@ Carole Bethuel

Blue Ruin follows a mysterious beach bum whose quiet life is turned upside down by dreadful news regarding a past tragedy. He sets off for his childhood home to carry out an act of vengeance but proves an amateur assassin, finding himself in a brutal fight to protect his estranged family.

USA / 2013 / English

]]> http://international.memento-films.com/artscope-home/2405/feed 0 http://international.memento-films.com/markets/cannes-2013 http://international.memento-films.com/markets/cannes-2013#comments Thu, 18 Apr 2013 11:19:17 +0000 constance http://international.memento-films.com/?p=2391 Cannes 2013

May 15th- 26th

OFFICE:
25 Croisettes – La Bagatelle – 3rd Floor

USA / 2013 / English

Set in Singapore, ILO ILO chronicles the relationship between the Lim family and their newly arrived maid, Teresa.  Like many other Filipino women, she has come to this city in search of a better life.  Her presence in the family worsens their already strained relationship.

Jiale, the young and troublesome son, starts to form a unique bond with Teresa, who soon becomes an unspoken part of the family.
But this is 1997 and the Asian Financial Crisis is beginning to be felt in the region…

Singapore / 2013 / Chinese, English, Tagalog

Anna hasn’t seen her family for a decade. She’s moved to Berlin, where she now works as a fashion designer, happily living with Mathias.
When her grandmother dies, she reluctantly returns to her small town in Norway to take care of the arrangements and stays with her grumpy grandfather.
But in the week leading up to the funeral, nothing goes as expected and secrets that were kept for too long are soon revealed. Anna is forced to reconsider how she lives her life and learn to care for the ones she really loves.

Norway / 2013

Early Nineties, in Tbilissi, the capital of the newly independent Georgia after the collapse of the Soviet Union. The country is facing violence, war pn the Black Sea cosat (Abkhazia) and vigilante justive that plague spciety. But for Eka and Natia, fourteen years old inseparable friends, life just unfolds; in the street; at school; with friends or the ekder sister. Although they are already dealing with men’s dominance, early marriage and disilusioned love, for these two girls in bloom life just goes on.

Germany, France, Georgia / 2013 / Georgian

March 18th-21st

Unifrance Booth – 1C-D13

A pair of private investigators break into the home of a missing college student, uncovering a collection of mysterious videotapes that reveal four horrifying films, trafficked by an underground tape sharing community, which lead them toward a shocking resolution to their case.

USA / 2013

February 7th-17th

Martin Gropius Bau booth n° 30

January 18th-23th

Attending:

January 15th-17th

Grand Hôtel Intercontinental
2 rue Scribe – 75009 Paris – 1st Floor

Attending:

Following a four year separation, Ahmad returns to Paris from Tehran, upon his French wife Marie’s request, in order to finalize their divorce procedure. During his brief stay, Ahmad discovers the conflicting nature of Marie’s relationship with her daughter Lucie.  Ahmad’s efforts to improve this relationship soon unveil a secret from their past.

France, Italie/ 2013 / French

Father Adam takes over a small parish in the middle of nowhere. He organizes a community centre for boys with troubled pasts. His energy appreciated, the locals accept him as one of their own.  Everybody wants to be close to him, feeding off of his vitality and power, but no one knows he harbors his own secret. After meeting an eccentric and silent young man, a local pariah, Father Adams is forced to confront a long forgotten burden and passion. As the villagers’ worst suspicions are validated, Father Adam becomes the obvious enemy.

Poland / 2013 / Polish

photo credits (c) Anna Wawrzycka Atach / Michal Englert

© Carole Bethuel

Bosnia – 1993. In the midst of the Bosnian war, Marko a Serbian soldier witnesses the brutal aggression of Haris, a Muslim civilian, by three fellow soldiers. Marko interferes and saves Haris, but is beaten to death by the infuriated soldiers.
2008. The war is over but the wounds of the conflict are still open. Marko’s father is rebuilding a church, he is offered help by one of Marko’s killers’ son and hesitates about accepting it. Marko’s friend, a renowned surgeon in Belgrade, faces terrible choices  when told to operate on one of the three soldiers on the verge of death. As for Haris, he now lives in Germany and is faced with a unique opportunity to repay his debt to his savior.

