Manuel Poirier Born in Peru some forty years ago, he left school very early, earning his living in different trades, until, around the age of thirty, he felt the need to tell stories through moving pictures. In 1990, shocked by the violence of city life, he moved to the Normandy countryside. FILMOGRAPHY La première journée de Nicolas ( short film) La lettre à Dédé ( short film) Appartement 62 ( short film) 1992 La petite amie d'Antonio 1994 ...à la campagne 1996 Marion 1997 Western Western WESTERN Direction: Manuel Poirier. / Screenplay: Manuel Poirier, Jean-François Goyet. / Cinematography: Nara Keo Kosal. / Editing: Yann Dedet. / Music: Bernardo Sandoval. / Sets: Roland Mabille. / Cast: Sergi Lopez, Sacha Bourdo, Elisabeth Vitali, Marie Matheron, Basile Siekoua. / Producer: Maurice Bernart. / Production: Salomé, 40 rue de Paradis, 75010 Paris, France, tel.: 33 1 4800 0486, fax: 33 1 4800 0453, Diaphana, 50 rue de Paradis, 75010 Paris, France, tel.: 33 1 4479 9292, fax: 33 1 4246 5448. / World Sales: President Films, 2 rue Lord Byron, 75008 Paris, France, tel.: 33 1 4562 8222, fax: 33 1 4563 4056. 35mm / Colour 136' Paco, a Spanish shoe salesman, is tricked into giving a ride to Russian immigrant Nino, who proceeds to steal his car. Paco finds consolation in the arms of Marinette, but after a few nights together she asks him for a three-week breathing space. Half-heartedly, Paco sets out on the road with Nino, whom he has since found, beaten up, and befriended. Paco is very successful with women, and Nino would like to be successful with one woman in particular. The film tells the story of this odd couple's friendship and the people they meet along the way, during their travels through Brittany. It is an amusing, contemporary road movie, set in the West. Robert Guédiguian He was born in Marseille, France, in 1953, of a German mother and an Armenian father. He is one of the associate producers of Agat Films & Co. and Ex Nihilo. He has written, produced and directed all his films. FILMOGRAPHY 1980 Dernier été 1983 Rouge midi 1985 Ki lo sa? 1989 Dieu vomit les tièdes 1992 L'argent fait le bonheur 1994 A la vie, à la mort! 1996 Marius et Jeannette Marius et Jeannette MARIUS AND JEANNETTE Direction: Robert Guédiguian. / Screenplay: Jean-Louis Milesi, Robert Guédigian. / Cinematography: Bernard Cavalié. / Editing: Bernard Sasia. / Sound: Laurent Lafran. / Sets: Karim Hamzaoui. / Cast: Ariane Ascaride, Gérard Meylan, Pascale Roberts, Jacques Boudet. / Producer: Gilles Sandoz. / Production: Agat Films & Co., 52 rue Jean-Pierre Timbaud, 75011 Paris, France, tel.: 33 1 4266 2338, fax: 33 1 4357 0022. / World Sales: Mercure, 27 rue de la Butte aux Cailles, 75013 Paris, France, tel.: 33 1 4416 8844, fax: 33 1 4565 0747. 35mm / Colour 102' The film is set in the small port district of Estaque. Marius lives and works as a guard in an immense, disused cement factory that overlooks the district. Jeannette, supermarket cashier and single mother of two, lives in a tiny house that opens out onto a Mediterranean-style courtyard, where the neighbours often gather to chat and while away the day. Marius and Jeannette strike up a relationship, but just as things seem to be going well, the solitary Marius retreats back into his factory, and it's up to Jeannette's male neighbours to get the couple back together again. Basically a collection of conversation pieces and gatherings, private confidences and shared meals, in which the richly varied characters expound on love, life, food, politics and philosophy, this is an easy-going, charming film. Yolande Zauberman She was born in Paris, and studied art history and economics. She has made two short films. In 1993, she made her first feature film, Moi Ivan, toi Abraham, about life in a Jewish shtetl in Poland in the thirties. Clubbed to death is her second feature film. FILMOGRAPHY 1987 Classified people ( short film) 1989 Caste criminelle ( mid-length feature film) 1993 Moi Ivan, toi Abraham 1996 Clubbed to death CLUBBED TO DEATH Direction: Yolande Zauberman. / Screenplay: Yolande Zauberman, Noëmie Lvovsky. / Cinematography: Denis Lenoir. / Editing: François Gédigier. / Sound: Jean-Pierre Duret. / Music: Philippe Cohen-Solal. / Sets: Olivier Radot. / Costumes: Pierre-Yves Gayraud. / Cast: Elodie Bouchez, Béatrice Dalle, Roschdy Zem, Richard Courcet. / Producer: Alain Massiot. / Production: Madar Productions. / World Sales: Flach Pyramide International, 5 rue Richepanse, 75008 Paris, France, tel.: 33 1 4296 0220, fax: 33 1 4020 0551. 