08/11/2007

A regular at the Cannes Film Festival, where her films Lovely Rita [+see also:
trailer
film profile] (2001) and Hotel (2004) were screened in Un Certain Regard, Austrian director Jessica Hausner will receive co-production support and pre-sales from Arte France Cinéma for Lourdes, her third feature.

Produced by Coop 99 (a company co-founded by Hausner) and co-produced by Philippe Bober for Société Parisienne de Production, the film written by the director retraces the pilgrimage to and sudden recovery at Lourdes of a paralytic woman (Valeria Bruni-Tedeschi). Filming will take place next spring during the celebrations for the 150th anniversary of the apparitions at Lourdes.

The Arte France Cinéma selection committee has also decided to back Yuki and Nina by Nobuhiro Suwa (a winner at Locarno 2005 for A Perfect Couple [+see also:
trailer
film profile]), who joins forces with Hippolyte Girardot. Co-produced by Comme des Cinémas, the film about two 10 year-old girlfriends who refuse to be torn apart has already been selected for an advance on receipts from the National Centre for Cinematography (CNC) and has also received €314,000 in financial support from the Ile-de-France region.

Back in September, Arte also agreed to back another production by Comme des Cinémas: Tokyo!, a film in three 30-minute parts about the Japanese capital, directed by Leos Carax, Michel Gondry and Korean filmmaker Bong Joon-Ho (sales Wild Bunch). The film division of the French/German channel also supported Commis d’office (“Office Worker”), the feature debut by novelist Hannelore Cayre (produced by Dolce Vita Films and Bac Films).

These two projects can be added to the 2007 slate, which already includes Le silence de Lorna (“Lorna’s Silence”) by Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne, Louise-Michel by Gustave Kervern and Benoît Delépine, Karim Dridi’s Khamsa, Lyes Salem’s Mascarades, Sylvie Verheyde’s Stella and Bruno Dumont’s Hadewijch.

(Translated from French)