Neuigkeiten

“I’m really enjoying this. They’re so bad in America. They rinse them in fresh water and it kills the taste.”

Twisting the Knife: Four Films by Claude Chabrol will be available on Blu-ray April 26th from Arrow Video

For five decades Claude Chabrol navigated the unpredictable waters of Cinema, leaving in his wake fifty-five feature films that remain among the most quietly devastating genre movies ever made.

The Swindle sees Chabrol at perhaps his most playful as a pair of scam artists, Isabelle Huppert and Michel Serrault, get in over their heads. But who is scamming who and who do you trust in a life built on so many lies? The murder of a 10-year-old girl sparks rumors and gossip in The Color of Lies, as suspicion falls on René (Jacques Gamblin) the dour once famous painter, now art teacher, who was the last person to see her alive.

The duo dazzle up front in screenwriter Florence Vignon’s first film – an Easy Tiger production set to be sold by Orange Studio – which begins filming tomorrow. The first clapperboard is set to slam tomorrow, Wednesday 31 March, on L’échappée belle, which will be the first film directed by screenwriter Florence Vignon (the winner of 2010’s Best Adapted Screenplay César for Mademoiselle Chambon and nominated for 2013’s Best Original Screenplay César via A Few Hours of Spring). Shining bright at the head of the cast is seasoned actor Jacques Gamblin and rising star Zita Hanrot (awarded 2016’s Best New Female Hope César for Fatima and...

The duo heads the cast of François Uzan’s first feature. A film handled by Radar Films and Unagi Production, and which will be sold by Orange Studio. Final stretch in Greece for the shoot of On sourit pour la photo, François Uzan’s feature debut. Standing out in the cast are Jacques Gamblin, Pascale Arbillot, Pablo Pauly (nominated for a Best Newcomer César award and Lumières award in 2018 for Step by Step, appreciated also in Three Days And a Life, in...

Greece, where the death rate due to the coronavirus outbreak has been among among the lowest in Europe, is looking to lure more international productions by raising its cash rebates from 35% to 40% just as cameras are already rolling there on what is being touted as the first post-pandemic European co-production to start up.

“Greece is quite a success story in these particularly difficult times because of (anti-coronavirus) measures that were taken early on,” said Venia Vergou, director of the Hellenic Film Commission during a virtual Cannes Market panel.

The country was on lockdown between March 3 and May 4, and just one week later shooting had already resumed on hit Greek TV series “Wild Bees,” a period piece about three farmer sisters who live in a small, fictional village in the Thessalian flatland in the late 1950s, which was the first Greek production that started filming after the pandemic.

The scheduled production output of “Wild Bees,...

A cinematic puzzle and a filmic detective piece, Serge Bromberg’s examination of a world-class filmmaker’s catastrophic, never-finished production fascinates and dazzles. If the particulars of H.G. Clouzot’s experimental epic of internal torment remain clouded, the astonishing visuals he created are a total knockout. Working with hours of uncut dailies and precise collaborator memories, Bromberg gives us the most interesting filmic autopsy on record. Incredible stuff!

Inferno

(L’enfer d’Henri-Georges Clouzot)

Blu-ray

Arrow Academy

2009 / Color & B&W / 1:78 widescreen / 100 min. / L’enfer d’Henri-Georges Clouzot / Street Date February 6, 2018 / Available from Arrow Video 34.95

Starring: Romy Schneider, Serge Reggiani, Bérénice Bejo, Jacques Gamblin, Dany Carrel, Jean-Claude Bercq, Mario David, Catherine Allégret, Henri-Georges Clouzot, Gilbert Amy, Jacques Douy, Jean-Louis Ducarme, Costa-Gavras, William Lubtchansky, Thi Lan Nguyen, Joël Stein, Bernard Stora, Jean-Paul Belmondo, Bernard Blier, Inès Clouzot, Yves Montand, Simone Signoret, Lino Ventura, Burt Lancaster.

Cinematography: Jérôme Krumenacker, Irina Lubtchansky...

Close-Up is a feature that spotlights films now playing on Mubi. Henri-Georges Clouzot's Inferno (2009) is showing from February 2 - March 4, 2018 in many countries around the world.“Memory is cursed with what hasn’t happened.”—Marguerite Duras With Henri-Georges Clouzot’s Inferno, directors Serge Bromberg and Ruxandra Medrea both reconstruct and describe the production of the titular unfinished 1964 film, presenting their film as at once an op-art experiment and a traditional documentary of a failed production. At its center, however, is a preoccupation with the notion of the historical fragment and the viewer’s attribution of meaning and value to the fragment. This attribution is largely the result of a lack, as Lacan put it, experienced by both the fragment and viewer that can never be satisfied. The fragment signifies its own symbolic desire to be a part of a whole and the viewer’s symbolic desire for that whole.

The New York Film Festival has established itself as a haven for film purists, a place where the masters of cinema are treated like titans and auteurism supersedes all other other religions. In keeping with that spirit, the fest has always made sure to steer an uncommon (and greatly appreciated) degree of attention towards the history of the medium, complementing their roster of contemporary films with in-depth retrospectives and well-curated revival screenings.

