Arte France Cinéma’s (headed up by Olivier Père) first selection committee of 2021 has chosen to get involved in three projects as a co-producer and pre-purchaser. Standing out among them is La bête [+lee también:
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entrevista: Bertrand Bonello
ficha de la película] by Bertrand Bonello, which will be the eighth feature by the filmmaker, following The Pornographer (Cannes Critics’ Week in 2001), On War [+lee también:
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ficha de la película] (Directors’ Fortnight 2008), Tiresia (in competition at Cannes in 2003), House of Tolerance [+lee también:
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entrevista: Adèle Haenel
ficha de la película] (in competition at Cannes in 2011), Saint Laurent [+lee también:
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Q&A: Bertrand Bonello
ficha de la película] (in competition at Cannes in 2014), Nocturama [+lee también:
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entrevista: Bertrand Bonello
ficha de la película] (in competition at Toronto and at San Sebastian in 2016) and Zombi Child [+lee también:
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entrevista: Bertrand Bonello
ficha de la película] (Directors’ Fortnight 2019).

Staged by Les Films du Bélier, La bête will boast a cast including Léa Seydoux and Gaspard Ulliel, and will tell a story set in the near future, when emotions have become a threat. Gabrielle finally resolves to purify her DNA in a machine that plunges her into her past lives and rids her of any strong feelings. She then meets Louis and feels a powerful connection, almost as if she has always known him. This melodrama criss-crossed by genre elements unfolds in three different years: 1910, 2014 and 2044.

Arte France Cinéma has also selected Voyages en Italie [+lee también:
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ficha de la película], the fifth feature by Sophie Letourneur, following Chicks – Life at the Ranch [+lee también:
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ficha de la película] (in competition at Rotterdam in 2010), Les Coquillettes [+lee también:
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ficha de la película] (out of competition at Locarno in 2012), Gaby Baby Doll [+lee también:
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ficha de la película] (2014) and Enormous [+lee también:
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ficha de la película] (in the Big Screen Competition at Rotterdam last year and winner of the 2020 Jean-Vigo Prize). Produced by Ecce Films, and starring the director herself alongside Philippe Katerine, this new project will revolve around Sophie, who explains how she has decided to head off with Jean-Philippe, just the two of them, in order to save their relationship, which has been engulfed by family life. But where should they go? After numerous hare-brained ideas, they decide to go to Sicily, despite Jean-Philippe’s sprain.

Arte France Cinéma will also be throwing its weight behind the feature debut by Emmanuelle Nicot: Dalva [+lee también:
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entrevista: Emmanuelle Nicot
entrevista: Emmanuelle Nicot, Julie Es…
ficha de la película] (staged by Tripode Productions together with Belgian outfit Hélicotronc). The story hinges on 12-year-old Dalva. One evening, the police burst into her house and arrest her father, whom she lives with. Utterly flabbergasted, Dalva does everything she can to defend the man, but it’s no use. Suddenly sent to a children’s home for teenagers, Dalva will befriend Samia, her roommate, and will gradually come to trust her teacher, Jayden. Thanks to them, she will understand why she was taken away from her beloved father... Which path must Dalva now tread to escape his influence, to free herself from her father, to inch towards clear-sightedness?

As a reminder, Arte France Cinéma is also supporting the upcoming films by Leos Carax, Nuri Bilge Ceylan, Asghar Farhadi, Ursula Meier, Mia Hansen-Løve, Claire Denis, Alain Guiraudie, Miguel Gomes, Joachim Trier, Nadav Lapid, Quentin Dupieux, Jonas Carpignano, Kirill Serebrennikov, Abderrahmane Sissako, Mathieu Amalric, Lisandro Alonso, Tarik Saleh, Mikhaël Hers, Arnaud and Jean-Marie Larrieu, André Téchiné, Louis Garrel, Jan P Matuszyński, Albert Serra, Alexandros Avranas, Patricio Guzmán, Julia Ducournau, Noémie Lvovsky, Thierry de Peretti, Arthur Harari, Leyla Bouzid, Charline Bourgeois-Tacquet, Aurélia Georges, Alice Diop, Hafsia Herzi, Tiago Guedes, Dinara Droukarova, Vincent Le Port, Régis Sauder, Thomas Balmès, Chen Bo Yilin, Dror Moreh, and duo Mina Mileva and Vesela Kazakova, as well as animated flicks helmed by Momoko Seto, and by Florence Miailhe and Pierre Földes.