21/07/2003 - Certainties include Marie et Julien with Emmanuelle Béart and 29 Palms whilst maybes include Catherine Breillat, François Dupeyron and Tonie Marshall

With ten days to go until Moritz De Hadeln’s press conference for the 60th Mostra, little or no news is forthcoming about the possible French selection. Perhaps the heatwave engulfing Europe has put the industry on a generalised go-slow. The few (almost) certainties refer to Jacques Rivette’s Marie et Julien and Bruno Dumont’s 29 Palms in competition. Other likely contenders include Catherine Breillat, François Dupeyron, Tonie Marshall and Damien Odoul.

Following on the success of his Va Savoir!, Rivette, a legendary exponent of the French Nouvelle Vague, will present his long-time pet project that stars Emmanuelle Béart (the pair worked together on La Belle Noiseuse), and co-starring Jerzy Radziwiłowicz (Secret Défence, Les Possédés) and Anne Brochet.
This Franco-Italian co-production by Pierre Grise Productions and Cinemaundici, received a €3.48m grant from the from the CNC’s Box Office Advance system as well as funding from Arte France Cinéma.
Marie et Julien is a passionate love story, played out against a backdrop of blackmail and secrets that received over €320,000 support from the European co-production agency, Eurimages with Celluloïd Dreams handling international sales.

Bruno Dumont’s 29 Palms is something completely different. An extremely violent tale of savage and ultimately fatal love set in the Californian wildness of Joshua Tree and starring Katia Golubeva (Pola X, J’ai pas sommeil) and David Wissak as a pair of photographers scouting the perfect location for a reportage.

Dumont won the newcomer of the year at the European Film Awards, a Special Mention Caméra d’Or in Cannes and the Jean Vigo 1997 Award for La vie de Jésus and the Jury Grand Prix and best actor and actress awards in Cannes 1999 for L’humanité. Produced by 3B Productions, the €2.34m Twentynine Palms was co-produced by Germany’s Toke Moebius Films and sold internationally by FPI - Flach Pyramide International. Tadrart Films is scheduled to release this title in France on 17 September.

Another likely Venetian title is Anatomie de l’enfer [+see also:
trailer
film profile] by Catherine Breillat. Produced by Flach Film, the film reunites Amira Casar (Filles perdues, cheveux gras) with porn-star Rocco Siffredi (they first worked together in Romance). It is a tale of lust and murder that begins with a chance meeting in a disco following an attempted suicide and will be distributed in Italy by Sharada and in France by Rezo Films.
The landmark 60th edition of the Venice Film Festival will attract names like Damien Odoul (Errance with Benoît Magimel and Laetitia Casta); Tonie Marshall (France Boutique) with Karin Viard, Nathalie Bave and François Cluzet; and François Dupeyon with Monsieur Ibrahim et les fleurs du Coran starring Omar Sharif. Moritz De Hadeln will reveal all on 31 July.

(Translated from French)