Read More: Nyff Announces Retrospective Selections Inspired By Bertrand Tavernier’s ‘My Journey Through French Cinema’ – Exclusive

Nyff 54 is no exception. In fact, this year’s retrospective section offers two programs for the price of one — centering on director Bertrand Tavernier, the wonderfully expansive sidebar doesn’t just appreciate its subject as a filmmaker, but as a film thinker as well. Only showing one of Tavernier’s narrative features, the retrospective focuses instead on his unmissable new cinematic essay,...

The already-incredible line-up for the 2016 New York Film Festival just got even more promising. Ang Lee‘s Billy Lynn’s Long Halftime Walk will hold its world premiere at the festival on October 14th, the NY Times confirmed today. The adaptation of Ben Fountain‘s Iraq War novel, with a script by Simon Beaufoy (Slumdog Millionaire), follows a teenage soldier who survives a battle in Iraq and then is brought home for a victory lap before returning.

Lee has shot the film at 120 frames per second in 4K and native 3D, giving it unprecedented clarity for a feature film, which also means the screening will be held in a relatively small 300-seat theater at AMC Lincoln Square, one of the few with the technology to present it that way. While it’s expected that this Lincoln Square theater will play the film when it arrives in theaters, it may be...

Barbarian Invasion: Arcady Hits the Headlines for Procedural

Recounting a bizarre kidnapping case from 2006 that reflects the continuing cultural mutation of anti-Semitism and the modernized hate crime, Alexandre Arcady’s 24 Days reenacts a cruel and digesting instance eventually projected by the media, where it was titled The Affair of the Gang of Barbarians, as a national outcry to end hate crimes. With authorities initially reluctant to admit the underlying bigotry that spurred the kidnapping, torture, and eventual murder of Ilan Halimi that took place over nearly a month, it appears increasing political pressures only served to limit necessary discussions pertaining to the abductor’s motivations for kidnapping Halimi, namely his Jewishness.

On January 31, 2006, Ilan Halimi (Syrus Shahidi), a cell phone vendor in a Parisian suburb, has a secret rendezvous with a beautiful young woman he’s made a date with. The date is secret because Ilan already has a girlfriend,...

Blu-ray & DVD Release Date: May 27, 2014

Price: DVD $29.98, Blu-ray $39.98

Studio: Cohen Film Collection

The Color of Lies is one of the later movies of renowned New Wave French filmmaker Claude Chabrol (Les Cousins).

The thriller stars Sandrine Bonnaire (Queen to Play) as Vivianne, the beloved wife of Rene (Jacques Gamblin, Inspector Bellamy), a painter and art teacher who’s under suspicion when the body of 10-year-old girl is found.

Rene was the girl’s teacher and apparently the last person to see her alive and he becomes increasingly unsettled by his neighbors’ suspicions and the investigation of the inspector (Valeria Bruni Tedeschi, Munich). Vivianne supports Rene but gets tempted by the advances of an arrogant local TV personality (Antione de Caunes, Mumu).

Not rated, The Color of Lies looks at the culture of lies in societies, from advertising to adultery. The foreign film was nominated for the Golden Bear at the...

City of Neon Lights: Marie’s Debut a Soundtrack Assisted Cliché

How the title Paris Countdown was decided upon to stand as the English language translation of Le Jour Attendre (Day Wait) is the first of many unnecessary questions to ask while watching Edgar Marie’s directorial debut, a revenge thriller meant to be a pulse pounding high octane endeavor, filled with car chases, violent showdowns, double crossings, vaguely relayed female characters in distress, and a thumping soundtrack.

Milan (Olivier Marchal) and Victor (Jacques Gamblin) are best friends and co-owners of a Parisian nightclub, Le Sound. Unfortunately, they’re in considerable debt, and Milan gets them involved in a drug trafficking transaction that gets horribly botched in Mexico. Tortured, they agree to squeal against their liaison, Serki (Carlo Brandt), who gets sentenced to six years in prison. Upset and traumatized, Victor vows never to speak with Milan again. Unfortunately, Serki is unfathomably psychotic,...

Visual effects may be getting better and better, and superheroes may dominate the screen, but sometimes there's nothing more satisfying at the movies than a gritty, tense story and a good old-fashioned car chase. And both of those are present in this exclusive look at the upcoming French thriller "Paris Countdown." The directorial debut of writer Edgar Marie, and from the folks who brought you “Point Blank” and “A Gang Story,” the film stars Olivier Marchal and Jacques Gamblin as best friends and club owners who are forced by the police to rat out their associate in a drug deal gone bad. Six years later, the man they sent to prison is released, and the duo are forced to fight for their lives. And as you'll see in this clip, they are facing a very determined adversary who wants nothing more than to get them out of the way. "Paris...