France, Serbia, Germany, Slovenia, Croatia / 2012 / Serbo-Croatian

Photo Credits © Maja Medic

Inspector Richard Kemp never got around to putting the handcuffs around the Eardrum Slasher, a dangerous serial killer whose rampage began 20 years before.
When Hélène, a psychologist, witnesses the Slasher’s latest crime and offers to testify, Kemp falls in love with her at first sight.
In a mysterious turn of event, Kemp is suddenly transported back in time to the site of the Eardrum Slasher’s first murder, he realizes that this could provide a second chance to catch the killer.
As he tries to help his youngerself and meets the much younger Hélène, Kemp triggers a series of events with unforeseen consequences…

France / 2012 / French

October 31st – November 7th

Unifrance booth – Hamilton Galleries / 1431 Ocean Ave. – Suite 1800 / Santa Monica CA 90401

Attending:

Elles by Malgoska Szumoswka  wins Best Director and Best Actress for Anais Demoustier at the Eurasia IFF in Kazakhstan.

September 6th – 16th

Hyatt Regency Hotel, King Ballroom – Mezzanine Level

Attending:

Baye Laye is the captain of a fishing pirogue. Like many of his Senegalese compatriots, he sometimes dreams of new horizons, where he can earn a better living for his family. When he is offered to lead one of the many pirogues that head towards Europe via the Canary Island, he reluctantly accepts the job, knowing full-well the dangers that lie ahead. Leading a group of 30 men who don’t all speak the same language, some of whom have never seen the sea, Baye Laye will confront many perils in order to reach the distant coasts of Europe.

France, Senegal / 2012 / 87 min / French, Wolof

The story of Sandra (Ann Dowd), an overworked manager at a fast food restaurant, who receives a call from a police officer accusing one of her employees, a teenage girl named Becky (Dreama Walker), of stealing from a customer. Taking the officer at his word, Sandra detains Becky, setting into motion a nightmarish scenario that quickly spirals out of control.
Based on true events

USA / 2012 / 90 min / English

Like a western, it starts with an escape.

Five teenagers violently escape a reform school in an Argentinean prov- ince. They travel by foot, across hills, a hundred kilometres, for the prom- ise of a new home. They carry a few supplies and a shotgun. They hunt to feed, rob the homes they pass,get high, bath in the river, fight with each other and make love: Their trip is an evolutionary voyage into the wilder- ness, one that soon becomes a mystic fable about courage and grace.

Argentina/2012/119 mins./Spanish

May 16th- 27th

NEW OFFICE:
25 Croisettes – La Bagatelle – 3rd Floor – +33 4 93 38 68 19

A hard-working woman with two children and a drunkard for a husband.

In the mornings, Choco works in a gold mine along the San Juna river. In the afternoons she cleans clothes for richer famiiles. And when her daughter turns 7, the only thing Choco wants is to buy her a birthay cake. A humble wish that could change her life.

Chocò is the story of a woman from the rural areas in the pacific coast of Colombia, subjugated by her husband and by the dominant male tradition from this part of the country. She portrays the life of many women who undergo violence and mistreatment at home not only in Colombia but in the entire World.

Colombia/2011/80 mins./Spanish

This Month the film will  be making its Belgain premiere in the OPEN DOEK FILM FESTIVAL as well as in the Netherland’s LATIN AMERICA FILM FESTIVAL OF UTRECH. Don’t miss it !

April 1-4

MEDIA:
Palais des Festivals – Booth H4.35

Attending:
Nicholas Kaiser – Sales & Acquisitions Executive
nicholas@memento-films.com – +33 6 43 44 48 99

March 18-22

Unifrance Pavillion – Booth 1CF14

Attending:
Nicholas Kaiser – Sales & Acquisitions Executive
nicholas@memento-films.com – +33 6 43 44 48 99

Agustín forgets things; he is aging and he knows it. María is never alone, she watches over everyone, sleeps very little and works too much; she’s increasingly overwhelmed. The relationship between two beings who love one another and at the same time get on each other’s nerves suddenly breaks up.

Mexico, Uruguay, France/2012/84 mins./Spanish

It had starting this exciting week end by winning the French Cesar for Best Foreign Film and the Independent Spirit Award for Best International Film. The film has also won the Golden Globes for Best Foreign film last month. Congratulations!

US remake by Jim Mickle of the Mexican horror film “Somos lo que Hay” directed by Jorge Michel Grau (Directors’ Fortnight Cannes 2010).

In their small town, the Parkers are known for their discretion and reclusiveness. Behind closed doors, the father, Frank rules his family with a firm severity.

