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Benoit Delépine and Gustave Kervern’s eighth joint feature won the Berlinale’s special Silver Bear this year.

Wild Bunch has secured a slew of sales on French directorial duo Benoit Delépine and Gustave Kervern’s comedy Delete History, which won the Berlinale’s special Silver Bear this year.

Deals tied up at the Berlinale’s European Film Market include to France (Ad Vitam), Benelux (September Film), Switzerland (Pathé), Germany (X Verleih), Spain (La Aventura Audiovisual), Italy (Officine Ubu), Portugal (Apm), Sweden (Njutafilms), ex-Yugoslavia (McF), Hungary (Cirko Film), Czech Republic (Film Europe) and Baltics (A-One).

Outside of Europe, it sold...

There are two things that the French not only love but also take very seriously: their films and their vino. So it is something of a surprise to realize that there aren’t actually all that many films set in the world of French wines. It has only been about 16 months since Saint Amour premiered, a French Sideways of sorts in which Gerard Depardieu went on an unsteady road trip from one wine region to the next, but before that, we have to go back all the way to 2011 to uncork You’ll Be My Son, with A Prophet’s...

The Franco-American Cultural Fund, celebrating its 20th anniversary this year, has announced the program for the 20th Colcoa French Film Festival that will run April 18-26 at the Directors Guild of America in Los Angeles. The festival will showcase a record 70 films and television series - among them 64 in competition for Colcoa Awards - including four World Premieres, seven International Premieres, 19 North American or U.S. Premieres, 17 West Coast Premieres - and 21 new shorts. Colcoa, is now the world's largest event dedicated to French films and television.

"This 20th anniversary deserves a spectacular, strong program that reflects the diversity of French production, as well as the creativity and dynamism of French filmmakers and producers," stated François Truffart, Colcoa Executive Producer and Artistic Director. "More than ever, we are about to involve audiences in a journey that will stir them, make them laugh, cry, tickle their curiosity, and help them remain optimistic, while recognizing the urgent world zeitgeist."

 "20 years is an achievement for any film festival in Hollywood. This would not have been possible without the commitment of the Franco-American Cultural Fund - a unique partnership of the DGA, the Mpa, la Sacem and the WGA West - creator of the festival in 1996 and supporter of its subsequent development. We also salute French sales companies, official supporters, sponsors, and U.S. distributors, whose loyalty and trust have given the festival its continuing excellence," he added.

Colcoa will open Monday, April 18th with the North American Premiere of "Monsieur Chocolat," a biopic about the first French black clown, co-written by Cyril Gely, Olivier Gorce, Gérard Noiriel, Roschdy Zem, directed by Roschdy Zem, and starring Omar Sy and James Thiérrée. The film will be presented in association with Gaumont, which celebrates its 120th anniversary.

The festival will close its competition on Monday, April 25th with the World Premiere of "Up For Love," the new romantic comedy written and directed by Laurent Tirard, starring Academy Award winner Jean Dujardin and Virginie Efira. "Call My Agent" (Season 1), the most popular French TV series of the year, about a talent agency with actors playing their own roles, will close the Colcoa TV Competition.

Two other TV series, shown for the first time in North America, will be part of the program, presented in association with TV France International and Titrafilm: "The Disappearance," a drama co-written by Marie Deshaires and Catherine Touzet and directed by Charlotte Brändström; and "The Secret of Elise," a supernatural drama written by lsa Marpeau, Marie Vinoy, Marie Deshaires, and Catherine Touzet and directed by Alexandre Laurent, Samir Boitard, Mathieu Simonet, and Mehdi Meskar. The first two episodes of each series will be shown to the Colcoa audience.