Those with a fetish for the smashing of faces — against rocks, bourbon glasses, windshields, and the like — might enjoy Edgar Marie's crime thriller Paris Countdown. The sensory violence doesn't end there. Marie, in his film debut, prefers his colors loud and tacky, setting key confrontations in neon-lit tanning salons and lofts. And Paris Countdown's sound editors have clearly worked overtime. In a riveting early torture sequence, a rogue cop drills into a detainee's eardrum; at several later points, Marie blasts out the soundtrack with the screaming ringing in that character's ears. If only these visceral shocks were at the service of a less conventional story. Victor (Jacques Gamblin) and Milan (Olivier Marchal) are longtime friends...

Released this summer in its native France as Le Jour Attendra, this crime thriller from writer/director Edgar Marie, starring Olivier Marchal and Jacques Gamblin, has been rechristened Paris Countdown and is heading to select U.S. theaters on Friday, November 8, when it will also be available via various Video On Demand platforms. Marie co-authored the book Pour une poignée de cerises, a sprawling true-life account of a famed French criminal outfit, which was the basis for A Gang Story directed by Marchal in 2011. (Marchal is a former cop turned actor turned filmmaker.) Marie also contributed scripts for Marchal's TV series, Braquo. So there's a good pedigree behind this film. Here's the official synopsis: Unable to repay their debts, Milan and Victor, best friends and...

[Read the whole post on twitchfilm.com...]...

Two estranged friends are forced to reunite when the drug dealer they put behind bars is released in Paris Countdown. Screen Media Films has the first trailer, starring Olivier Marchal and Jacques Gamblin as Milan and Victor, owners of a Paris nightclub who are lured into a drug deal gone sour. Six years later, the psychotic man they testified against is released from prison, forcing them to partner up once again as they try to survive. In addition, we have the first poster for this crime thriller, debuting in theaters and on VOD formats November 8.

Unable to repay their debts, Milan and Victor, best friends and co-owners of a Paris nightclub are lured into a drug deal that goes bad. Tortured by police, they negotiate their freedom against an overwhelming testimony that condemns their psychotic liaison to prison. Six years later, the men's nightmare begins again when the psychopath is granted his freedom.

Check out the new trailer for Paris Countdown starring stars Olivier Marchal and Jacques Gamblin.

The film (aka “Le Jour Attendra”), will be in theaters and On Demand November 8th.

Unable to repay their debts, Milan and Victor, best friends and co-owners of a Paris nightclub are lured into a drug deal that goes bad. Tortured by police, they negotiate their freedom against an overwhelming testimony that condemns their psychotic liaison to prison. Six years later, the men’s nightmare begins again when the psychopath is granted his freedom. Now, not having talked for years, the old friends are united again in order to survive.

Paris Countdown is directorial debut from writer Edgar Marie and from the producers of “Point Blank” and “A Gang Story”.

While at the 2013 Cannes International Film Festival, Screen Media Films acquired the Us rights to the French crime thriller.

http://pariscountdownmovie.tumblr.com...

The Toronto International Film Festival® has announced the addition of 3 Galas and 19 Special Presentations to the 2013 Festival programme, including a further 12 World Premieres. Representing countries from around the world, the Gala and Special Presentations programmes offer a lineup of diverse titles and genres.

Toronto audiences will be among the first to screen films by directors Fred Schepisi, Alberto Arvelo, Reha Erdem, Dexter Fletcher, Richard Glatzer and Wash Westmoreland, Megan Griffiths, Arnaud Larrieu and Jean-Marie Larrieu, Kevin Macdonald, Arie Posin, Charlie Stratton, Nils Tavernier and John Turturro.

The 38th Toronto International Film Festival runs September 5 to 15, 2013.

Galas Blood Ties

Guillaume Canet, France/USA North American Premiere

New York, 1974. 50-year-old Chris has just been released on good behavior after spending several years in prison. Waiting for him reluctantly outside the prison gates is his younger brother, Frank, a cop with a bright future. Chris and Frank have always been different, yet blood...

Catalina Denis cast in Paul Walker thriller Model and film actress Catalina Denis has been cast as the female lead opposite Paul Walker (Fast & Furious 6) and David Belle (Malavita) in Camille Delamarre’s Brick Mansions. The action thriller is EuropaCorp and Relativity Media’s English-language remake of the 2004 French-made action / thriller District B13. In Brick Mansions, Paul Walker incarnates an undercover cop out to defuse a bomb in possession of drug warlord RZA. Catalina Denis will play David Belle’s romantic interest. Luc Besson, who specializes in run-of-the-mill, Hollywood-style French-made action thrillers, is one of the film’s producers. Directed by Pierre Morel (Taken, From Paris with Love), and co-written by Luc Besson and Bibi Naceri, District B13 / Banlieue 13 stars David Belle, Cyril Raffaelli, Dany Verissimo-Petit, and co-screenwriter Naceri. The film performed modestly at the French box office; according to Box Office Mojo, District B13 was no. 51 on France’s 2004 box-office chart,...

