18/03/2009

Studio Canal is today launching on several hundred screens the comedy Coco [+see also:
trailer
film profile], directed by and starring Gad Elmaleh, who hopes to repeat the 3.8m admissions garnered by Chouchou in 2003.

Meanwhile, UGC Distribution is releasing a 189-print run of André Téchiné’s daring title The Girl on the Train [+see also:
trailer
film profile], starring Belgian actress Emilie Dequenne, Catherine Deneuve and Michel Blanc. The director tackles the unusual crime story of a feigned anti-semitic attack that was completely made up by a 23-year-old woman in 2004. She caused a media and political storm before the truth came out.

Téchiné explained: "It’s the monstrous and scandalous nature of this character that led me to make the film. I’ve had enough of half-hearted film characters. This story became a reflection of French fears (…). How can one individual’s lie be transformed into truth in the eyes of the community with its obsessive fears? It’s a fascinating subject. But, above all, I didn’t want to make a film expounding a social thesis or debate."

Produced by SBS Films in co-production with France 2 Cinéma, The Girl on the Train had a €7m budget. This included an advance on receipts from the National Film Centre (CNC) and pre-sales from Canal+ and TPS.

The line-up of new releases includes two other French films: Khaled Ghorbal’s Un si beau voyage (“Such A Beautiful Trip”, see news - Les Acacias on 13 screens); and Philippe Grandrieux’s A Lake [+see also:
trailer
film profile] (Shellac - eight screens), which was unveiled at the latest Venice Film Festival.

On the European side, Le Petit Bureau start off their distribution activities with UK director Asif Kapadia’s Far North [+see also:
film review
film profile], which won acclaim at Venice in 2007. Meanwhile, KMBO is releasing the Swiss documentary Chrigu [+see also:
trailer
film profile] by Jan Gassmann and Christian Ziörjen, which was unveiled at the 2007 Berlinale.

(Translated from French)