35mm / Colour 90' It is summertime. Lola is twenty years old. One night, she falls asleep on a bus, gets off at the last stop, and not knowing where she is, wanders into a nightclub. In this alien world which is immersed in music, lives Emir, a former boxer who can't love anyone. The dancer SaÞda loves Emir, but this love is curtailed by their drug habits. Ismaël is as close to his brother as he is to their childhood. He wants Emir to get back into the ring and earn money to pay back debts. Lola moves in on all these relationships, and when she meets Emir, she also finds love. Because of her desire for Emir, Lola exposes her body –and, unwittingly, the bodies of the others–  to a forgotten warmth. The warmth is painful to their frozen skin, but brings them back to life. Claire Simon Self-taught, Claire Simon learned how to make films through her work as a film-editor, while at the same time making short films and documentaries in a very unique style of her own. Her first feature length documentary Coûte que coûte was released in 1996. Sinon, oui is her first feature length fiction film. FILMOGRAPHY 1988 La police ( short film) 1989 Les patients ( documentary) 1991 Scènes de ménage ( mid-length film) 1992 Récréations ( documentary) 1992 Artiste peintre ( short documentary) 1995 Coûte que coûte ( documentary) 1997 Sinon, oui SINON, OUI Direction: Claire Simon. / Screenplay: Claire Simon. / Cinematography: Richard Copans. / Editing: Catherine Quesemand. / Sound: Dominique Lancelot. / Music: Archie Shepp, Catherine Ringer, Rita Mitsouko. / Sets: Michel Vandestien. / Cast: Catherine Mendez, Emmanuel Clarke, Lou Castel, Agnès Regolo, Claude Merlin, Magali Leris. / Production: Zelie Productions, 20 rue Taine, 75012 Paris, France, tel.: 33 1 4341 8686, fax: 33 1 4341 9009. La Sept Cinéma – French Production, Verseau International Inc., Canada. / World Sales: Art Box Productions, 18 rue de Marignan, 75008 Paris, France, tel.: 33 1 5353 0755, fax: 33 1 4561 2797. 35mm / Colour 115' «You can suffer so much from impressions others have of you, that you start to think they're right.» This is the story of a woman who accidentally leads her husband to believe she's pregnant. He doesn't want the child, but she refuses to have an abortion (since she's not pregnant). Gradually, the «fact» of this pregnancy keeps the husband from leaving her, gives comfort to her seriously ill father and delights those around her. Day by day, the fabrication becomes increasingly present, and nothing seems to be able to stop it. In Claire Simon's own words: «This film is inspired by a true story...[which] is both ancient and very modern, because it centers on the question: Are our children our only transcendence?» Bruno Dumont He was born in Bailleul, France, in 1958. He started making films for various industries and corporations in 1986. He made two short films: Paris and Marie et Freddy. He has also worked as a television writer. La vie de Jésus is his first feature film. FILMOGRAPHY 1993 Paris ( short film) 1994 Marie et Freddy ( short film) 1997 La vie de Jésus La vie de Jesus THE LIFE OF JESUS Direction: Bruno Dumont. / Screenplay: Bruno Dumont. / Cinematography: Philippe Van Leeuw. / Editing: Guy Lecorne, Yves Deschamps. / Sound: Eric Rophé, Matthieu Imbert, Oliier De Nesles. / Music: Richard Cuvillier. / Cast: David Douche, Marjorie Cottreel, Geneviève Cottreel, Kader Chaatouf, Sébastien Delbaere, Sébastien Bailleul, Samuel Boidin, Steve Smagghe. / Producers: Jean Bréhat, Rachid Bouchareb. / Production: 3B Productions, tel.: 33 1 4548 4475, fax: 33 1 4549 1785. / World Sales: Celluloid Dreams, 24 rue Lamartine, 75009 Paris, France, tel.: 33 1 4970 0370, fax: 33 1 4970 0371. 35mm / Colour 96' In his stunning debut film, Bruno Dumont presents a protagonist who, unemployed and with little education, finds his prospects extremely limited. Bored, inarticulate and sometimes compassionate, he is also capable of explosive violence. Freddy spends most of his time hanging out with his buddies, looking for some excitement. One day, Kader, the son of Arab immigrants, becomes interested in Freddy's girlfriend; Freddy and his friends are angry and outraged. For beneath his bored exterior lies a well of frustration and hatred, just waiting to explode. Against the beautiful background of the Flanders countryside, Dumont paints a realistic, thought-provoking portrait of today's rural youth and the insurmountable problems with which it is faced. MAGNET Internet Services © 1997