12/11/2008

Uli Edel’s ambitious European film The Baader Meinhof Complex [+see also:
trailer
film profile] – which has garnered over €16.5m in box office takings in Germany – hits French screens today. Released by Metropolitan Filmexport on 138 screens, the film – which stars Martina Gedeck, Moritz Bleibtreu, Bruno Ganz and Alexandra Maria Lara – has received a rather lukewarm reception from French critics. However, the title has benefited from an intense promotional campaign, in particular its numerous trailers.

Two bilateral European co-productions are also being launched today. Pathé Distribution are releasing a 123-print run of Saul Dibb’s UK/French feature The Duchess [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile], starring Keira Knightley, Ralph Fiennes and Charlotte Rampling.

Meanwhile, Memento Films Distribution are hoping for success with their 104-print run of Anna Novion’s French/Swedish co-production Grown Ups [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile]. This debut feature – unveiled at the latest Cannes Critics’ Week – stars Jean-Pierre Darroussin, Anaïs Demoustier, Judith Henry and Lia Boysen.

Grown Ups was produced by France’s Moteur S'il Vous Plait Production (70% investment) and co-produced by Sweden’s DFM Fiktion (30%) for an overall budget of €1.77m. This included a €400,000 advance on receipts from the National Film Centre (CNC), €75,000 from the Swedish Film Institute, €250,000 from Eurimages, backing from Film i Väst and pre-sales from TPS and Cine Cinéma.

Acclaimed by critics, Sylvie Verheyde’s French feature Stella [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile] is being launched by Diaphana on 66 screens. Lauded at Venice Days 2008, the film stars Leora Barbara, Karole Rocher, Benjamin Biolay and the late Guillaume Depardieu.

Stella was produced by Les Films du Veyrier for €3.34m, which included co-production support from Arte France Cinéma, an advance on receipts from the CNC and pre-sales from Canal + and Ciné Cinéma.

Also hitting screens is French film Vilaine [+see also:
trailer
film profile] by Jean-Patrick Benes and Allan Mauduit, which is being released by SND on 215 screens. This trashy comedy centres on an excessively nice Marilou Berry who tries her hand at nastiness in order to take revenge on all those who’ve humiliated her. Produced by Karé Productions for €3.61m, the film received co-production support from M6 Films and pre-sales from TPS and Ciné Cinéma.

The line-up also includes two US features (including Clint Eastwood’s Changeling, which has been a favourite among critics since its première at the Cannes Film Festival and is being launched by Universal on 390 screens) and Philippine director Brillante Mendoza’s Service (which also screened at Cannes).

Meanwhile, French audience figures are riding high. According to estimations by the CNC, 14.18m admissions were recorded for October (+22.4% compared to the same month in 2007), bringing the 2008 total so far to 152.67m viewers (+3.6% compared to the previous year). With a 47.1% share during the first ten months of 2008, French films are holding their own against US productions (44.6%).

(Translated from French)