23/01/2007

With approximately 30 (co-)productions, French cinema will be out in force at the 36th Rotterdam International Film Festival, which kicks off tomorrow.

Although officially absent from the competition line-up, French cinema will nevertheless be represented by Nora Hoppe’s La fine del mare (lit. “The End of the Sea”), a 20% co-production by Unlimited and sold worldwide by Onoma; as well as by Belgian titles, Koen Mortier’s Ex Drummer [+see also:
trailer
film profile] (Belgium/Netherlands/Italy/France) and Diego Martinez Vignatti’s La marea, which is being sold internationally by Paris-based Films Distribution.

French films in the Cinema of the Future: Sturm und Drang section include Rabah Ameur-Zaïmeche’s Bled Number One (see Cannes article and interview with director), Jean-Pascal Hattu’s 7 Years (news), Maïwenn’s Pardonnez moi (sales: SND/M6 D.A.), Charlotte and David Lowe’s children’s film Un beau matin... (co-produced and sold by Pretty Pictures), as well as French/Icelandic co-production Zidane: A 21st Century Portrait by Douglas Gordon and Philippe Parreno and Kim Massee’s Cowboy Angels (produced and sold by Artworx Films).

In the Maestros: Kings & Aces sidebar, Rotterdam has selected Benoit Jacquot’s The Untouchable [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile], Alain Resnais’s Private Fears in Public Places [+see also:
trailer
film profile], Luc Moullet’s Le prestige de la mort (produced and sold by Gémini Films), Jean-Claude Brisseau’s Exterminating Angels [+see also:
trailer
film profile] and Otar Iosseliani’s Gardens in Autumn [+see also:
trailer
film profile].

While a homage will be paid to Abderrahmane Sissako through a retrospective of his films, such as Bamako and his productions with Paris-based company Chinguitty Films (Daratt [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile] by Mahamat and Saleh Haroun), the Cinema of the World: Time & Tide section will propose other French productions including Claire Simon’s On Fire [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile] (see article), Barakat by Algeria’s Djamila Sahraoui, as well as the co-productions The Way I Spent the End of the World [+see also:
trailer
film profile] by Romania’s Catalin Mitulescu and Golden Door [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Alexandre Mallet-Guy
interview: Charlotte Gainsbourg
interview: Emanuele Crialese
interview: Emanuele Crialese
interview: Fabrizio Mosca
film profile] by Italy’s Emanuele Crialese.

Portuguese maestro Manoel De Oliveira’s Belle toujours [+see also:
trailer
film profile] (produced by Les Films d'Ici and sold by Onoma) will be screened in the Cinema Regained section.

(Translated from French)