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FESTIVALS France

The future of European film in bloom at Premiers Plans

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- The crème de la crème of young European talent is featured on the line-up of the 29th edition of the Angers-based festival, unspooling from 20-29 January

The future of European film in bloom at Premiers Plans
The Fury of a Patient Man by Raúl Arévalo

Ever since its creation, the Premiers Plans Festival in Angers has had one guiding principle that it has followed unwaveringly: offering the most favourable conditions for showcasing new generations of European filmmakers, and surrounding them with renowned, seasoned professionals. The 29th edition of the gathering will be opened out of competition today by Thierry Frémaux’s documentary Lumière ! L'aventure commence [+see also:
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 (set to be distributed in French theatres from next Wednesday by Ad Vitam). The presence of the Cannes Film Festival’s General Delegate, who will be rubbing shoulders with Belgian directors Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne, British filmmaker Andrea Arnold, Romania’s Cristian Mungiu and French actress Emmanuelle Devos (who will have tributes and retrospectives dedicated to them), not to mention long-serving figures of the seventh art such as Bertrand Tavernier and Costa Gavras, just goes to show how much the most highly respected artists truly care about making the trip to the Angers cradle to support and bestow their blessing upon their young successors. 

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The eight feature debuts duking it out in the international competition will be judged by a jury chaired by French actor Lambert Wilson (flanked by Anamaria Marinca, Fabrizio Rongione, Panos Koutras and Héléna Klotz). The titles in the running include Godless [+see also:
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interview: Ralitza Petrova
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 by Bulgaria’s Ralitza Petrova (Golden Leopard and Best Actress Award at Locarno), The Fury of a Patient Man [+see also:
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interview: Raúl Arévalo
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 by Spaniard Raúl Arévalo (singled out for the Best Actress Award in the Horizons section at Venice – released in France on 26 April this year, courtesy of ARP Sélection), Heartstone [+see also:
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interview: Guðmundur Arnar Guðmundsson
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 by Iceland’s Gudmundur Arnar Gudmundsson (revealed in the Venice Days), They Call Me Jeeg [+see also:
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interview: Gabriele Mainetti
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 by Italy’s Gabriele Mainetti (seven David di Donatello Awards in 2016, including all the acting trophies, and a smash hit at the national box office – released in France on 12 April via Nour Films), the German-Swiss co-production Marija [+see also:
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interview: Michael Koch
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 by Michael Koch (unveiled in competition at Locarno), the documentary Depth Two [+see also:
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 by Serbia’s Ognjen Glavonić (which was premiered in the Berlinale Forum in 2016) and two movies revealed at San Sebastián, in the New Directors section: Pretenders [+see also:
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 by Estonia’s Vallo Toomia and Park [+see also:
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interview: Sofia Exarchou
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 by Greece’s Sofia Exarchou.

The competition section devoted to French features includes five films, one of which will be on the line-up of the Forum at the upcoming Berlinale: Occidental by Neïl Beloufa. The other titles being screened are the stunning A Taste of Ink [+see also:
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interview: Morgan Simon
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 by Morgan Simon (Special Mention in the New Directors section at San Sebastián – hitting screens next Wednesday, courtesy of Rezo Films), Raw [+see also:
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interview: Julia Ducournau
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 by Julia Ducournau (which has made quite a splash since it was premiered in the Cannes Directors’ Fortnight and is also being showcased at Sundance at the moment – released in France on 15 March by Wild Bunch), the terrific Patients [+see also:
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 by Grand Corps Malade and Mehdi Idir (distributed by Gaumont from 1 March) and Paris La Blanche [+see also:
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interview: Lidia Terki
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 by Lidia Leber Terki (a surprise hit at the Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival – released in France on 29 March via ARP Sélection).

The Premiers Plans Festival will also be offering short-film competitions, a Figures libres (“Freestyle”) section (including such titles as The Challenge [+see also:
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by Italy’s Yuri Ancarani and Anishoara [+see also:
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 by Moldova’s Ana Felicia Scutelnicu), Heis: Chronicles [+see also:
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 by Anaïs Volpe and Notes on Blindness [+see also:
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interview: James Spinney, Peter Middle…
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 by British directors Pete Middleton and James Spinney on the L'Air Numérique (“Digital Air”) programme, and three premieres: Ceasefire [+see also:
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by Emmanuel Courcol (unveiled on the Piazza Grande at Locarno – in theatres from 19 April via Le Pacte), Corporate [+see also:
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interview: Nicolas Silhol
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 by Nicolas Silhol (on general release from 5 April, with Diaphana) and I Still Hide to Smoke by Rayhana Obermeyer (which will be distributed on an unspecified date by Les Films du Losange). Also of note are the documentary Journey Through French Cinema [+see also:
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 by Bertrand Tavernier, Mercenary [+see also:
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interview: Sacha Wolff
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 by Sacha Wolff, a retrospective entitled L'altro cinema, dedicated to the Italian genre films of the 1960s and 1970s, a selection of movies dubbed Face aux pouvoirs (“Against the Authorities” - presented by such people as Pierre Schoeller), a focus on Polish animated films and the traditional screenplay readings, with Emma Benestan’s Petite sauvageYann Delattre’s L'année du chien and Elsa Amiel’s P.E.A.R.L. [+see also:
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interview: Elsa Amiel
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(Translated from French)

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