Taylor Kitsch in Disney's John Carter Mars Movie Directed by Wall-e's Andrew Stanton, and starring Taylor Kitsch in the title role, Disney's $250 million-budgeted sci-fi/adventure John Carter opened on Wednesday in France. Though by far the biggest new release that day, John Carter sold a relatively modest 66,583 tickets at 505 sites according to Cbo-Box Office — placing it in the sixth slot among the year's top opening-day movies, smack between Clint Eastwood's J. Edgar, starring the internationally popular Leonardo DiCaprio, and the 3D adventure Journey 2: The Mysterious Island, which stars Josh Hutcherson, Dwayne Johnson, and Vanessa Hudgens. According to France Soir, John Carter doesn't have much time to continue its box-office dominance among the new releases in France. Opening next Wednesday is Florent-Emilio Siri's Cloclo, starring Jérémie Renier as '60s and '70s singing sensation Claude François and Benoît Magimel as François' manager, Paul Lederman. The biopic,...

While we're bringing you Luc Besson / Europacorp trailers, here's another one, although it might be slightly further below your radar than Lock-Out. This one's for the French-language À l'aveugle (The Blind Man), starring Lambert Wilson and Jacques Gamblin, and directed by Xavier Palud.Need a translation? We think we can just about cope. Gamblin is detective Lassalle, who's investigating a cold case that doesn't seem quite so cold anymore. There's been a new murder, and the killer always uses the same method, which is to cut his victim into small pieces. The police bring in everyone who appeared on surveillance cameras in the time preceding the murder, among whom is Wilson's blind Narvik. He's asked if he saw anything when he was with the murdered woman. He says he saw nothing. Well duh.Lassalle has unshakeable faith that Narvik is the killer, but can't prove it. Narvik says he's flattered...

Xavier Palud, the director of the ridiculously bad remake of The Eye and the stellar little French film Ils (Them), is back with another tale of murder and mayhem from his homeland. Get ready to meet the Blind Man, or À l'aveugle for you purists out there, in this new trailer.

Directed by Palud and produced by Luc Besson (Leon: The Professional, The Fifth Element), the flick stars Jacques Gamblin, Lambert Wilson, Raphaëlle Agogué, and Nathalie Vignes.

In the film Gamblin plays a solitary cop investigating a cold case, who suspects that a blind man (Wilson) is the killer, sparking a battle of wits between the two. Look for domestic release details soon as the flick has just entered post-production.

Visit The Evilshop @ Amazon!

Got news? Click here to submit it!

Lose your sight in the comments section below!

Blind Man, the new film from director Xavier Palud (The Eye, Them) and producer Luc Besson (Leon: The Professional, The Fifth Element) is now in post production. Lambert Wilson (Dante 01) and Jacques Gamblin star in the film. And now there's a French Trailer to whet your appetite. Scripted by writer-director Eric Besnard (Ca$h) from an original idea by Luc Besson, Man is a cat-and-mouse serial killer thriller that goes into production early September in Paris. Palud's third feature has "Gamblin as a solitary cop investigating a cold case. He suspects that a blind man (Wilson) is the killer, sparking a battle of wits." Hit the jump to check out the French Trailer!

Your Weekly Source for the Newest Releases to Blu-Ray Tuesday, October 4th, 2011

‘Twas The Night Before Christmas: 2-Disc Deluxe Edition (1974)

Synopsis: For some unexplained reason, letters to Santa Claus are being returned to the children of Junctionville. It seems some resident has angered St. Nick by calling him “a fraudulent myth!” Skeptical Albert Mouse has to be brought to his senses “and let up a little on the wonder why.” How Albert is persuaded to change his tune paves the way for Santa’s jolly return to town – and the joyous finale of the animated fable inspired by Clement Moore’s poem and produced by the merrymaking conjures of Rankin/bass studios. The voice talents of Joel grey, Tammy Grimes, John McGiver and George Gobel make this festive fable even more fun. (highdefdigest.com)

Special Features:

Tba

The 12 Dogs Of Christmas (2005)

Synopsis: A girl who uses dogs to...

Release Date: Oct. 18, 2011

Price: DVD $29.95

Studio: Music Box

Sara Forestier isn't shelfish about her politics in The Names of Love.

The 2010 French comedy movie The Names of Love tells the tale of a woman who uses sex as a weapon — a political weapon!

Directed by Michel Leclerc (La Tete de Maman), the foreign film follows Baya Benmahmoud (Sara Forestier, Wild Grass), who’s a young, extroverted liberal who goes to bed with her right-wing opponents in order to manipulate them towards her left-wing causes.

A weapon of “mass seduction,” Baya has a remarkably high success rate — until she meets her match in Arthur Martin (Jacques Gamblin, Inspector Bellamy), a Jewish middle age, middle-of-the road scientist. The two are destined to fall in love, of course, but not even fate can predict what will happen when their parents all come together for the first time. Will the issues of Arab-Jewish relationships,...

The Names Of Love is an edgy new French film that touches on a lot of heavy subjects including politics, identity, immigration, Jews, pedolphilia, the Holocaust, Arabs, Muslims, and the bird flu. Those wacky French sure have a way with romantic comedies! The Names Of Love is a tricky mishmash of genres handled with mixed results. Director Michel Leclerc and his cowriter, Baya Kasmi, mostly pull it off for the first half but the movie fails to maintain interest as it progresses. It’s the story of Arthur Martin (Jacques Gamblin), a stiff shirt scientist who specializes in avian diseases. He’s unlucky with the opposite sex because, since there are over 15,000 men in France named Arthur Martin, he claims that it’s hard for him to stand out. Luckily for him he meets the only woman named Bahia Benmahmoud (Sara Forestier) in the country; a beauty in her 20′s...

