UDI on course for Venice and Toronto
- The Parisian company is notably handling sales for French co-production The Endless River by Oliver Hermanus, which is in the running for the Golden Lion
The big international film festivals continue to smile this year on French distributor Urban Distribution International (UDI). Already represented this year in competition at the Berlin Film Festival (with Big Father, Small Father and Other Stories [+see also:
trailer
film profile]) and in the Certain Regard section at Cannes (with Alias Maria [+see also:
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film profile]), the company, headed up by Frédéric Corvez, is counting on a line-up that includes two films which will be premiered at the 72nd Venice Film Festival (2 - 12 September).
Highlights include The Endless River [+see also:
film review
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film profile] by South African director Oliver Hermanus, which is one of the 21 films battling it out for the Golden Lion and will have its North-American premiere in the World Contemporary Cinema section of the Toronto Film Festival (10 – 20 September). Produced by South Africa via Moonlighting Stu Productions and France via Swift Productions, the new feature film of the director of outstanding film Beauty [+see also:
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film profile] (which was unveiled in the Certain Regard section of Cannes in 2011) stars Nicolas Duvauchelle, Crystal-Donna Roberts and Clayton Evertson and is the story of the encounter in a small town of two people trapped in a cycle of violence: a young woman whose husband has just got out of prison and a foreigner whose family has been savagely killed.
On the Lido, UDI will also be presenting Franco-Chinese co-production Underground Fragrance by Song Pengfei, which has been selected for Venice Days. Produced by Parisian company House on Fire with financial backing in the form of CNC’s world cinema aid, the film (a project which participated in the Atelier of the 2012 Cannes Film Festival) crosses the paths of three characters deep in the megalopolis of Beijing.
In Toronto, UDI will also be presenting Incident Light (La Luz Incidente) by Ariel Rotter, which will have its global premiere in the World Contemporary Cinema section. Co-produced by Argentina, France and Uruguay, the latest feature film from the director of El Otro [+see also:
film review
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film profile] (which won the Grand Prix and the award for Best Actor at the Berlin Film festival in 2007) focuses on the misfortunes of a woman who, having lost her husband in an accident, falls for a seductive stranger.
UDI’s line-up also notably includes animated films Cafard [+see also:
trailer
film profile] by Belgian filmmaker Jan Bultheel (an international odyssey set in the throws of the First World War, particularly fascinating clips from which were shown at Cartoon Movie – which is in the final stages of post-production – produced by Tondo Films, Superprod, Topkapi Films and Tarantula) and Franco-Danish co-production Long Way North [+see also:
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film profile] by Rémi Chayé (see news article – winner of the audience award at Annecy), as well as British on-the-road film Burn Burn Burn [+see also:
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film profile] by Chanya Button (currently in post-production).
(Translated from French)
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