Following the brutal and unexpected death of their mother, teenage daughters Iris and Rose need to start looking after their younger brother Rory. Soon though, they must carry even more weight as they are faced with new responsibilities.  At their father’s command, they must continue a macabre ancestral tradition at all costs.

But when a torrential storms hits the region, the town’s rivers overflow, and the local authorities start to uncover clues that lead them closer to the Parker’s terrible secret.

USA/2013/English

ME @THE ZOO tells the story of Chris Crocker, a video blogger from a small town in Tennessee.  Crocker is part of the first generation of kids raised on the Internet, coming of age under constant self-surveillance. His online videos, including the infamous YouTube declaration “Leave Britney Alone!”—have been viewed hundreds of millions of times and have created a worldwide phenomenon. This portrait weaves a tapestry of Internet media with reactions from Crocker fans and haters to examine a new controversial kind of fame: the Internet folk hero.

USA/2012/92 mins. – 52 mins./English

February 9th-19th

Martin Gropius Bau booth n° 31

Laura is still waiting for Prince Charming at the age of 24. So when Sandro appears at a party, exactly like her Prince would in her dreams, she thinks she’s found the right one. But then again, when she meets Maxime, Laura starts to wonder if some Princes could be more charming than others?

Of course Sandro has problems of his own : his father, Pierre, just bumped into Madam Irma at his father’s funeral and this reminded him of the date of his own death which Madame Irma had predicted ages ago. Now Pierre is unable to make any plans, not with his new partner Eleonore, nor with Sandro.  And Maxime has his own problems, and so does Eleonore, Marianne, Jacqueline and many others. But don’t worry, in the end, they’ll all live happily ever after.

France / French

January 11th-14th

Grand Hôtel Intercontinental
2 rue Scribe – 75009 Paris – 1st Floor

Attending:

“Tightly paced with a natural ebb and flow of action, the film Pen-ek Ratanaruang has created is nothing short of a unique shot in the arm for international thrillers.” TwitchFilm

September 8th – 18th

Hyatt Regency Hotel, King Ballroom – Mezzanine Level

Attending:

One extra week of shooting will take place during the winter for Foxfire to include some snowy exterior scenes.

Post production will start shortly and both films should be ready mid 2012.

November 1st – 7th

Unifrance booth – Hamilton Galleries / 1431 Ocean Ave. – Suite 1800 / Santa Monica CA 90401

Attending:

Wendy Carroll is driving to Ketchikan, Alaska, in hopes of a summer of lucrative work at the Northwestern Fish Cannery, and the start of a new life with her dog, Lucy. When her car breaks down in Oregon, however, the thin fabric of her financial situation comes apart, and she confronts a series of increasingly dire economic decisions, with far-ranging repercussions for herself and her dog. Wendy and Lucy addresses issues of sympathy and generosity at the edges of American life, revealing the limits and depths of people’s duty to each other in tough times.

USA/2008/80 mins./English

Directed by Francisco Vargas • With Don Àngel Tavira, Dagoberto Gama, Fermìn Martìnez • Produced by Camara Carnal Films

Synopsis

Don Plutarco, his son Genaro and his grandson Lucio live a double life: musicians and humble farmers, they also support the campesina peasant guerilla movement’s armed efforts against the oppressive government. When the military seizes the village, the rebels flee to the sierra hills, forced to leave behind their stock of ammunition. While the guerillas organize a counterattack, old Plutarco executes his own plan. He plays up his appearance as a harmless violin player, and makes it back into the military-occupied village to recuperate the ammunition hidden his corn field. His violin playing charms the army captain, who orders Plutarco to come back daily. Plutarco has music, but needs ammunition. The Captain wants to stifle the rebellion, but he loves music. Arms and music play cat-and-mouse and result in painful betrayal.

Mexico/2006/98 mins./Spanish

Three portraits of clothing: people who make them and people who wear them…A hot and humid day in Canton. Amid the thunderous noise of sewing machines, women work quietly under fluorescent lamps in a garment factory. The clothes they make will soon be shipped to unknown customers. Likewise, the future of each face along the assembly line is blurred.

A wintry day in Paris. Chinese designer Ma Ke prepares her newly established brand “Wu Yong” (Useless) to be launched in a spectacular show. An anti-fashion designer, she abhors assembly lines.

Hong Kong/2007/81 mins./Mandarin

Zeina lives in Dubai. In the midst of a divorce, she sends her son Karim to stay with her sister in Kherbet Selem, a small village South of Lebanon, to spare him from his parents’ fighting.