The usual beautiful people and lusty hijinks of French comedy with an undercurrent of acceptance and reconciliation. Emerging director/co-writer Michel Leclerc comes out of the gate fast with this engaging and witty romantic comedy starring Jacques Gamblin and Sara Forestier. Forestier carries the ball as spritely and insouciant Baya Benmahmoud and wins the César for Best Actress in the process. She brings a powerful combination of innocence, sincerity and, well, sexuality. After all, the film is French. Extroverted liberal Baya lives by the old hippie slogan, "Make love, not war.. And she really means it. Specifically, her tactic is to convert right-wing men to her left-wing political causes by sleeping with them. Having a track record of 100% (when...

Title: THe Names of Love (Le nom des gens) Directed By: Michele Leclerc Written By: Bay Kasmi, Michele Leclerc Cast: Sara Forestier, Jacques Gamblin, Carole Franck, Zinedine Soualem, Jacques Boudet, Michèle Moretti Screened at: Review 2, NYC, 6/7/11 Opens: June 24, 2011 Often when the title of a foreign movie is adapted into English, the translation is not literal. “Le nom des gens,” for example, means “People’s Names,” not “The Names of Love.” “People’s Names,” in fact, would be a more descriptive title for this film since director Michele Leclerc and co-writer Bay Kasmi want us in the audience to realize, as Shakespeare did in “Romeo and Juliet,” that your...

Reviewed by Jay Antani

(June 2011)

Directed by: Michel Leclerc

Written by: Michel Leclerc and Baya Kasmi

Starring: Jacques Gamblin, Sara Forestier, Zinedine Soualem, Carole Franck, Jacques Boudet, Michèle Moretti, Zakariya Gouram and Julia Vaidis-Bogard

In “The Names of Love,” writer-director Michel Leclerc employs a deft, whimsical touch in bringing together such weighty themes as family guilt, generational regret and finding true love in a world mined with racial and cultural politics. It’s a delicate tightrope that co-writers Leclerc and Baya Kasmi walk, but in presenting issues of their own personal experiences as ethnic minorities in their native France, their screenplay is refreshingly honest and inventive. And considering that “The Names of Love” really has very little plot driving it, Leclrec and Kasmi create an engaging romantic comedy simply by virtue of their offbeat humor and appealing characters.

Family history is central to understanding this movie about mismatched lovers. Arthur...

Reviewed by Jay Antani

(June 2011)

Directed by: Michel Leclerc

Written by: Michel Leclerc and Baya Kasmi

Starring: Jacques Gamblin, Sara Forestier, Zinedine Soualem, Carole Franck, Jacques Boudet, Michèle Moretti, Zakariya Gouram and Julia Vaidis-Bogard

In “The Names of Love,” writer-director Michel Leclerc employs a deft, whimsical touch in bringing together such weighty themes as family guilt, generational regret and finding true love in a world mined with racial and cultural politics. It’s a delicate tightrope that co-writers Leclerc and Baya Kasmi walk, but in presenting issues of their own personal experiences as ethnic minorities in their native France, their screenplay is refreshingly honest and inventive. And considering that “The Names of Love” really has very little plot driving it, Leclrec and Kasmi create an engaging romantic comedy simply by virtue of their offbeat humor and appealing characters.

Family history is central to understanding this movie about mismatched lovers. Arthur...

America has long held a fascination with serial killers, and now it looks like France is taking a turn with Blind Man, which Xavier Palud (Ils [Them], The Eye) is set to direct for Luc Besson's EuropaCorp, which also holds French distribution and international sales rights.

According to Variety Palud (pictured right) will be directing Lambert Wilson (Sahara, Of Gods and Men) and Jacques Gamblin (The First Day of the Rest of Your Life, Safe Conduct), both of whom are attached to star in the film, which was scripted by writer-director Eric Besnard (Ca$h) from an original idea by Besson.

Palud's third feature, which goes into production in early September in Paris, has Gamblin as a solitary cop investigating a cold case. He suspects that a blind man (Wilson) is the killer, sparking a battle of wits.

We're not sure if this one is more thriller or horror, but...

While some serial killer thrillers end up like Se7en, others become Blitz; this is why it's so incredibly difficult to decide whether or not to cover each announced serial killer flick. Worse comes to worse we can always abandon coverage, like we did with Lionsgate UK's Blitz, which ended up an action thriller instead of something darker (as promised). Lambert Wilson and Jacques Gamblin are attached to star in EuropaCorp thriller The Blind Man, with The Eye/Them director Xavier Palud at the helm. Scripted by writer-director Eric Besnard (Ca$h) from an original idea by Luc Besson, Man is a cat-and-mouse serial killer thriller that goes into production early September in Paris. Palud's third feature has "Gamblin as a solitary cop investigating a cold case. He suspects that a blind man (Wilson) is the killer, sparking a battle of wits."...

