A royal flush
Led by the 500 prints for the comedy Palais royal! by Valérie Lemercier, seven European productions are launched today on French screens. And Italy, Norway and Lithuania are also alongside French production in confrontation with six American films. On the programme are, notably, Vento di terra by Vincenzo Marra (readinterview). Highly appreciated by the French critics, the second feature by the young Italian filmmaker, who was honoured at the Mostra 2004, is distributed on a total of 10 prints by Les Films du Paradoxe. Screened at the last Cannes Directors’ Fortnight (see article) and also praised by the specialist press, Factotum [+see also:
trailer
film profile] from Norwegian Bent Hamer (co-production between the director’s company BulBul Film, German Pandora and ZDF/Arte ) is released on 48 prints by ID Distribution.
Principal candidate for one of the top spots in the box-office, Palais royal! by and starring Valérie Lemercier arrives with a top-drawer cast including Lambert Wilson, Catherine Deneuve and Mathilde Seigner. Parody of life in the royal court, the film was produced by Rectangle with a 14,26 million euros budget (including 2,2 million investment from TF1 Films Production) distributed on a large scale by Gaumont Columbia Tristar Films. Also in line to attract a large number of spectators, The Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada by Tommy Lee Jones will take advantage of its two Cannes prizes (Male Actor for Tommy Lee Jones and best screenplay for Guillermo Arriaga), with 250 prints from EuropaCorp who is also the film’s co-producer.
The diversity of European creation can also be seen in the documentary Belzec [+see also:
film review
film profile] by Frenchman Guillaume Moskovitz, seen in the Critics’ Week at the Mostra 2005 (read compte-rendu) and is distributed on 7 prints by Ad Vitam, while a younger public can discover Cosette et le petit cordonnier (Cosette and the little cobbler) , a programme of animated shorts directed by Lithuanian filmmaker Arnolds Burovs, with 10 prints from Cinéma Public Films. Finally, worth noting the token release of one print of ADN by Frenchwoman Judith Cahen.
(Translated from French)
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