FRANCE AT THE TIFF EDITORIAL Image making started in the painted caves way before our TIFF guests of honor Agnès Varda, Claire Denis, Amos Gitaï, Mabrouk El Mechri, Louise Bourgoin, Arnaud Desplechin, Rithy Panh, Roschdy Zem, Phillipe Claudel, Anne Fontaine, Vincent Cassel, Barbet Schroeder, Werner Schroeter visit Toronto today... Image production efficiency kept speeding-up. Between the 1827 first photographic image in the world and the second, twelve years went by. Today the new edition of the second largest Festival in the World, the Toronto Film Festival, unveils millions of images, hundreds of films… Unifrance’s USA’s Excecutive Director John Kochan announces « a strong auteur contribution, a new crop of bigger budget, commercial movies from a new generation of filmmakers ». Long life to the TIFF ! Joël SAVARY, Cultural Attache GALA PRESENTATIONS LA FILLE DE MONACO LA FILLE DE MONACO Director: Anne Fontaine Bertrand (Fabrice Luchini) is a Ambitious, sexy and bold, Au - Starring: Fabrice Luchini, brilliant lawyer, highly cultured drey (Louise Bougoin) is a Roschdy Zem, Louise Bourgoin and very media-savvy. He loves weather-girl for a cable TV chan - Nationality: France women – but only for conversa - nel in Monaco, but has no inten - Comedy drama tional purposes – and goes to tion of spending the rest of her Running time: 1:35 Monaco to defend a septuage - career there. It would have been narian accused of murder. Se - far better if these three had curity guard Christophe (Roshdy never met up… A lively comedy Zem), a skilled sportsman, is where one-liners vie with acting as Bertrand’s bodyguard. sparkling dialogue, La fille de An honest and reserved young Monaco is a caustic portrayal of man, he is not highly educated ambition and power in the glam - and admires in others all the orous world of the principality. culture and mastery of language that he lacks. GALA PRESENTATIONS ENNEMI PUBLIC n°1 ENNEMI PUBLIC n°1 Directed by Jean-Francois Richet Starring: Vincent Cassel, Second installment of the two- Mathieu Amalric part film based on the true story Nationality: France of France's infamous public Drama enemy during the 70s, Jacques Running Time: 110 min Mesrine. He lead a life of bank robberies and high-profile kid - nappings, escaped from prison twice, and was said to have killed at least 39 people. Special presentations UN CONTE DE NOEL UN CONTE DE NOEL After Abel (Jean-Paul Roussil - The Christmas reunion, bringing Directed by Arnaud Desplechin lon) and Junon (Catherine together other members of the Starring: Catherine Deneuve Deneuve) had two children, their family circle, is primed for an Jean Paul Roussillon, Anne afflicted son Joseph needed a eruption - one well worth two Consigny, Mathieu Amalric bone-marrow transplant to sur - hours of chatter to figure out the Nationality: France vive. Neither the parents nor the plot. Comedy drama daughter, Elizabeth (Anne Con - It turns out that now Junon is Running time: 150 minutes signy), were compatible, so a seriously ill with an affliction that third child, Henri (Mathieu Amal - requires another genetic com - ric), was conceived. Again in - patibility to ensure a few more compatible, so Joseph died. And years of life. the family never recovered. From that point on, family rela - tionships were strained to the limit, with daughter Elizabeth eventually taking over the family reins when Henri turns out to be a cynical wastrel and is thrown out of the household. Special presentations AIDE TOI LE CIEL T’AIDERA AIDE TOI ET LE CIEL again turns his attention to an She is determined, however, T’AIDERA underprivileged sector of soci - that nothing will disrupt this spe - Directed by François Dupeyron ety, creating a memorable figure cial day. Starring: Felicite Wouassi, of remarkable spirit and tenacity. Claude Rich, Mata Gabin Sonia (Félicité Wouassi, La Nationality: France Haine), the long-suffering matri - Genre : Comedy drama arch of the Mousse family, finds Running Time: 1: 32 her life spiraling out of control on her daughter's wedding day - In his latest film, François her eldest son is dabbling with Dupeyron (Monsieur Ibrahim et drugs while her husband has les fleurs du Coran, TIFF 2003) gambled away the money for the wedding reception. Special presentations 35 RHUMS 35 RHUMS voted to one another. Their rela - Directed by Claire Denis The celebrated French film - tionship , however, starts to Starring: Mati Diop, Alex maker Claire Denis returns with change when Jo befriends Descas, Nicole Dogue 35 Rhums exploring the a young man and Lionel enter - Nationality: France working underclass of French tains the attention of a middle- Comedy drama society. Lionel, a widower, has aged woman. Before long, Running time: 100 minutes raised his daughter Josephine father and daughter find them - on his own. They lead a quiet, selves forced to reconcile the comfortable life together, de- past. Special presentations SERAPHINE SERAPHINE In a little town north of Paris, relationship