22/08/2016 - La pelle dell’orso by Marco Segato, Everybody Happy by Nic Balthazar and La madre by Alberto Morais in the World Competition

The 40th edition of the Montréal World Film Festival (25 August-5 September) will open with the screening of the latest endeavour by André Forcier, who was a member of the jury back in 2006 and has competed at the Festival a number of times. His film, Embrasse-moi comme tu m’aimes, touches on the delicate issue of the sexuality of a young paraplegic and her brother’s attempt at rejecting her, in 1940s Montreal.

In the World Competition section, Western Europe is well represented by Czech film Tiger Theory [+see also:
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film profile] by Radek Bajgar and and Croatian film The Constitution [+see also:
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interview: Rajko Grlić
film profile] by Rajko Grlic, as well as Summer’s Over by Romanian director Radu Potcoavã and Titanium White by Polish filmmaker Piotr Smigasiewicz. France’s entries include Toril [+see also:
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interview: Laurent Teyssier
film profile] by Laurent Teyssier and Le paon de nuit [+see also:
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film profile] by Dai Sijie, which was co-produced by China. Also worth mentioning are Belgian-Dutch co-productions Everybody Happy [+see also:
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film profile] by Nic Balthazar and The Fury [+see also:
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interview: Hannah Hoekstra
film profile] by André Van Duren, along with the co-production by Germany and Qatar directed by Soleen Yusef, House Without Roof. Sweden, Italy and Turkey have one representative apiece: While We Live by Dani Kouyaté, La pelle dell’orso [+see also:
film review
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film profile] by Marco Segato, and Swaying Waterlily by Seren Yüce. Spain, on the other hand, has three co-productions in the running: Spanish-Mexican co-production La 4º compania by Amir Galván Cervera and Mitzi Vanessa Arreola, Spanish-Uruguayan co-production Migas de pan [+see also:
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film profile] by Manane Rodríguez, and Spanish-French-Romanian piece La madre [+see also:
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interview: Alberto Morais
film profile] by Alberto Morais.

In line with the Festival’s aim of ‘encouraging the convergence of cultural differences and mutual awareness between nations’, the debut works in the World Competition line-up include Italian production Due euro l’ora [+see also:
trailer
film profile] by Andrea D'Ambrosio, the story of two women, one Italian and one Venezuelan, who are brought together by their illegal jobs at a dressmakers in Southern Italy. The theme of emigration also comes into New World [+see also:
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film profile] by Polish filmmakers Elżbieta Benkowska and Łukasz Ostalskie Michał Wawrzecki, who follow the journey of three youngsters from Belarussia, the Ukraine and Afghanistan, for whom Poland becomes a sort of ‘New World’. Another Italian film to feature is The Habit of Beauty [+see also:
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interview: Mirko Pincelli
film profile], directed by Mirko Pincelli. Family relations are right at the heart of We Were Dining and I Decided [+see also:
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film profile] by Görkem Yeltan, and another Turkish piece comes in the form of Dust by Gözde Kural. France features with Twisting Fate [+see also:
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film profile] by Christophe Lioud, whilst Belgium is represented by Achter de Wolken [+see also:
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film profile] by Cecilia Verheyden. The two countries produced Comment j’ai rencontré mon père, directed by Maxime Motte, together. Serbia has just one representative in the shape of Name: Dobrica, Last Name: Unknown by Srdja Penezic, whilst Germany is represented by Longing for a Kiss by Julia Ziesche and one co-production with Kosovo directed by Dren Zherka, ECHO.

The jury for the World Competition, a section which will also feature short films, will be made up of people from the most diverse sectors of the audiovisual industry. To name but a few, they will include Russian screenwriter and director Sergei Bodrov, Canadian producer Claude Gagnon, and Serbian filmmaker Goran Markovic, who works in both film and television and theatre.

(Translated from Italian)