Shooting anecdotes, notes of intent, information for film lovers: every week, discover behind the scenes of cinema releases.
Little Piaf by Gérard Jugnot
With Marc Lavoine, Soan Arhimann, Gerard Jugnot…
What is it about ? In a village in Reunion, 10-year-old Nelson dreams of becoming a great singer and thus making his mother proud, who is raising him alone. After applying for the TV show Star Kids with the help of his friends Mia and Zizou, they decide to find a coach to prepare for his competition.
Did you know ? Soan Arhimann, the interpreter of young Nelson, lives in Reunion and is very attached to his island and his family. In 2019, he won season 6 of The Voice Kids. Gérard Jugnot confides about him: “What is interesting is that Le Petit piaf speaks precisely of the importance of roots. Soan is an intelligent and talented kid who certainly lives in his time, but who is not obsessed with the number of his followers.
The Eight Mountains by Charlotte Vandermeersch, Felix Van Groeningen
With Luca Marinelli, Alessandro Borghi, Filippo Timi…
What is it about ? Pietro is a city boy, Bruno is the last child to live in a forgotten village in Valle d’Aosta. They become friends in this hidden corner of the Alps which serves as their kingdom. Life separates them without being able to separate them completely.
Did you know ? Felix Van Groeningen, director of Alabama Monroe, directed The Eight Mountains with his companion, Charlotte Vandermeersch. She made her directing debut for the occasion. She had already collaborated in the writing of Alabama Monroe and was to do the same on this film. But the couple went through a hard crisis during the first confinement and saw in this project a way to overcome their difficulties.
Storm by Christian Duguay
With Mélanie Laurent, Pio Marmaï, Kacey Mottet Klein…
What is it about ? Born in her parents’ stud farm, Zoé grew up surrounded by horses and has only one dream: to become a jockey! Storm, a filly she sees born, will become her alter ego. But one stormy evening, Storm, panicked, knocks Zoe down and shatters her dream. However, she will hang on and try the impossible to reconnect with her destiny.
Did you know ? Tempête is taken from the youth novel Tempête au stud by Christophe Donner, which has itself been adapted into a comic strip, with drawings by Jérémie Moreau. Donner served as a consultant on the film. Christian Duguay chose not to keep the framework around horse racing bets, to focus on the character of Zoé.
Nicolas Pariser’s Green Perfume
With Sandrine Kiberlain, Vincent Lacoste, Rüdiger Vogler…
What is it about ? In the middle of a performance, an actor from the Comédie-Française is murdered by poisoning. Martin, a member of the troop who directly witnessed this assassination, is soon suspected by the police and pursued by the mysterious organization which ordered the murder.
Did you know ? Parfum vert began to take shape when Nicolas Pariser returned to reading the Tintin albums, which he had already read at several important periods of his life. By re-reading them, he stopped considering them as a uniform corpus to see them as a series of (very) unequal books. The director recalls:
“I realized that those who touched me the most were the Tintins of the 1930s. They have the particularity of having a comic vein with a political, even geopolitical background, which feeds on the news of those years. Above all, while re-reading Ottokar’s Scepter (1939), I thought a lot about A Woman Disappears (1938, Alfred Hitchcock).
The Tourbillon of Life by Olivier Treiner
With Lou de Laâge, Raphaël Personnaz, Isabelle Carré…
What is it about ? The great turning points of our existence are sometimes due to small coincidences. If Julia hadn’t dropped her book that day, would she have run into Paul? Or would his life have taken a completely different direction? Our lives are made up of endless possibilities.
Did you know ? Le Tourbillon de la vie required eighty-seven filming locations! Three places were entirely created (the father’s workshop and the residential part of this house, as well as the Berlin loft), but for the rest, Olivier Treiner and his team shot a lot in natural settings:
“As we were in full confinement, it was impossible to go to Amsterdam, Berlin or Tokyo, but we recreated the Berlin loft in Saint-Denis and the one in Amsterdam, at the Cité Universitaire in the pavilion des Pays- Down. And all the exteriors were shot in Paris.”says the filmmaker.
Whitney Houston: I Wanna Dance With Somebody…
With Naomi Ackie, Stanley Tucci, Tamara Tunie…
What is it about ? The biopic I WANNA DANCE WITH SOMEBODY traces the tormented life of the famous Whitney Houston, iconic singer interpreted by Naomi Ackie. Directed by Kasi Lemmons and written by Anthony McCarten, this musical biopic will take audiences on a moving and thrilling journey through the career and music of Whitney Houston.
Did you know ? After a TV movie in 2015 and a documentary in 2018, Whitney Houston’s journey is now traced in a feature film. The film crew was keen to tell its story in all its complexity. “We had the opportunity to stage the most accomplished biography possible of Whitney Houston”, specifies the producer Matt Jackson.
Godland by Hlynur Palmason
With Elliott Crosset Hove, Victoria Carmen Sonne, Ída Mekkín Hlynsdóttir…
What is it about ? At the end of the 19th century, a young Danish priest arrived in Iceland with the mission of building a church and photographing the population. But the deeper he sinks into the pitiless landscape, the more he is delivered to the pangs of temptation and sin.
Did you know ? Godland has obtained the following awards:
– Golden Hugo for Best Film and Silver Hugo for Best Cinematography – Chicago Film Festival 2022
– Best Film Award – Riga Film Festival 2022
– Best Production Design – Alexandre Trauner Film Festival 2022
– Best Actor for Ingvar Sigurdson – Galdar Film Festival 2022
– Zabaltegi-Tabakalera Award – SSIFF 2022
An Indonesian Woman by Kamila Andini
With Happy Salma, Laura Basuki, Rieke Diah Pitaloka…
What is it about ? Fifteen years after being separated from her husband, Nana has rebuilt her life with a rich man who spoils her as much as he cheats on her. It is however her rival who will become for Nana the ally to whom she entrusts her secrets, past and present, to the point of considering a new future…
Rabiye Kurnaz versus George W. Bush by Andreas Dresen
With Meltem Kaptan, Alexander Scheer, Charly Hübner…
What is it about ? Murat Kurnaz was arrested in 2001 and detained without evidence in the Guantánamo camp for terrorism. His mother Rabiye Kurnaz will do everything for his release through a long legal process, including attacking the President of the United States, George W. Bush, in Washington.
Did you know ? The project originated in 2008, when then-producer Christian Granderath gave Andreas Dresen Murat Kurnaz’s book, Five Years of My Life: An Innocent Man in Guantanamo. The director read it straight through and was overwhelmed. He tells :
“The book directly affected my sense of justice. I couldn’t channel my anger and just believe that something like this was possible, was happening in our time. I went to Bremen and met Murat there who told me told his story.”
AEIOU – The Quick Alphabet of Love by Nicolette Krebitz
With Sophie Rois, Udo Kier, Milan Herms…
What is it about ? Anna is a taciturn sixty-year-old actress, confronted with her obsolescence and condemned to thankless roles. Adrian is a solitary, kleptomaniac teenager who fails at school. Responsible for giving him eloquence lessons, with a view to a theatrical performance, Anna takes Adrian seriously, to the latter’s great surprise.