Xavier Palud, one of the director's behind Them and 2008's The Eye remake, has signed up to direct Blind Man . The film is described as a serial killer thriller; Luc Besson concocted the idea and Eric Besnard penned the script. Lambert Wilson and Jacques Gamblin will star. The latter is a cop who suspects a blind man is a killer.

Music Box Films Presents

Michel Leclerc’s

The Names Of Love

(Le nom des gens)

*** César Awards 2011 – Winner – Best Actress, Best Original Screenplay ***

*** Col-Coa Film Festival 2011 – Official Selection ***

*** Cannes International Film Festival 2010 – Official Selection ***

Opening In Los Angeles And New York On June 24

Baya Benmahmoud (Sara Forestier), a young, extroverted liberal, lives by the old hippie slogan: “Make love, not war” to convert right-wing men to her left-wing political causes by sleeping with them. She seduces many and so far has received exceptional results – until she meets Arthur Martin (Jacques Gamblin), a Jewish middle aged, middle-of-the road scientist. Bound by common tragic family histories (the Algerian War and Holocaust under Vichy), the duo improbably fall in love. Amid the bubbly amour, humorous lasciviousness and moments of sheer madness, filmmaker Michel Leclerc injects satirical riffs on such hot-button sociopolitical issues as Arab-Jewish relations, anti-Semitism, immigration, and racial and cultural identity.

24 year-old...

"Dogtooth" (2009)

Directed by Giorgos Lanthimos

Released by Kino

"Enter the Void" (2010)

Directed by Gaspar Noé

Released by Mpi Home Video

Somehow it's fitting that two of last year's most dangerous films will be hitting DVD shelves the same week, both being favorites of the IFC.com staff. "Dogtooth," Lanthimos' much-debated Un Certain Regard winner from Cannes, concerns the lives of three culturally isolated children -- two daughters and a son, who range from mid-teens to early 20s -- fenced in by their parents' country home, who receive a reeducation when their lone connection to the outside world, a female security guard for their parents' business, introduces them to the joys of sex and Sylvester Stallone films. Meanwhile, "Irreversible" provocateur Noé's latest is a wildly ambitious 155-minute extravaganza set inside the mind of a drug dealer told from the first-person perspective. Nathaniel Brown and "Boardwalk Empire" star Paz de la Huerta...

Xavier Beauvois' "Of Gods and Men" dominated the nominations of the 36th Annual Cesar Awards, the French equivalent of the Oscars. "Of Gods" received 11 nominations total and will compete against Heartbreaker (L'Arnacoeur), Gainsbourg (Vie Heroique), Mammuth, Le Nom Des Gens, The Ghost Writer, and On Tour for Best Film.

The Social Network, Invictus, Inception, Illegal, The Secret In Their Eyes, Bright Star, and Les Amours Imaginaires will duke it out for the Best Foreign Film category.

Jodie Foster will preside over the ceremony and Quentin Tarantino will be given an honorary Cesar award. The 36th Annual Cesar Awards will be held on Feb. 25th.

Here is the full list of nominees:

Best Film

Heartbreaker (L'Arnacoeur), dir: Pascal Chaumeil

Of Gods and Men (Des Hommes Et Des Dieu), dir: Xavier Beauvois

Gainsbourg (Vie Heroique), dir: Joann Sfar

Mammuth, dir: Benoit Delepine, Gustave Kervern

Le Nom Des Gens, dir: Michel Leclerc

The Ghost Writer,...

The nominations for this year’s César Awards (France’s Oscar equivalent) has been announced. In addition the awards ceremony has also chosen Quentin Tarantino as the recipient of the ceremony’s honorary award. Alain Terzian, the president of the Académie des arts et techniques du cinéma announced at a press conference this morning confirmed that the director would be present to ick up his award in person.

It is also worth noting that there are three American movies among the seven nominees for Best Foreign Film: Inception, The Social Network and perhaps the biggest surprise, Invictus.

The 36th edition of the Césars will take place on February 25 in Paris.

Here’s the full list of nominees:

Best Movie

L’arnacoeur by Pascal Chaumeil

Le nom des gens by Michel Leclerc

The Ghost Writer by Roman Polanski

Tournée by Mathieu Amalric

Des Hommes et des Dieux by Xavier Beauvois

Gainsbourg...

Three U.S. films are among the seven nominees for best foreign film in this year’s César Awards, France’s version of the Oscars. Meanwhile, American director Quentin Tarantino has been selected to receive an honorary award and will be at the Feb. 25 ceremony in Paris to accept it, it was announced Friday.

The three American films cited by the Académie des arts et techniques du cinema are Christopher Nolan’s “Inception,” David Fincher’s “The Social Network” and Clint Eastwood’s “Invictus,” an Oscar contender in the States last year.

Xavier Beauvois’ “Of Gods and Men” (“Des hommes et des Dieux”) — not one of the nine films still in contention for the best foreign film Oscar — leads with 10 nominations, while Roman Polanski’s “The Ghost Writer” and Joann Sfar’s “Gainsbourg” (“Vie Héroïque”) are also nominated in multiple categories.

