11/01/2018 - The crème de la crème of young European talent is featured on the line-up of the 30th edition of the festival in Angers, which unspools from 12-21 January

Ever since it was created, the Premiers Plans Festival in Angers, headed up by Claude-Eric Poiroux, has been a showcase of the most remarkable budding European filmmakers. It will celebrate its 30^th birthday from 12-21 January this year, boasting a line-up bulging with almost 100 films. 

The eight feature debuts locking horns in the international competition will be judged by a jury chaired by Catherine Deneuve. The titles in the running include Winter Brothers [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Elliott Crosset Hove
interview: Hlynur Pálmason
film profile] by Iceland’s Hlynur Pálmason (which was singled out with the Leopard for Best Actor at Locarno – scheduled to be released in France on 21 February, courtesy of Arizona Distribution), Manuel [+see also:
film review
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film profile] by Italy’s Dario Albertini (unveiled at Venice, victorious at Montpellier and set to be distributed in France from 7 March by Le Pacte), Brothers [+see also:
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interview: Hanna Van Vliet
interview: Jonas Smulders
film profile] by Dutch director Bram Schouw (starring Jonas Smulders, a European Film Promotion Shooting Star in 2018) and three titles revealed at Toronto: Gutland [+see also:
film review
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interview: Govinda Van Maele
film profile] by Luxembourg’s Govinda Van Maele, The Cured [+see also:
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film profile] by Ireland’s David Freyne and Valley of Shadows [+see also:
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interview: Jonas Matzow Gulbrandsen
film profile] by Norway’s Jonas Matzow Gulbrandsen. And that’s not to mention Falling [+see also:
trailer
interview: Marina Stepanska
film profile] by Ukraine’s Marina Stepanska (which screened in the East of the West section at Karlovy Vary) and the star attraction of Cannes’ Un Certain Regard, Closeness [+see also:
trailer
film profile] by Russia’s Kantemir Balagov (released on 7 March, via ARP Sélection).

The competitive section dedicated to French feature debuts will have four films on offer: the Venice-awarded Custody [+see also:
film review
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interview: Xavier Legrand
film profile] by Xavier Legrand (released on 7 February, via Haut et Court), Oblivion Verses [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Alireza Khatami
film profile] by Alireza Khatami (Best Screenplay Award in the Orizzonti section at Venice), Sparring [+see also:
film review
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film profile] by Samuel Jouy (unveiled on the Piazza Grande at Locarno – set to be released on 31 January by EuropaCorp) and The Night Eats the World [+see also:
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trailer
film profile] by Dominique Rocher (which will also be presented at Rotterdam – released on 7 March by Haut et Court).

Besides the four other competitive sections (European and French debut short films, student films, and animated shorts), the Angers-based gathering, which will open with a screening of Mrs. Hyde [+see also:
film review
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interview: Serge Bozon
film profile] by Serge Bozon (released on 28 March, courtesy of Haut et Court) and be closed by Early Man [+see also:
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film profile] by Brit Nick Park (StudioCanal on 7 February), will screen the documentaries Of Sheep and Men [+see also:
film review
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film profile] by Switzerland’s Karim Sayad, Stranger in Paradise [+see also:
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film profile] by the Netherlands’ Guido Hendrikx and Playing Men [+see also:
film review
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film profile] by Slovenia’s Matjaz Ivanisin on the “Figures libres” (lit. “Freestyle”) programme, in addition to the Swiss-Georgian fiction I Am Truly a Drop of Sun on Earth [+see also:
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trailer
film profile] by Elene Naveriani. 

Also of note among the premiere screenings are Cornelius, the Howling Miller [+see also:
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film profile] by Yann Le Quellec (Ad Vitam on 2 May), the documentary Dolphin Man [+see also:
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film profile] by Greece’s Lefteris Charitos (Destiny Films on 30 May), the controversial San Sebastián competitor So Help Me God [+see also:
film review
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interview: Jean Libon and Yves Hinant
film profile] by Belgian duo Jean Libon and Yves Hinant (ARP Sélection on 7 February), the Cannes titles After the War [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Annarita Zambrano
film profile] by Italy’s Annarita Zambrano (Pyramide on 21 March) and Sicilian Ghost Story [+see also:
film review
trailer
making of
film profile] by her fellow countrymen Fabio Grassadonia and Antonio Piazza (which Jour2Fête will bring out, date TBC), and the blistering Revenge [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Coralie Fargeat
film profile] by Coralie Fargeat (Rezo Films on 7 February). 

The rich programme of the 30th Premiers Plans Festival also includes a number of retrospectives (dedicated to Pedro Almodóvar, Agnès Varda, Kornel Mundruczo, Monty Python and Serge Bozon), a focus on “animated cinema from colder climes” (namely Finland, Sweden, Denmark and Norway), a European seminar on the theatrical experience and, needless to say, a tribute to the late Jeanne Moreau, who was the president of the festival in 2003 and founded the Angers Workshops in 2005.

(Translated from French)