Both Films Screen at New York Film Festival
New York, NY – October 8, 2007 – IFC Entertainment announced today that they have acquired two films screening at this month’s New York Film Festival including the North American rights to Claude Chabrol’s latest thriller, A Girl Cut in Two and Valeria Bruni Tedeschi’s comedy Actresses. Both films will screen in the final weekend of the festival. A Girl Cut in Two was a box office hit in France where it opened this summer to fantastic reviews and previously screened at both the Venice and Toronto Film Festivals. Actresses will have its first major festival presentation since the Cannes Film Festival where it picked up the Jury Prize for the Un Certain Regard Selection. The announcement was made today by IFC Entertainment President Jonathan Sehring.
“Though these films could not be more different, our commitment to bringing the best French cinema to American audiences continues. Claude Chabrol is at the top of his game with A Girl Cut in Two, one of the most fully realized funny and sometimes mysterious films of his late career. You can’t help but smile as he introduces his characters and sets in motion his wicked plans for each of them,” stated Sehring. Valeria Bruni Tedeschi had us mesmerized with Actresses; her truly hilarious film that she not only starred in but also directed. As a portrait of an artist whose biological clock is ticking, Tedeschi’s film soars into the company of some of the greatest films ever put on screen about acting.”
Arianna Bocco, Vice President of Acquisitions and Production for IFC Entertainment negotiated the acquisition of A Girl Cut in Two and Actresses with Carole Baraton from Wild Bunch.
Claude Chabrol is known as France’s master of suspense and is one of the treasures of international cinema. At age 77, Chabrol’s career has spanned 6 decades as a director, actor, writer and producer creating such classics as Le Beau Serge, Les Cousins, Le Boucher, Les Biches, La Ceremonie and most recently Merci Pour Le Chocolat. He, along with his longtime assistant director and stepdaughter, Cecile Maistre, wrote the screenplay, for A Girl Cut in Two which was inspired by the New York murder of a famous New York architect. The film stars three of France’s most talented actors: Ludivine Sagnier (Swimming Pool, Love Songs), Benoit Magimel (The Piano Teacher), and Francois Berleand (Chabrol’s Comedy of Power). The film was produced by Patrick Godeau who has produced Chabrol’s last two films as well as the hit thriller Red Lights directed by Cedric Kahn. The film was shot in Lyon, France.
A Girl Cut in Two is set against the backdrop of the publishing, television and pharmaceutical industries. At the heart of the film is Gabrielle (Ludivine Sagnier), the local television station’s breezy and popular weather girl. She meets, at a book signing, famous author Charles Saint-Denis (Francois Berleand) who decides he will pursue young Gabrielle despite her age and the fact that he is married. But he soon finds an unexpected rival in Paul Gaudens (Benoit Magimel), an irresponsible and arrogant young fellow from a distinguished family that has made a fortune in the pharmaceutical business. Gabrielle, when faced with the choice of two attractive men, one married and older and the other her age and unattached, she perversely chooses!
Valeria Bruni Tedeschi not only wrote and directed Actresses, but also stars in it, as the film’s soul searching protagonist. This is her second feature as a director following the award-winning It’s Easier for a Camel. As an actress, Tedeschi has starred in countless films and won numerous awards including Francois Ozon’s Time To Leave and 5 x 2, Bertrand Blier’s Mon Homme and Claire Deni’s Nenette and Boni. Actresses also stars several other celebrated actors including the acclaimed director Noemie Lvovsky; Louis Garrel (Dans Paris, Love Songs); Mathieu Amalric (The Diving Bell and The Butterfly and Kings and Queen); and Valeria Golino (Respiro). The film, shot in Paris, France, was produced by Francois Ozon’s longtime producers Olivier Delbosc and Marc Missonnier.
In Tedeschi’s film, Marcelline is a forty year old single, childless actress who becomes haunted by her role as Natalia Petrovna in the rehearsal for Turgenev’s A Month in the Country. Denis, the director, admires her greatly and promises he’ll help her to shine on stage. But things don’t go according to plan so Denis introduces Marcelline to his assistant, Nathalie. Marcelline and Nathalie look at each other as if in a mirror, each seeing in the other the life she doesn’t have, the dreams she cannot bear to abandon. Their meeting is the first in a series of tremors that will turn Marcelline’s life upside down.
IFC Entertainment has six films in total in this year’s NY Film Festival including 4 MONTHS, 3 WEEKS AND 2 DAYS which won the Palme d’or in Cannes earlier this year and recently won the FIPRESCI for BEST Film of the Year from the International Film Critics; Gus Van Sant’s Cannes award winner PARANOID PARK; Hou Hsiao Hsien’s FLIGHT OF THE RED BALLOON starring Juliette Binoche and Catherine Breillat’s THE LAST MISTRESS starring Asia Argento. Recent successes include Patrice Lecontes’s MY BEST FRIEND, Susanne Bier’s AFTER THE WEDDING, Ken Loach’s Palme d’Or winner THE WIND THAT SHAKES THE BARLEY, and the current release DEEP WATER. Recent acquisitions include Guy Maddin’s Best Canadian feature film from the Toronto Film Festival MY WINNIPEG and Iceland’s official Oscar entry JAR CITY.
About IFC Entertainment
IFC Entertainment consists of IFC Films, a leading theatrical film distribution company bringing the best of independent and specialized films to theaters; IFC First Take and IFC In Theaters, the operations that together make up IFC Entertainment’s theatrical and on-demand day and date initiative; IFC Productions, a feature film production company that provides financing for select independent film projects; the IFC Center, an art house in NYC and IFC Films on Demand, video-on-demand offerings.
About Rainbow Media Holdings LLC
Rainbow Media Holdings LLC is a subsidiary of Cablevision Systems Corporation (NYSE: CVC). Rainbow Media is a leading producer of targeted, multi-platform content for global distribution, creating and managing some of the world’s most compelling and dynamic entertainment brands, including AMC, IFC, WE tv, LIFESKOOL, SPORTSKOOL, and VOOM HD Networks. Through its IFC Entertainment division, Rainbow Media also owns and manages the following: IFC Films, a theatrical feature film distribution company; IFC First Take/IFC in Theaters, a day and date theatrical feature film/VOD initiative; the IFC Center in New York City; IFC Productions, a feature film production company; and IFC Entertainment, which owns and operates a film library. Rainbow Media also operates Rainbow Advertising Sales Corporation, its advertising sales company, and Rainbow Network Communications, its full service network programming origination and distribution company.