To complete the competition, five TV movies will premiere at Colcoa: the North American Premiere of "Borderline," a thriller co-written and directed by Olivier Marchal, the International Premiere of "Carpets and Chaos," a comedy co-written and directed by Nader Takmil Homayoun, the International Premiere of "Stolen Babies," a drama written by Julie Jézéquel and directed by Golden Globe winner Alain Berliner; the International Premiere of "The Wall-Crosser," a fantasy written and directed by Dante Desarthes, based on Marcel Aymé's book; and the North American Premiere of "Woman Under the Influence," a drama written and directed by Claude-Michel Rome. 

The feature film selection (40 features and documentaries and 21 shorts), will feature exclusive presentations. "Fanny's Journey," an epic drama written and directed by Lola Doillon, starring Cecile de France, is also a World Premiere. The U.S. Premiere of the thriller "Made in France," written and directed by Nicolas Boukhrief, is a film which did not have theatrical release in France because of sensitivity following the recent terrorist attacks in Paris.  Colcoa also will present the U.S. Premiere of Robert Guédiguian's provocative film about the Armenian genocide, "Don't Tell Me the Boy Was Mad." The U.S. Premiere of Oscar ® winner Claude Lelouch's new film "Un plus Une," starring Jean Dujardin and Elsa Zylberstein, will screen, in addition to another U.S. Premiere of "All Gone South," the comedy sequel co-written and co-directed by Nicolas Benamou and Philippe Lacheau, two years after the success of Babysitting at Colcoa in 2014.

Several established writers/directors return and other known artists have been selected: Academy Award nominee Christian Carion ("Come What May"- with Cohen Media Group), Anne Fontaine ("The Innocents" - with Music Box Films), Vincent Garencq ("Kalinka"), Academy Award nominee Jean-Paul Rappeneau ("Families"), Christian Vincent ("Courted"), Maïwenn ("My King" - with Film Movement)

Every year, the Colcoa program is dedicated to a new generation of talent, many of whose films are included in Colcoa's French NeWave 2.0 Series: Samuel Collardey ("Land Legs"), Clément Cogitor ("Neither Heaven Nor Earth" - with Film Movement), Philippe Faucon - the writer/director of the 2016 César Best film winner ("Fatima" - with Kino Lorber), Emmanuel Finkiel ("A Decent Man"), Eva Husson ("Bang Gang" - with Samuel Goldwyn), Laurent Larivière ("I am a Soldier"), and Orelsan and Christophe Offenstein ("Uncompleted Song").

The After 10 Series at Colcoa invites audiences to explore new frontiers with an exclusive program, including the French-Belgian co-production from writer/director Bouli Lanners ("The First, the Last"), the new dark comedy from Benoît Delépine, Gustave Kervern, starring Gérard Depardieu ("Saint Amour"), and Frédéric Schoendoerffer ("Past Convoy").

Two anticipated films about women in Muslim countries will be part of theWord Cinema Produced by France Series: the Franco-Moroccan co-production, "Much Loved," written and directed by Nabil Ayouch, premiered at the Director's Fortnight in 2015, and remains banned in Morocco; and, "As I Open My Eyes," a Franco-Tunisian film from female writer/director Leyla Bouzid (with Kino Lorber). The Argentine film, "Eva Doesn't Sleep," written and directed by Pablo Agüero will complete the series.

Two documentaries focusing on significant environmental issues will premiere at Colcoa: the closing film of the last Cannes Film Festival, "Ice and the Sky" (with Music Box Films) from Academy Award winner Luc Jacquet (March of the Penguins), and a special presentation following the United Nations screening of the 2016 Cesar winner for Best Documentary, "Tomorrow," written and directed by Cédric Dion and Mélanie Laurent. "The Frankenstein Complex," a tribute to the creators of big screen creatures, written and directed by Gilles Penso and Alexandre Poncet, will complete this high profile documentary series.

All other Colcoa series are back in 2016: the Colcoa Classics Series with an exclusive program of digitally restored premieres (see February 19th press release); the Happy Hour Talks PanelSeriesin association withVariety (April 19-25); the Short Film Competition (Sunday, April 24 -  March press release); the Focus on a Filmmaker, this year with writer/director Jean-Paul Rappeneau (Thursday, April 21); and the Focus on a Producer will be with Dominique Besnehard (Saturday, April 23).