Presiding over this year’s awards is American actress and director Jodie Foster.

More announcements today from Tokyo: two Hollywood films will bookend the festival, which will open with director David Fincher’s The Social Network and close with Ben Affleck’s The Town. Both films are slated for a Japanese release in 2011. Ten films have also been announced for the World Cinema segment of the festival, including Philip Seymour Hoffman’s directorial debut Jack Goes Boating, and Roman Polanski’s Ghost Writer. Visionary French director Claude Chabrol, who passed away earlier this month, will be honored posthumously with a screening of his 2009 film Inspector Bellamy. Look for more news as the Tokyo International Film Festival swings into high gear in advance of its October 23rd opening. Full press release after the jump.

Here’s the press release:

The 23rd Tokyo International Film Festival to open with

“The Social Network” and close with “The Town”

Tokyo International Film Festival (Tiff) announced today that “The Social Network,...

As a more economical way of previewing some of the films that are being featured daily at the festival, I've decided to come up with this quick featurette of a journalist retrieving the items in his press box. Today I received press kits for: - As a more economical way of previewing some of the films that are being featured daily at the festival, I've decided to come up with this quick featurette of a journalist retrieving the items in his press box. Today I received press kits for: Sabina Guzzanti's Draquila Italy Trembles, Michel Leclerc's Le Nom des Gens (The Names of Love) starring Jacques Gamblin & Sara Forestier), Chongqing Blues from Wang Xiaoshuai, Mathieu Amalric's Tournee (On Tour) starring himself and non-professional actors and Manoel de Oliveira's The Strange Case of Angelica (with Ricardo Trepa and Pilar Lopez de Ayala). I'll try to add...

As a more economical way of previewing some of the films that are being featured daily at the festival, I've decided to come up with this quick featurette of a journalist retrieving the items in his press box. Today I received press kits for: Sabina Guzzanti's Draquila Italy Trembles, Michel Leclerc's Le Nom des Gens (The Names of Love) starring Jacques Gamblin & Sara Forestier), Chongqing Blues from Wang Xiaoshuai, Mathieu Amalric's Tournee (On Tour) starring himself and non-professional actors and Manoel de Oliveira's The Strange Case of Angelica (with Ricardo Trepa and Pilar Lopez de Ayala). I'll try to add commentary and some face time as I actually flip the pages of the guides in the future installments.

Paris -- The Festival de Cannes Critics' Week sidebar has added a "Bastard" to its closing night festivities with Kristen Dunst heading to Cannes to present her short film alongside fellow thesp-turned-helmer James Franco with his short "The Clerk's Tale," organizers said Thursday.

The sidebar will kick off May 13 with Out of Competition title "Le Nom des Gens," Michel Leclerc's political comedy starring Jacques Gamblin and Sara Forestier, and runs through May 21 in Cannes.

Paris -- The 48th annual International Critics Week will be a first-timers feast of comfort cinema with a hearty helping of French fare.

Critics Week artistic director Jean-Christophe Berjon announced the lineup Monday in Paris; all seven Competition titles will be up for the Camera d'Or, and six of the seven are world premieres.

"Our main goal is to reveal young filmmakers," Berjon said about the competition lineup. The sidebar will kick off May 13 with Out of Competition title "Le Nom des Gens," Michel Leclerc's political comedy starring Jacques Gamblin and Sara Forestier.

Two other French comedies will screen Out of Competition, including Quentin Dupieux's "Rubber," shot in English in the U.S., and Marc Fitoussi's "Copacabana." The latter stars last year's Festival de Cannes jury president, Isabelle Huppert, opposite her daughter, Lolita Chammah, in the story of a mother-daughter relationship that co-stars Aure Atika.

"It's not about the nationalities,...

Pure Movies is giving away three copies of The First Day Of The Rest Of Your Life, a film by Rémi Bezançon and starring Jacques Gamblin, Zabou Brietman, Deborah Francois, Marc-Andre Grondin and Pio Marmai. Marie-Jeanne and Robert have three children: Albert, Raphaël and Fleur. This portrait of their family is sketched out over twelve years, through five key days. Five crucial days in the life of a five-person family. Five days that are more important then any others, and after which nothing will ever be the same again.

Peter Bradshaw finds Rémi Bezançon's French box-office hit closer to a moderate TV drama than a feature film

Rémi Bezançon's family movie has been a huge box office hit on its home turf in France and the winner of many Césars: it is amiable enough, although I found it closer to a moderate TV drama than a feature film. It is a sort of intimate, episodic saga, following the ups and downs of Robert, a taxi driver played by Jacques Gamblin, his wife Marie-Jeanne (Zabou Breitman) and their three children as they develop from teens into grownups. The youngsters cope with the challenge of being adults, the parents with the challenge of the looming empty nest. The conceit is that the movie will dramatise five key days in their group history - although the rigour of this approach is undermined with flashbacks. Reasonable enough, but underpowered.

DramaWorld cinemaPeter Bradshaw

guardian.

