Filming anecdotes, notes of intent, information for moviegoers: every week, discover behind the scenes of cinema releases.
Hunger Games: The Ballad of the Serpent and the Songbird by Francis Lawrence
With Tom Blyth, Rachel Zegler, Peter Dinklage…
What is it about ? Young Coriolanus is the last hope of his lineage, the once rich and proud Snow family now fallen from grace in a post-war Capitol. As the 10th HUNGER GAMES approaches, he is reluctantly assigned to mentor Lucy Gray Baird, a tribute from District 12, the poorest and most despised of Panem.
Did you know ? The Hunger Games: The Ballad of the Serpent and the Songbird is the fifth installment in the Hunger Games franchise, initiated in 2012 and the first four films of which were led by Jennifer Lawrence. The latter grossed $1.45 billion in North America and nearly $3 billion at the worldwide box office, and are an adaptation of Suzanne Collins’ literary trilogy which sold more than 100 million copies.
Sound of Freedom de Alejandro Monteverde
With Jim Caviezel, Bill Camp, Cristal Aparicio…
What is it about ? SOUND OF FREEDOM is a thriller based on the incredible true story of a former US federal agent who embarks on a life-threatening rescue operation to free hundreds of children from sex traffickers.
Did you know ? Alejandro Monteverde wanted Mel Gibson to play the character of Vampiro, ultimately played by Bill Camp. The legendary actor (knowing Jim Caviezel well since he directed him in the lucrative The Passion of the Christ) was not available, but helped the director during the editing phase of Sound of Freedom.
How to Have Sex de Molly Manning Walker
With Mia McKenna-Bruce, Shaun Thomas, Lara Peake…
What is it about ? To celebrate the end of high school, Tara, Skye and Em take their first vacation with friends in a popular Mediterranean resort. The trio intends to have a series of parties, drunks and sleepless nights, in the company of English roommates they meet upon their arrival.
Vincent must die by Stephan Castang
With Karim Leklou, Vimala Pons, François Chattot…
What is it about ? Overnight, Vincent is attacked several times and for no reason by people who try to kill him. His existence as an uneventful man is turned upside down and, when the phenomenon worsens, he has no other choice but to flee and change his way of life.
Did you know ? Vincent Must Die combines paranoid film, survival and burlesque. Director Stephan Castang explains: “I felt that we had to remain faithful to the codes of the genre, and that at the same time it was not really a genre film. We had to play with this mixture, find a fair balance to bring together the different genres of the movie.”
Little Girl Blue de Mona Achache
With Marion Cotillard, Marie Bunel, Marie-Christine Adam…
What is it about ? When her mother died, Mona Achache discovered thousands of photos, letters and recordings, but these buried secrets resisted the enigma of her disappearance. So through the power of cinema and the grace of incarnation, she decides to resurrect it to replay her life and understand it.
Did you know ? Mona Achache’s mother, Carole Achache, committed suicide on March 1, 2016, without leaving a note. In her cellar, she had stored 25 plastic boxes containing thousands of letters and photos, sorted correspondence, notebooks and annotated diaries: the colossal archives of a family she had already investigated while writing ‘a book about her own mother… Who herself had written about her mother.
Before the flames go out by Mehdi Fikri
With Camélia Jordana, Sofiane Zermani, Sofian Khammes…
What is it about ? Following the death of her little brother during a police arrest, Malika launches into a legal fight so that a trial can take place. But his quest for truth endangers the balance of his family.
Did you know ? Filming lasted six weeks in the suburbs of Strasbourg, more precisely to the north of the city, in Schiltigheim. “The film is about a battle and it was also a battle to bring it to fruition. For the final scene, I needed a hundred young people demonstrating in a court of the Republic… it didn’t happen like That! But I loved every minute of this experience”remembers the director.
Black Faces by Mathieu Turi
With Samuel Le Bihan, Amir El Kacem, Jean-Hugues Anglade…
What is it about ? 1956, in the north of France. A group of underground miners are forced to lead a professor to take samples a thousand meters underground. After a landslide that prevents them from going back up, they discover a crypt from another time, and unknowingly awaken something that should have remained asleep…
Did you know ? The closed-door spatial setting of Gueules Noirs is more imposing than that of Mathieu Turi’s previous films, since it involves 5 km of limestone mine galleries: “I also wanted to play more on the darkness than in Meander. But it is certain that there is a theme of confinement that works for me and, undoubtedly unconsciously, that is what attracts me to many films.”
And the party continues! by Robert Guédiguian
With Ariane Ascaride, Jean-Pierre Darroussin, Lola Naymark…
What is it about ? In Marseille, Rosa, 60, devoted her life to her family and to politics with the same sense of sacrifice. Everyone thinks that she is unshakeable, especially since Rosa is the only one who could seal the union of the left on the eve of a decisive electoral deadline. She ultimately copes well with all this, until the day she falls in love with Henri.
Did you know ? The journey of politician Michèle Rubirola intrigued Robert Guédiguian and gave him the idea, for his new film, to question the relationship we have today with political action via a few characters from different generations:
“She did not want to be head of the list of the left for the municipal elections in Marseille but she alone was unanimous. She was therefore “forced” to accept and, against all expectations, was elected. After a few months , she broke down and gave up the post of mayor.”
Ricardo and the painting of Barbet Schroeder
What is it about ? RICARDO AND PAINTING is the portrait that Barbet Schroeder offers us of his friend the painter Ricardo Cavallo who devotes his life to painting. From Buenos Aires to Finistère, via Paris and Peru, this film is an invitation to delve into the history of painting but also to discover the life of this man who, with simplicity and humility, always fully engaged.
As if by magic by Christophe Barratier
With Kev Adams, Gérard Jugnot, Claire Chust…
What is it about ? Victor, a young magician on the rise, raises his daughter Lison alone. This is without counting Jacques, her whimsical father-in-law, who interferes against her opinion in the education of the little one. An improbable tandem whose referee will be Nina, Victor’s childhood friend, with a strong character.
Did you know ? For the magic scenes, Christophe Barratier wanted to limit the use of tricks and special effects as much as possible: “Almost everything you see on screen was really done by Kev and Claire Chust who plays his friend-assistant. It required preparation and installation because they don’t have the dexterity of real magicians but everything is authentic”he specifies.
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