Animation, an important part of the French film industry, will be shown at Colcoa with the premiere of Rémi Chayé's new film: "Long Way North" (with Shout Factory).

 As is Colcoa tradition, comedieswill join the program almost every day, including the romantic comedy "Love at First Child," co-written and directed by Anne Giaffieri, starring Patrick Bruel and Isabelle Carré, Benoît's Graffin's "Hopefully," with Sandrine Kiberlain and Edouard Baer, Jean-Francois Richet's "One Wild Moment," starring Francois Cluzet and Vincent Cassel, and the new French hit "One Man and His Cow," written and directed by Mohamed Hamidi.

This last film will also be shown to the 3,000 students and teachers who will attend the now five High School Screenings (April 19-25) as part of the Colcoa Educational Program presented in association with Elma (European Languages and Movies in America). Two master classes for college and university students will complete the program.

For the ninth year, Lafca will partner with Colcoa Cinema for the Critics' Awards. The complete recipients list of the 2015 Awards - including the U.S. distributor winner of the Colcoa Coming Soon Award, presented in association with Kpcc, will be announced on Wednesday, April 27. Colcoa Awards are presented in association with Titrafilm, TV5 Monde USA, and Air Tahiti Nui.

A Child is Waiting: Delpy’s Return to RomCom a Mixed Bag

Julie Delpy has managed to balance a terrific (and prolific) career as an actress and director, breaking out over the past decade as a pragmatic purveyor of romantic entanglements thanks to her twin titles 2 Days in Paris (2007) and 2 Days in New York (2012). Although The Countess (2008), her curious English language examination of the bloodthirsty historical figure Countess Bathory was unfortunately belabored, her tendency to portray complex romantic scenarios masquerading as fluff has proven to be her overarching strength. Which is exactly why her latest, Lolo, a sometimes pleasant endeavor, feels like more of a crass disappointment than it really is. Examining an overworked single mother’s attempt to rediscover romance despite the secret sabotage of her spoiled adult child, the narrative’s dependence on familiar tropes, not to mention the neglect of its central romance, bears remarkable similarity...

The Berlin International Film Festival continued to challenge expectations in its 66th edition, landing another auteur heavy competition line-up, albeit a slightly less sensational one than the landmark 2015 program. Although an attempt continues to be made to establish grand motifs between films in competition and the more experimental sidebars, topical issues seemed to be the name of the game across the board, particularly immigration. This culminated with this year’s Golden Bear winner, Gianfranco Rosi’s Fire at Sea, a documentary which was the clear early favorite and remained so up until the awards ceremony. Rosi has now won two major film festivals with his documentary work (previously taking home the top prize at Venice 2013 for Sacro Gra), and further solidifies an argument for the Cannes Film Festival to follow suit and allow documentary titles to play in the main competition. Berlin notably had two documentaries in the main competition this year,...

On the surface, Benoit Delépine and Gustave Kervern’s madcap comedy, is a farcical road-trip movie with an inclination for surrealism. While that notion is most certainly prevalent, the picture has a brilliantly nuanced, depressive protagonist, struggling from a lack of self-worth, who finds comfort in alcohol. The opening sequence – whereby he wanders around

The post Berlinale 2016: Saint Amour Review appeared first on HeyUGuys.

Has there ever been a comedy in which every single joke struck you as equally funny? Just curious, because if the worst thing that French directing duo Benoît Delépine and Gustave Kervern's latest film, "Saint Amour" can be accused of is a certain reckless hit-and-miss quality, it's in pretty good company. A late-festival treat to wash away the brain grime accrued over the previous day's 8-hour Lav Diaz marathon, perhaps, or a sweet little bonbon served up as a reward for sticking around for this final weekend when so many others have skedaddled, its joyously tacky humor, and extreme, eccentric lovability, are a tonic and a trip. It shares narrative DNA with about half of the back catalogue of Alexander Payne, (equal parts "Nebraska" and "Sideways" with a faint of bouquet of "About Schmidt"), but "Saint Amour" is twice as funny as any of them, less than half as pretentious despite being ineffably.

