Ozon’s Ricky is possible contender for Berlinale
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The scheduled French release on February 11 of François Ozon’s Ricky by its distributor (and international seller) Le Pacte could indicate its possible selection for the 59th Berlin International Film Festival (February 5-15, 2009).
The director is a regular at the German event, where he has taken part in official competition three times, with Water Drops on Burning Rocks (2000), 8 Women [trailer] (2002) and Angel [trailer] (2007).
Adapted by the director from UK writer Rose Tremain’s short story “Moth”, from the collection The Darkness of Wallis Simpson, Ricky centres on a a child who grows wings. A combination of thriller, horror, science-fiction, comedy and fairytale, Ozon’s tenth feature begins with the encounter between Katie and Paco, two ordinary human beings who experience something magic and miraculous: a love affair. This union leads to the birth of an extraordinary baby: Ricky.
The film stars Spanish actor Sergi Lopez, Alexandra Lamy, Mélusine Mayance and Arthur Peyret. Produced by Eurowide Film Production in co-production with Italy’s Teodora, the title was made for around €7m. Ricky – which was lensed by talented DoP Jeanne Lapoirie – is currently in post-production, with special effects being handled by Buf Compagnie.
Le Pacte – which was created barely a year ago by Jean Labadie – has several strong titles on its line-up. After the successful French release of Italian director Matteo Garrone’s Gomorrah [trailer, film focus], REC [trailer, film focus] by Spain’s Jaume Balaguero and Paco Plaza and Ari Folman’s Waltz with Bashir [trailer], Le Pacte will launch in France on December 24 Stephen Walker’s UK documentary Young @ Heart (under the French title I Feel Good!).
Next year, the company will release Hungarian director Kornel Mundruczo’s Delta [trailer], Mid-August Lunch [trailer] by Italy’s Gianni di Gregorio, French/Belgian/Italian co-production The Time That Remains by Palestinian director Elia Suleiman, horror film The Horde by Yannick Dahan and Benjamin Rocher, Jérôme Bonnell’s La Dame de trèfle (“The Queen of Clubs”), US director Jim Jarmusch’s The Limits of Control and Christophe Honoré’s Non ma fille, tu n'iras pas danser (“No, My Daughter, You Won’t Go Dancing”).
In order to support its development, this autumn Le Pacte signed a partnership deal for the co-acquisition of five films with Districup, founded by Backup Films. The aim is to enable independent distributors to retain control of the distribution of works by offering them the possibility of holding all the rights acquired for a certain length of time.
Fabien Lemercier cineuropa.org