20/06/2007

After February’s release of Joachim Lafosse’s Private Property [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile], Paris-based distribution outfit Haut et Court is today releasing another film by the young Belgian director, on 21 screens: the critically acclaimed What Makes You Happy [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Fabrizio Rongione
interview: Joachim Lafosse
film profile] (see Focus).

Paul Andrew Williams’ UK thriller London to Brighton [+see also:
trailer
film profile] (see news) is opening through MK2 Distribution on 17 screens.

The film follows 24 hours in the life of a prostitute and a young absconder heading to Brighton in a desperate attempt to save their lives. The debut feature won the 2006 BIFA (British Independent Film Award) for Best Achievement in Production and the Golden Hitchcock at last year’s Dinard British Film Festival.

Up against five new US releases, including Steven Soderbergh’s blockbuster Ocean's 13, which is monopolising almost 700 screens (dist. Warner), are five very different French productions.

Bac Films is releasing 177 prints of Martin Valente’s Fragile(s) [+see also:
trailer
film profile], the story of six lives whose destinies cross on a trip from France to Portugal.

Starring Jean-Pierre Darroussin, Jacques Gamblin, Marie Gillain, and François Berléand, the Elia Films title, co-produced by Roissy Films and Prima, carried a €3.9m budget and included pre-sales from Canal+ and CinéCinéma.

Meanwhile, Shellac has released 35 prints of Bruno Merle’s Heroes [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile], a debut feature that opened the Cannes Critics’ Week (see article) and which stars Michaël Youn and Patrick Chesnais; and Rezo Films is also releasing 35 prints of 13 m², directed by and starring Barthélémy Grossmann. The film is about three thieves, who after the hold-up of a bulletproof van hide out with their loot in a 13m² room.

Lastly, Gémini Films is releasing Luc Moullet’s Le prestige de la mort (“Prestige and Death”) on two screens, while Studio Canal is distributing 413 prints of Quentin Dupieux’s French/Canadian comedy Steak, a film about face lifting set in 2016 and starring Eric & Ramzi.

(Translated from French)