Has there ever been a comedy in which every single joke struck you as equally funny? Just curious, because if the worst thing that Belgian directing duo Benoît Delépine and Gustave Kervern's latest film, "Saint Amour," can be accused of is a certain reckless hit-and-miss quality, it's in pretty good company. A late-festival treat to wash away the brain grime accrued over the previous day's 8-hour Lav Diaz marathon, "A Lullaby To The Sorrowful Mystery," perhaps, or a sweet little bonbon served up as a reward for sticking around for this final weekend when so many others have skedaddled, its joyously tacky humor, and extreme, eccentric lovability, are a tonic and a trip. It shares narrative DNA with about half of the back catalogue of Alexander Payne (equal parts "Nebraska" and "Sideways," with a faint bouquet of "About Schmidt"), but "Saint Amour" is twice as funny as any of them,...

Three unlikely heroes take to the road in this broad comedy (think Sideways sans pathos), featuring improbable sex and a kooky cameo from Michel Houellebecq

France does not cultivate “national treasures” in the same way the English do. But if it did, this film would make Gérard Depardieu’s status impregnable – and that of Michel Houellebecq, who contributes another of his extraordinary movie cameos. And writer-directors Benoît Delépine and Gustave Kervern might be taken yet further into France’s national heart.

Their new film, in competition at Berlin, features Depardieu (already an established Delépine-Kervern player) as a fleshy farmer seen at one stage stoically, if briefly, shovelling dung. Depardieu is the co-star of this gamey and outrageous road-trip comedy, with as strong a taste as the wine that the characters are habitually knocking back. Like all of Delépine and Kervern’s movies, Saint Amour is broad yet deadpan, with a...

Returning with another diverse, auteur heavy line-up with their 66th edition, the Berlin International Film Festival continues to impress just as much with selections available outside of the titles competing for the coveted Golden Bear (including the festival’s second edition of a Critics’ Week, where the latest titles from Andrzej Zulawski and Philippe Grandrieux are playing). New items from Bence Fliegauf, Eugene Green, Anna Muylaert, Kiyoshi Kurosawa and Doris Dorrie are also significant highlights, but here’s a glance at my top five most anticipated.

#5. An Outpost of Progress – Dir. Hugo Vieira da Silva

Portuguese director Hugo Vieira da Silva returns with this adaptation of a Joseph Conrad story (the author considered this his best work), a tale of two colonial officials in a remote ivory trading post on the Congo. Conrad remains a difficult author to translate to the screen (some great exceptions from Coppola, Patrice Chereau, and...

Cross-cultural tale features India’s Million Dollar Arm star Pitobash oppposite Benoît Poelvoorde.

Snd has boarded Chilean director Héctor Cabello Reyes’s debut feature An Indian Tale (Un Conte Indien), a French-language cross-cultural comedy about an unexpected friendship between a disgruntled French man and homesick Indian immigrant.

Benoît Poelvoorde actor is set to play Pierre, a grumpy bachelor living in a small town in the north of France, who strikes up a friendship with homesick Indian Ajit, played by Indian actor Pitobash, when a cow falling from the sky causes their paths to cross.

Popular Belgian actors Poelvoorde’s recent credits include The Brand New Testament and he is soon to be seen in Benoit Delépine and Gustave Kervern’s Saint Amour which will premiere at the Berlinale.

Indian actor Pitobash is best known internationally for his role in Craig Gillespie’s Million Dollar Arm about a sports agent who tries to recruit Indian cricket players to Us Major...

