22/08/2007

Five European productions (four French films and one Italian title) feature among today’s 11 new releases (which also include six US films and one Thai title). The programme is certainly not one lacking in appeal for cinephiles, with the release of the latest titles from Olivier Assayas, Manuel Poirier and Marco Bellocchio.

However, in terms of distribution power, Michel Boujenah’s comedy 3 Amis [+see also:
trailer
film profile] (an Ajoz Films production) wins hands down this Wednesday, with 457 prints released by its co-producer Gaumont.

Starring Mathilde Seigner, Pascal Elbé, Kad Merad (César 2007 for Best Supporting Actor), Annelise Hesme and Daniel Duval, the second feature by the director (who starred in Three Men and a Cradle) marks the last on-screen appearance of Philippe Noiret.

With his eighth feature, The House [+see also:
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film profile] (released on 82 prints by its producer Diaphana), Poirier continues his collaboration with his faithful partner Sergi Lopez.

Discovered in 1993 with La petite amie d'Antonio (1993), before reaching acclaim four years later with Western (Jury Prize at the Cannes Film Festival and major theatrical success), this time the actor-director follows the peregrinations of a man about to divorce, who has difficulty being separated from his children and whose path crosses with that of two sisters (Bérénice Béjo and Barbara Shulz) selling their family house.

The €4.02m production received pre-sales and co-production funding (€750,000) from France 3 Cinéma and pre-sales from Canal +.

ARP Sélection is releasing 70 prints of Assayas’ Boarding Gate [+see also:
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film profile], a title presented out of competition in the Midnight Screenings at Cannes earlier this year.

Confronted with several ups-and-downs during production, the low-budget thriller (€2.5m, Margo films) – made in the spirit of a B-movie – is hoping that its leads Asia Argento and Michael Madsen will draw audiences.

In October, the director will wrap up shooting of his upcoming film L’heure d’été, featuring Juliette Binoche, Charles Berling and Jérémie Renier (see news).

Colifilms Distribution is releasing 15 prints of Michel Léviant’s En souvenir de nous [+see also:
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film profile] (“In Memory of Us”), while The Wedding Director by Italy’s Bellocchio is opening on 30 screens through Les Films sans Frontières.

Screened last year in the Un Certain Regard sidebar at Cannes 2006 (see news), the feature starring Sergio Castellitto and Donatella Finocchiaro will hopefully do better than the director’s previous films Good Morning, Night [+see also:
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interview: Marco Bellocchio, director …
film profile] and My Mother’s Smile [+see also:
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film profile] – which in France respectively attracted 128,000 viewers in 2004 and 50,000 in 2002.

(Translated from French)