The complete lineup for the 23rd edition of the American Film Institute (AFI) Fest presented by Audi has been announced. Wes Anderson’s “Fantastic Mr. Fox” has already been announced as the opening night gala. The Weinstein Company’s “A Single Man” will have its Us premiere at the festival’s Closing Night Gala. Sony Pictures Classics’ “The Imaginarium of Dr. Parnassus” has been selected as the Centerpiece Screening Gala presentation.

The film festival, which will debut it’s groundbreaking “See a Film on Us” initiative featuring complimentary tickets to all films including a limited number of seats at each Gala Presentation, will be headquartered at the historic Grauman’s Chinese Theatre and Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel between October 30 and November 5. AFI Fest will then move to Santa Monica for the final two days of screenings presented in association with the American Film Market (Afm).

AFI Fest 2009 will mark the return...

• A biopic about an unknown painter cleaned up the 34th edition of the Cesar awards (France's equivalent to the Oscars). You would have thought that it was an homage to Sean Penn (the actor was in attendance, first row ticket) and the dearly departed Claude Berri, but this was Martin Provost's night upsetting favorites Jean-François Richet and Mesrine (who won for Best Director and Best Actor) and the Palme d'Or winner The Class from Laurent Cantet winner went home with only the Best Adapted Film. Séraphine won a total of seven awards.  Kristin Scott Thomas didn't claim the top prize for Best Actress for I've Loved You So Long (the prize went to Yolande Moreau in Séraphine) but Philippe Claudel won for Best First Film and a very emotional Elsa Zylberstein grabbed the Best Supporting Actress nod. Finally, a little bit of redemption here for Best Foreign Picture,

...

Here's your daily dose of film news for Feb. 10, 2009:

• Greta Gerwig joins Ben Stiller in Noah Baumbach's next drama "Greenburg." Plot details are kept under wraps, but you can expect the story to deal with people and their complex relationships similar to his previous films. Gerwig starred in "Baghead" and "Hannah Takes the Stairs." (The Hollywood Reporter)

• Gianni Amelio is adapting Albert Camus' novel "The First Man," an unfinished autobiography found in a briefcase when Camus died in a car crash in 1960. Variety says the film will start shooting in April in North Africa and France. Jacques Gamblin, Denis Podalydes and Claudia Cardinale are set to star.

• Hafsia Herzi has joined Emmanuelle Beart in "Ma Campagne de Nuit," a film directed by Helen Lauren and Isabelle Brockard. Not much is known about the plot at this stage. (Variety)

• Participant Media is in talks to join Focus Features' project "The Attack,...

Some of us dread dying in a car crash and being caught with dirty underwear, or a diary full of embarrassing entires. But the famed authors among us should worry about dying with unfinished manuscripts, because apparently, they may get turned into movies some day-- whether you wanted them published or not. Albert Camus, the Nobel prize-winning author of novels like The Stranger, died in a car crash in 1960, and left the manuscript The First Man in a briefcase. Now The First Man will become a movie, according to Variety, written and directed by Italian director Gianni Amelio. Amelio's previous film The Way We Laughed won the Golden Lion at the Venice Film Festival in 1998; The First Man will be his French-language debut. Starring in the film will be French actors Jacques Gamblin, Denis Podalydes, and Claudia Cardinale. The story follows a man, widely considered to be Camus' alter-ego, who...

A day following the announcement of the 81st Academy Awards' nominees, the French Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences have uncovered their official selections for the 34th Cesar Awards. On Friday, January 23, gangster movie "Mesrine" has been given ten nominations for the France's top awards, including Best Picture and Best Director for Jean-Francois Richet.

Apart from the two mentioned gongs, "Mesrine", which is the third highest grossing French film in 2008, also garnered a Best Actor nod for leading actor Vincent Cassel. It also collected two more counts in the category of Adapted Screenplay for Abdel Raouf Dafri and Jean-Francois Richet, and of Cinematography for Robert Gantz.

In the foreign film nominations, Sean Penn's "Into the Wild" and Paul Thomas Anderson's "There Will Be Blood" were put in competition with Bouli Lanners' "Eldorado", Matteo Garrone's "Gomorra", Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne's "Lorna's Silence", James Gray...

Paris -- A legendary bandit will battle it out with a forgotten painter for France's top film honors the Cesar Awards with Jean-Francois Richet's "Mesrine" and Martin Provost's "Seraphine" leading the list of nominees for the 34th annual ceremony announced Friday in Paris.

The two biopics will compete for the title of best French film of the year alongside Remi Bezancon's "The First Day of the Rest of Your Life," Arnaud Desplechin's "A Christmas Tale," Cedric Klapisch's "Paris" and Laurent Cantet's Oscar for best foreign film contender "The Class."

Desplechin, Richet, Provost, Cantet and Bezancon will compete for the title of best director.

"Mesrine," a two-part biopic about France's infamous 1970s public enemy number one starring Vincent Cassel, scored 10 nominations. "Seraphine" followed with nine, just ahead of "The First Day of the Rest of Your Life" and "A Christmas Tale" with eight nominations each.

Philippe Claudel's...