Unifrance Invades Rotterdam
A little over a week ago I received the press release sent out by Rotterdam and Unifrance about the French films at this year's festival and it arrived exactly a week before the Film Society of Lincoln Center's release about this year's Rendez-Vous with French Cinema, one of my favorite events on the New York film calendar. No coincidence there, just thought I'd mention them both.
One of the films I am especially hoping to catch is Benoît Jacquot's latest, L'intouchable, which stars Isild Le Besco. I met the extremely talented Mlle. Le Besco a few years ago when she was being escorted around town for Unifrance USA by a friend of mine, during the Tribeca Film Festival for her directorial debut, Demi-tarif. She also starred in one of my favorite films from 2004's Rendezvous, Jacquot's A Tout de Suite, so I am looking forward to this new film about a young woman who runs off to India in search of information about her unknown father who may, or may not, be one of the untouchables, the lowest class in the Indian caste system. Just 25 years old and Le Besco's got over 30 films under her belt and two as a director two, Mon dieu!
Not to be outdone by younger sister, Maïwenn Le Besco (working simply as Maïwenn) brings her second film, Pardonnez-moi which she also wrote and stars in, to Rotterdam. Add that to my list, ok?
Then of course, there's Jean-Claude Brisseau's Les Anges Exterminateurs, described by one IMDB reader as "What Eyes Wide Shut should have been." Sold, I'm there! Also looking intriguing are Jean-Pascal Hattu's 7 Ans and Cowboy Angels, a debut film from Kim Massee. One film I am desperate to catch is Douglas Gordon and Philippe Parreno's Zidane: Un Portrait du Xxi Siecle. I have been chasing this film around the world since Cannes and I'll be damned if I'm going to miss it again!
Then there are the co-productions, including selection Bled Number One, an Algeria/France co-production from Rabah Ameur-Zaimeche, Daratt (Dry Season) a co production from Chad, Belgium and France, Congolese/French co-production Kinshasa Palace by Zeka Laplaine and WWW-What A Wonderful World by Faouzi Bensaïdi, courtesy of France, Morocco and Germany.
Unfortunately, I just noticed that the press screening of Zidane as well as the Jacquot happened before I arrived, so I guess I will have to prevail on Unifrance to get me a ticket. Je suppose que j'ai beaucoup de films Français de à voir cette semaine, eh?
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