Alain Guiraudie’s brilliant Misericordia [+leggi anche:
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intervista: Alain Guiraudie
scheda film] (discovered in Cannes) is set to open the 52nd Festival La Rochelle Cinéma (Fema) (running 28 June to 7 July) this evening, an event deeply attached to its strictly non-competitive identity and highly appreciated for its eclectic and demanding line-up.

Eye-catching tributes this year include an homage to Austrian filmmaker Michael Haneke (who’ll be taking part in a round table on 6 July, notably alongside Isabelle Huppert), during which the full back-catalogue of his work will be screened, including his 12 feature films and his five TV films, and homages to French actress Françoise Fabian, Kirghiz director Aktan Arym Kubat and his Argentinian counterpart Benjamín Naishtat (showcasing his latest opus Puan [+leggi anche:
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intervista: Benjamín Naishtat e María …
scheda film], among other works). Stand-out retrospectives include those for Chantal Akerman (with 18 films in the line-up), Marcel Pagnol (13 films) and Natalie Wood (7 films).

Stealing focus among the 29 favourite films of the year featuring in the Ici et Ailleurs section are 20 feature-length movies which were recently well-received in Cannes, including three works which triumphed in competition (All We Imagine As Light [+leggi anche:
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scheda film] by India’s Payal Kapadia, Grand Tour [+leggi anche:
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intervista: Marta Donzelli, Gregorio P…
intervista: Miguel Gomes
scheda film] by Portugal’s Miguel Gomes and The Seed of the Sacred Fig [+leggi anche:
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intervista: Directors Talks @ European…
intervista: Mohammad Rasoulof
scheda film] by Iran’s Mohammad Rasoulof), two rewarded in the Un Certain Regard line-up (Black Dog by China’s Guan Hu and The Story of Souleymane [+leggi anche:
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intervista: Boris Lojkine
scheda film] by French director Boris Lojkine), one in the Directors’ Fortnight (Universal Language by Canada’s Matthew Rankin) and one in Critics’ Week (Baby [+leggi anche:
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scheda film] by Brazil’s Marcelo Caetano). Other movies making their way to the festival directly from the Croisette notably include The Other Way Around [+leggi anche:
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intervista: Jonás Trueba
scheda film] by Spain’s Jonás Trueba, Three Kilometres to the End of the World [+leggi anche:
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intervista: Emanuel Pârvu
scheda film] by Romania’s Emanuel Pârvu, When the Light Breaks [+leggi anche:
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intervista: Elín Hall
intervista: Rúnar Rúnarsson
scheda film] by Iceland’s Rúnar Rúnarsson, and the French films Ghost Trail [+leggi anche:
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intervista: Jonathan Millet
intervista: Pauline Seigland
scheda film] by Jonathan Millet, Le Royaume [+leggi anche:
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intervista: Julien Colonna
scheda film] by Julien Colonna,  Jim’s Story [+leggi anche:
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intervista: Arnaud e Jean-Marie Larrieu
scheda film] by Arnaud and Jean-Marie Larrieu, This Life of Mine [+leggi anche:
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scheda film] by Sophie Fillières and In His Own Image [+leggi anche:
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intervista: Thierry de Peretti
scheda film] by Thierry de Peretti. This impressive Ici et Ailleurs line-up is rounded off by six films previously screened in Berlin (notably Crossing Istanbul [+leggi anche:
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intervista: Levan Akin
scheda film] by Sweden’s Levan Akin and Foreign Tongue [+leggi anche:
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intervista: Claire Burger
scheda film] by French director Claire Burger), one feature film discovered in San Sebastian (Last Shadow at First Light [+leggi anche:
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scheda film] by Singapore’s Nicole Midori Woodford), Sob a chama da candeia [+leggi anche:
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scheda film] by Portugal’s André Gil Mata and Stormskerry Maja [+leggi anche:
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scheda film] by Finland’s Tiina Lymi.

A brand-new section is also set to take flight, by the name of Au Cœur du Doc, which will present 18 films, notably Mati Diop’s Berlin Golden Bear winner Dahomey [+leggi anche:
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scheda film], Claire Simon’s Elementary [+leggi anche:
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scheda film], Arnaud Desplechin’s Filmlovers! [+leggi anche:
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scheda film] and four world premieres in the form of Cavalier seul by Yves Jeuland, Le Veilleur by Lou du Pontavice and Victoire Bonin, Le Sentier des absents by Eugénie Zvonkine and The Neon People by Jean-Baptiste Thoret.

The copious festival agenda will also include, among other attractions, a Daniel Day-Lewis day (involving five films), a music masterclass with composer Amine Bouhafa and filmmaker Patricia Mazuy, and an editing masterclass with editor François Gédigier and composer Grégoire Hetzel, not to mention a film restoration masterclass, a round table featuring composers Irène Drésel, Julie Roué and Carla Pallone, twenty restored or re-released classics or rarities in the D’hier à Aujourd’hui section (notably featuring Napoléon vu par Abel Gance in the festival’s closing slot), seven additional line-ups (dedicated to Márta Mészáros, Yannick Bellon and Laurent Terzieff, among others) and, last but not least, the FEMA des Enfants, which notably features a tribute to Swiss director Claude Barras (including his latest opus, Savages [+leggi anche:
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intervista: Red Carpet @ European Film…
scheda film]) and four feature films which recently dazzled in Annecy (Flow [+leggi anche:
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intervista: Gints Zilbalodis
intervista: Red Carpet @ European Film…
scheda film] by Gints Zilbalodis, Living Large [+leggi anche:
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intervista: Kristina Dufková
scheda film] by Czech director Kristina Dufková, A Boat in the Garden [+leggi anche:
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scheda film] by Jean-François Laguionie and Into the Wonderwoods [+leggi anche:
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intervista: Vincent Paronnaud e Alexis…
scheda film] by the directorial duo Vincent Paronnaud and Alexis Ducord).