaël Dudok de Wit and Dogs [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Bogdan Mirica
film profile
]
by Bogdan Mirica all on its line-up.

(The article continues below - Commercial information)

Finalised this week, the 2016 selection of the Gan Foundation for Film includes four projects, three of which will receive creative development support. The first will go to Until the Birds Return [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Karim Moussaoui
film profile
]
 by Karim Moussaoui, the feature debut by the filmmaker, who rose to prominence with his medium-length film Les Jours d’avant. With a cast including Aure Attika, Mehdi Ramdani, Chawki Amari and Hassan Kachach, the film is set in modern-day Algeria, and has a screenplay written by the director with the participation of Maud Ameline. In the movie, past and present collide in the lives of a rich property developer, an ambitious neurologist whose past catches up with him, and a young woman torn between the voice of reason and her feelings. Through these three stories, we are immersed in the human soul of contemporary Arab society. The shoot began on 25 October and will continue until 17 December, and the movie is being produced by David Thion and Philippe Martin for Les Films Pelléas, with Arte France Cinéma, MK2, German outfit Niko Film and Algerian Prolégomènes serving as co-producers. The project took part in the Cannes Film Festival’s Cinéfondation residence and the Angers Workshops, and is also being supported by the CNC’s World Cinema Support, the Franco-German co-production mini-treaty, Eurimages, Nordmedia FilmFörderung, FFHSH, World Cinema Fund, FDATIC, Doha Film Institut and Arab Fund for Arts and Culture. The international sales are managed by MK2.

This year, the Gan Foundation also opted to back Woman at War [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Benedikt Erlingsson
interview: Benedikt Erlingsson
film profile
]
by Benedikt Erlingsson, the second feature by the Icelandic director, who won a slew of awards with his Of Horses and Men [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Benedikt Erlingsson
film profile
]
. Produced by Carine Leblanc and Marianne Slot for Paris-based company Slot Machine, together with Iceland and Denmark, the film, which will be shot next summer, will depict the misfortunes of a 50-year-old single woman who single-handedly declares war on heavy industry in her country. Resorting to sabotage, she is prepared to risk everything for nature and the unspoilt uplands – that is, until a Bulgarian orphan enters her life...

Another project selected is L’État sauvage, the second feature by David Perrault, following Nos héros sont morts ce soir [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile
]
(in competition in the Cannes Critics’ Week in 2013). Produced by Farès Ladjimi for Mille et Une Productions, the film, which should begin shooting in Canada in spring, will unfold during the outbreak of the American Civil War. A family of French colonists who have settled in Missouri abandon their home in order to flee the conflict and return to Paris. On this journey, the head of the household is accompanied by his wife, his housemaid and his three daughters. The youngest of them is irresistibly attracted to their escort, a former mercenary who displays somewhat ambiguous behaviour. Their relationship seems to act like a poison within the group of travellers – all the more so when the escort’s turbulent past soon catches up with him… 

Lastly, the Gan Foundation awarded its 2016 Special Prize to the animated film project La fameuse invasion des Ours en Sicile by Italy’s Lorenzo Mattotti, which is currently in production and is based on the novel of the same name by Dino Buzzati. Produced by Valérie Schermann and Christophe Jankovic for French outfit Prima Linea Productions, the feature is being co-produced by France 3 Cinéma and Italian firm Indigo Films, with backing from Canal+ and the CNC’s advance on receipts. Its international sales are handled by Wild Bunch.

Notable films among those selected recently by the Gan Foundation include Brotherhood, A Life with Saint Francis [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile
]
by Renaud Fély and Arnaud Louvet (set to be released in France on 28 December), Toril [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Laurent Teyssier
film profile
]
by Laurent Teyssier and Struggle for Life [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile
]
by Antonin Peretjatko, not to mention Bloody Milk [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Hubert Charuel
film profile
]
by Hubert Charuel (read the article), Cornelius, The Howling Miller [+see also:
trailer
film profile
]
by Yann Le Quellec (read the article) and Après la guerre by Annarita Zambrano (read the article), all in post-production.

(The article continues below - Commercial information)

(Translated from French)

Did you enjoy reading this article? Please subscribe to our newsletter to receive more stories like this directly in your inbox.

Privacy Policy