that will expose Directed by Martin Provost Séraphine works as a maid for Séraphine's work to the world. Starring : Geneviève Mnich Madame Duphot, who rents an But as Séraphine paints her Yolande Moreau Ulrich Tukur apartment to German art critic most inspired canvas, the Drama and dealer Wilhelm Uhde, an power of her work leads her Nationality: France enthusiastic advocate of into the realms of madness. Running time 2:03 modern and primitive artists. In her spare time, Séraphine paints, with anything she can find - wine, mud, a mixture of fruits and flowers. When Wilhelm comes across one of her paintings, he is instantly mesmerized and insists that Séraphine show him the rest of her work. So begins a nurturing Special presentations LA DIVA LA DIVA (EL DIVO) blematic figure in the past four fixed and immutable. Unshaken Directed by Paolo Sorrentino decades of Italian politics. In the by either terrorist attacks or Starring: Toni Servillo, Anna early 1990s, this sly, shrewd, scandalous accusations, he Bonaiuto and impenetrable Christian De - kept to his course... Nationality: Italy/France mocrat was heading for his Until the day the Mafia declared Biopic, drama seventh term as Prime Minister, war on him. That's when things Running time: 1: 50 his only claim to satisfaction might have changed... unless it being his ability to maintain his was just another ruse. Il Divo is a feature-length por - grip on power. Power is what he trait of Giulio Andreotti, an em- enjoys, Special presentations INJU LA BÊTE DANS L’OMBRE INJU LA BÊTE DANS L’OMBRE Tamao, a geisha who confides Directed by Barbet Schroeder to him that one of her former Starring Benoît Magimel, Lika lovers is threatening to kill her. Minamoto, Shun Sugata This former lover may well be Nationality: France Shundei Oe, a novelist known Thriller for his extremely violent and Running time 105 minutes disturbing books, and whose work Alex has studied exten - Barbet Schroeder directs this sively. Agreeing to help Tamao, thriller starring Benoît Magimel Alex finds himself pitted against (Le Pianiste) as Fayard, a suc - a man bent on vengeance and cessful crime novelist. Invited to before long, his business trip Japan for the release of his becomes a bloody quest in latest book, he encounters which fiction becomes indistin - guishable from reality. Special presentations IL Y A LONGTEMPS QUE JE T’AIME IL Y A LONGTEMPS QUE JE Returning to her home town of T’AIME Nancy in north-east France after Directed by Philippe Claudel a long, mysterious absence, Starring Kristin Scott Thomas, Juliette (Kristin Scott Thomas), Elsa Zylberstein, Serge is taken in by her younger sister Hazanavicius Léa (Elsa Zylberstein), who Nationality: France. lives with her husband, their two Drama adopted Vietnamese daughters Running time 1:55 and her father-in-law. Juliette labours under a painful secret but, weary and withdrawn, she is slow to lay it bare. Special presentations FAUBOURG 36 FAUBOURG 36 2004), Faubourg 36 is set be - worked. The stage is set for a Directed by Christophe Barratier tween December 1935 and July short-lived but wonderful ad - Starring: Gérard Jugnot, Clovis 1936 in a working-class neigh - venture. Cornillac, Kad Merad bourhood on the northeastern Nationality: France, Germany edge of Paris. The springtime Comedy drama, Musical election of a left-wing govern - Running time 2:00 ment brings wild new hopes, yet also sees the rise of extremist ideas. Three unemployed stage workers decide to produce a A dazzling musical from the di - "hit show "and occupy the music rector of Les Choristes (TIFF hall where they formally Special presentations VALSE AVEC BASHIR VALSE AVEC BASHIR One night at a bar, an old friend the truth about that time and Directed by Ari Folman tells director Ari Folman about a about himself. As Ari delves Starring: Ari Folman, Ori Sivan, recurring nightmare in which he deeper and deeper into the mys - Ronny Dayag. is chased by 26 vicious dogs. tery, his memory begins to creep Nationality : France, Israel, Ger - Every night, the same number up in surreal images… many of beasts. The two men con - Running time : 1:27 clude that there’s a connection to their Israeli Army mission in the first Lebanon War of the early eighties. Ari is surprised that he can’t remember a thing anymore about that period of his life. Intrigued by this riddle, he de - cides to meet and interview old friends and comrades around the world. He needs to discover Special presentations PLUS TARD TU COMPRENDRAS PLUS TARD TU COMPREN - Madame Gornick, an aged took place during the Holocaust DRAS woman who prowls around her were recounted. Meanwhile, her Directed by Amos Gitai apartment listening to her televi - son Victor is trying to assemble Starring: Jeanne Moreau, Hip - sion set, is tuned to the Klaus the bits and pieces of their ily polyte Girardot Barbie trial of 1987, in which legacy through photographs, let - Nationality : France testimonies about arrests, incar - ters and memorabilia.