31/10/2007

Having opened last Friday with Emir Kusturica’s Promise Me This [+see also:
trailer
film profile], the 29th edition of the Mediterranean Film Festival in Montpellier will be in full swing until November 4.

The programme features 206 films, including previews such as The Secret of the Grain [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Hafsia Herzi
film profile] by Abdellatif Kechiche (see interview), an award winner at Venice; Summer Rain [+see also:
trailer
film profile] by Antonio Banderas (Label Europa Cinemas at the Berlinale 2007, see news); Valeria Bruni-Tedeschi’s Actresses [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile]; and Shelter [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile] by Marco Simon Puccioni.

There will also be special screenings of Mario Monicelli’s The Roses of the Desert, One Hundred Nails [+see also:
trailer
film profile] by Ermanno Olmi and Romanian director Nicolae Caranfil’s The Rest is Silence [+see also:
trailer
film profile].

Eleven film make up the feature film competition, including The Contestant and Butterfly by Spanish directors Rodrigo Cortés and Pablo García, respectively; Andalucia [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile] by French/Senegalese director Alain Gomis; Greek/German co-production Eduart [+see also:
trailer
film profile] by Angeliki Antoniou; L'Abbuffata [+see also:
trailer
film profile] (“The Feast”) and Don’t Think About It [+see also:
trailer
film profile] by Mimmo Calopresti and Gianni Zanasi, respectively; and Philippe Aractingi’s Lebanese/French/UK co-production Under The Bombs [+see also:
trailer
film profile].

The 16 films of the Panorama section include the German/Romanian co-production Offset [+see also:
trailer
film profile] by Didi Danquart, Night and Day by Bulgarian director Krassimir Krumov, Estrellita [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Danijel Hočevar
interview: Metod Pevec
interview: Nerina Kocjančič
film profile] by Slovenian director Metod Pevec (Slovenia, 2007), Lino by French director Français Jean-Louis Milesi and two Spanish features: Life on the Edge [+see also:
trailer
film profile] by Ventura Pons and Modesty [+see also:
trailer
film profile] by duo David Ulloa and Tristán Ulloa.

Italian films nonetheless steal the show with Andrea Molaioli’s The Girl by the Lake [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile], Davide Marengo’s Notturno Bus [+see also:
trailer
film profile] (“Night Bus”) and Una Notte by Toni D'Angelo.

Offering a selection of films rarely seen in France, Montpellier also pays tribute to Spanish director Vicente Aranda and gives carte blanche to French director Pierre Salvadori. In addition, there will be a Screenplay Day with Alain Guiraudie and professional symposia on regional production.

(Translated from French)