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CANNES 2005 Official Competition

Kilomètre Zéro: Road movie between tragedy and poetry

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A successful entry into the competition today by Kilometre Zéro [+see also:
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by Hiner Salem, a film produced in France through Memento Films and la Cinéfacture. Selected for the first time at Cannes, having seduced Venice in 2003 with Vodka Lemon (best film in the Controcorrente), the Kurdish director confirms himself as an astonishingly original filmmaker, combining sincerity and humanity in his treatment of political subjects with highly stylised imagery. A mix of brute force and tasteful subtlety which left the critics in thoughtful mood, in the current unusually reserved atmosphere of the Cannes press screenings, far from the habitual bullfight atmosphere where films are normally either cheered or booed.

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Following the attempts by a young Kurd Ako (Nazmî Kirik) to avoid military conscription to the forces of Saddam Hussein, Kilometre Zero rapidly transforms into a road movie in a car that serves as a hearse. It is an opportunity for the filmmaker to denounce helter-skelter the absurdities of the war (with a succession of legless and armless people), the sadistic stupidity of petty bosses in military decoration and the absurdity of the Cult of the Personality with statues of Saddam Hussein criss-crossing the deserted landscape in little trucks. But beyond this emblematic background to the Kurdish cause, treated in a tragic-comic manner with a repetitive humour close to burlesque and the silent cinema, Hiner Salem dedicates himself to the human spirit in the most sentimental way, in his dreams of escape, in his rejection of war, in the friendship born of desperation of the soldiers rained on by artillery at the front and in the bunkers, or again in the love of a woman (Belcim Bilgin, a breathtaking beauty). The themes overlap on the way across an Iraq scattered with checkpoints to finally arrive in the mountains of Kurdistan, but the film begins and ends in Paris. And this story would appear almost naïve if it didn’t unfold in the face of pointless deaths, and if the filmmaker hadn’t told it with such a remarkable point of view. In natural sumptuous sets, Hiner Salem, who films only with a static camera, plays very skilfully with the depth of field to allow his characters to evolve within the frame, moving from background to foreground. A methodical almost theatrical style, stamped with his own brand by a filmmaker who undeniably deserves his place in the Cannes showcase, even if his political message risks alienating some of the critics.

Produced by Emilie Georges and Alexandre Mallet-Guy who are also working on the next films of both the Italian Crialese and the Hungarian Palfy, Kilometre Zero (the filmmaker’s fourth feature) raised a budget of 1,41 million euros, including public French aid from the Southern Fund of 130 000 euros. It will be distributed in France and will be sold internationally by Memento Film International.

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(Translated from French)

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