Spike Lee's "Chi-Raq" will screen out of competition at the 2016 Berlinale (its international premiere), the festival announced Wednesday—one day after the filmmaker made headlines with an open letter criticizing the Academy's "Lilly White" Oscar nominees. Other out-of-competition titles added to the Berlinale's lineup include films by Dominik Moll, Lee Tamahori, and Benoît Delépine and Gustave Kervern ("Saint Amour," starring Gérard Depardieu). Read: "Spike Lee's Open Letter Promising to Boycott the Oscars: 'We Can't Act?! Wtf?!'" The festival also rounded out its list of films in competition, with new additions from Germany, China, Tunisia, and Mexico. A total of 18 films will be in the running for the Golden and Silver Bears, to be handed out February 20 at the Berlinale Palast, including previously announced films from Lav Diaz, Thomas Vinterberg, Mia Hansen-Løve, Jeff Nichols, Michael Grandage,...

The Berlinale's announced that the Competition lineup for its 66th edition (February 11 through 21) is now complete. The titles added today are Anne Zohra Berrached's 24 Weeks, Yang Chao's Crosscurrent, Spike Lee's Chi-Raq, Dominik Moll's News from Planet Mars, Mohamed Ben Attia's Hedi, Lee Tamahori's The Patriarch, Benoît Delépine and Gustave Kervern's Saint Amour with Gérard Depardieu, Benoît Poelvoorde, Vincent Lacoste and Céline Sallette, and Rafi Pitts's Soy Nero. We're collecting notes on the new additions. » - David Hudson...

The Berlinale's announced that the Competition lineup for its 66th edition (February 11 through 21) is now complete. The titles added today are Anne Zohra Berrached's 24 Weeks, Yang Chao's Crosscurrent, Spike Lee's Chi-Raq, Dominik Moll's News from Planet Mars, Mohamed Ben Attia's Hedi, Lee Tamahori's The Patriarch, Benoît Delépine and Gustave Kervern's Saint Amour with Gérard Depardieu, Benoît Poelvoorde, Vincent Lacoste and Céline Sallette, and Rafi Pitts's Soy Nero. We're collecting notes on the new additions. » - David Hudson...

New films from Lee Tamahori and Anne Zohra Berrached also added.

The Berlin International Film Festival (Feb 11-21) has completed the line-up of its Competiton programme, of which 18 out of 23 will vye for the Golden and Silver Bears. A total of 19 titles of the films are world premieres.

Spike Lee’s Chi-Raq will receive its international premiere as part of the strand, but will play out of competition.

The film stars Nick Cannon, Teyonah Parris and Wesley Snipes, and is a modern day adaptation of the ancient Greek play Lysistrata by Aristophanes, set against the backdrop of gang violence in Chicago.

Germany’s Anne Zohra Berrached, who premiered Two Mothers at the Berlinale’s Perspektive Deutsches Kino in 2013, returns with 24 Weeks (24 Wochen). The film centres on the dilemma faced by a woman who is already six months pregnant when she learns that her unborn child will have Down‘s syndrome as well as a serious heart defect...

Saint Amour

Directors: Gustave Kervern, Benoit Delepine

Writers: Gustave Kervern, Benoit Delepine

Eclectic Belgian directing duo Gustave Kervern and Benoit Delepine have created a variety of bizarre scenarios together ever since their 2004 debut Aaltra. Notable titles also included 2010’s Mammuth starring Gerard Depardieu and Isabelle Adjani, as well as their not-to-be-missed 2012 title Le Grand Soir, which won the top prize out of Directors’ Fortnight. In Venice 2014, they unveiled Near Death Experience while Kervern has been appearing on other French projects in front of the camera, opposite Catherine Deneuve in In the Courtyard (2014) as well as 2015’s delightfully offbeat Ashphalte from Samuel Benchetrit (unveiled out of competition at Cannes). They often recycle the same cast mates in their feature, and a few of them populate their next feature, Saint Amour (previously known as The Wine Route), with leads Depardieu and Benoit Poelvoorde (The Brand New Testament; 3 Hearts) as father and son...