Louise Michel scoops Best Screenplay at San Sebastian
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Gustave Kervern and Benoît Delépine have picked up Best Screenplay at the 56th San Sebastian Film Festival for Louise Michel (see news).
The third feature by Kervern and Delépine after Aaltra and Avida [trailer] (presented out of competition at Cannes in 2006), Louise Michel stars Belgian actors Yolande Moreau, Bouli Lanners and Benoît Poelvoorde alongside France’s Albert Dupontel, Philippe Katerine and Mathieu Kassovitz (who also produced the film).
The title takes the form of a burlesque chase led by a woman worker and an incompetent contract killer, as they try to track down a lawless boss who wants to relocate his company. The MNP Entreprise production was made for €2.56m. This included co-production backing from Arte France Cinéma, an advance on receipts from the National Film Centre (CNC), and pre-sales from Canal + and Ciné Cinéma.
Sold internationally by Funny Balloons, Louise Michel will be released domestically on December 24 by Ad Vitam after a screening at the London Film Festival (October 15-30).
This year’s winner of the Golden Shell for Best Film at San Sebastian is Pandora’s Box by Turkish director Yesim Ustaoglu, which also won Best Actress. The film is a minority French co-production by France’s Silkroad Production and Les Petites Lumières.
Meanwhile, the Jury Prize awarded to Iranian director Samira Makhmalbaf’s Two-Legged Horse brings reflected glory to France’s Wild Bunch, co-producer and seller of the film.
Fabien Lemercier cineuropa.org