22/08/2006

After the selection at Locarno of his recent second feature, Belgian director Joachim Lafosse’s third feature will be presented in Official Competition at the Venice Film Festival (see news).

Starring French actress Isabelle Huppert and brothers Jérémie and Yannick Renier, Private Property [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile] is an explosive behind-the-scenes family drama between a mother and her two sons (see interview with director). The film was co-produced by French outfit Mact Productions and Joseph Rouschop’s Tarantula (Belgium) in association with RTBF, and was funded by the French Community of Belgium.

Sold internationally by Films Distribution, the film will be distributed in France by Haut et Court and by Cinéart in Belgium, who next month are also releasing Lafosse’s recent successful title Ça rend heureux [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Fabrizio Rongione
interview: Joachim Lafosse
film profile] (lit. “That Makes One Happy”).

Short films to be screened at the festival include Eva reste au placard les nuits de pleine lune by Alex Stockman, which will be in Official Competition. After several shorts, and before making his first feature Le Pressentiment in 2000, Stockman produced his films with Kaat Camerlynck and the production outfit Corridor and the first feature by musician Tom Barman, Any Way the Wind Blows [+see also:
trailer
film profile], selected at Locarno in 2003.

Lastly, Venice Day will host The Colour of Water by documentary filmmakers Peter Brosens and Jessica Woodworth. The film will compete for the Europa Cinemas Label and the Luigi de Laurentiis Prize for Best First Film. Famous for their documentaries on Mongolia, especially the Brosens trilogy, City of the Steppes, State of Dogs and Poets of Mongolia, this time around the two directors have made a fictional film that recounts the voyage of a 17 year-old Mongolian towards his destiny as a shaman.

Co-produced by the Belgian company of directors Bo Films, Germany’s Ma.Ja.De Filmproduktions and Dutch outfit Lemming Film, The Colour of Water has received funding from various sources (Vlaams Audiovisueel Fonds, Communauté Française de Belgique, Medienboard Berlin-Brandenburg, Mitteldeutsche Medienförderung, Nederlands Fonds voor de Film), as well as television (ZDF/Arte, NPS and VRT), the MEDIA programme and Rotterdam’s Cinémart.

Cinéart will handle the film’s Belgian release, while Contact Film will distribute the title in the Netherlands, Pegasos in Germany and Cineworx in Switzerland.

(Translated from French)