12/04/2006

Three majority French productions open in France today on 600, 520 and 385 screens, respectively: Asterix and the Vikings [+see also:
trailer
film profile], Tiger Brigades [+see also:
trailer
film profile] and Cabaret Paradis get out their weapons to compete with four new US releases this week.

Film lovers will also have the chance to discover three jewels of European production from 2005: Germany’s Sophie Scholl: The Final Days [+see also:
trailer
film profile], Czech title Something Like Happiness [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Bohdan Slama
interview: Pavel Strnad
film profile] (see Focus) and the German/Luxembourg/French co-production Fratricide. All three proved a major success at top international festivals last year.

Taking advantage of the school holidays, SND is releasing 600 prints of the animated film Asterix and the Vikings from Denmark’s Stefan Fjeldmark and Jesper Moller. The €22m film was produced by France’s M6 Films, in co-production with A.Films A/S Copenhagen.

Competing with the magical potion of the hardy Gauls are the 520 prints distributed by TFM Distribution of the TV series adaptation Tiger Brigades, a Films Manuel Munz production with a €17.8m budget, co-produced with Italy’s Gam Film. It was directed by Jérôme Cornuau and features a star cast, including Clovis Cornillac, Diane Kruger, Edouard Baer, Olivier Gourmet, Stefano Accorsi and Jacques Gamblin. The film recounts the adventures of the first motorised police brigade in 1911, which chased anarchist gangsters of the Bonnot gang.

The final film in this trio is outsider Cabaret Paradis, by Gilles and Corinne Benizio (Shirley and Dino), which could prove to be an unexpected hit with 385 prints released by Pyramide.

Nominated for the Best Foreign Language Film at this year’s Oscars, Sophie Scholl: The Final Days by Germany’s Marc Rothemund, for which Julia Jentsch won a Silver Bear for Best Actress at the 2005 Berlinale, is being released on 34 screens by Les Acacias (see dossier on the German and international marketing campaign).

Why Not Productions has started distributed again and is releasing 9 prints of Something Like Happiness by Czech director Bohdan Slama, winner at the 2005 San Sebastian Festival (see interview with director).

Completing the line-up is Fratricide by Yimaz Arslan, winner of several awards at the 2005 Locarno Film Festival. The film is being distributed by Memento Films on 25 screens.

(Translated from French)