A few days later war breaks out in Lebanon.

Desperately worried, Zeina immediately heads to Lebanon via Turkey. Because of the blockage she doesn’t reach the port of Beirut until the day of the ceasefire. There she meets Tony, the only taxi-driver who agrees to take her to the South…

France, Lebanon, UK, Belgium/2007/98 mins./Arabic, French

Jin, a bright-eyed six-year-old, lives with her mother and little sister, Bin, in a cramped apartment in Seoul. When their mother decides to go look for their estranged father, Jin and Bin are forced to stay with their aunt in a small town for the summer.

But after their aunt loses her house, the girls flee to the country into the farm owned by their grandparents. It is through this journey of abandonment that the two sisters come together and learn the importance of family bonds.

USA, South Korea/2008/89 mins./Korean

After the sudden death of her husband, Dawn must face her own mourning yet still care for her four children. Her only daughter, 8-year-old Simone, seems to take the loss the hardest of all.

Simone shares a special secret with her mother: her father whispers to her through the leaves of the magnificient tree next to their home. Convinced he’s come back to protect the family, Simone spends more and more time up in the tree, speaking with her father. Soon, Dawn herself becomes mesmerized by the tree’s commanding presence.

When Dawn becomes more intimate with George, her new employer, the bond between mother and daughter is threatened. With branches infiltrating the house and roots destroying the foundations, the tree seems to be siding with Simone. Fearful the tree is in danger of being cut down, she protests by setting up house high up in the branches.

But Dawn refuses to let the tree take control of her family…

France, Australia/2010/100 mins./English

Ömer, Yakup and Yildiz, three children of about 12, 13 years old, live in a small village, leaning over rocky mountains, facing the immense sea. Villagers earn their living, on a daily survival basis, out of the earth and of a few animals they feed. They live according to the rythm of the earth, air and water, day and night and seasons. Ömer, the son of the imam, wishes hopelessly for the death of his father. When he understands that wishful thinking does not have any concrete results, he begins to search for childish ways to kill his father…

Turkey/2006/108 mins./Turkish

Ibrahim has left his village and family to try his luck in Teheran. However in this urban jungle, where everything can be bought or sold, the dream can rapidly turn into a nightmare. Implicated in a traffic of new born babies, Ibrahim, with the help of his two friends, is forced to go deep into the slums of the city, in Tehroun, amongst prostitutes, beggars and gangsters…

Iran, France/2009/95 mins./Farsi

Fengjie’s old town is already under water, but its new neighborhood hasn’t been finished yet. There are things to salvage and there are things to leave behind… Han Sanming, a miner, travels to Fengjie to look for his ex-wife who he has not seen in 16 years. Seeing each other by the Yangtze River, they decide to remarry. Shen Hong, a nurse, travels to Fengjie to look for her husband who hasn’t come home in two years. They hug in front of the Three Gorges Dam. Despite a dance, they sadly call it quits and decide to divorce.

Hong Kong/2006/108 mins./Mandarin

The lives of Ana, Verónica, Marta and Toro, four lonely people living through the routine and silence of the south. They gather to eat, walk through the beach, take the ferry or simply accompany each other without needing to say anything. In a way, they try to save themselves in a silent, furtive and extreme manner. They search for love, sex, inexistent family affection, and their own space and time, not only to distance themselves from the loneliness that intimately constitutes them, but ultimately, to find themselves.

Chile/2008/110 mins./Spanish

Berlin, today. During a razzia for clandestine employees in a warehouse, the fates of three young German-born Muslims collide. Ismail, a police o!cer of Turkish descent, is about to break his loyalty towards his badge and his wife as he finds himself attracted to illegal immigrant Leyla. Sammi is torn between his Muslim faith and his irresistible desire for one of his male co-workers, despite his friends’ violent homophobia. He is appeased by the local Imam, a liberal religious leader revered by the community, who is going through a crisis of his own: his daughter, Maryam, is moving into an ultraconservative direction although she has been raised so tolerantly.

The three of them must find their place between faith and modern life in a contemporary Western society, between the luring liberated lifestyle and tradition.

Germany/2009/90 mins./German, Turkish, English

Maria del Carmen is a forty-something housewife whose only concern over the past twenty years has been the well-being of her husband and of her now grown-up kids. But when she is offered a puzzle for her birthday, she suddenly discovers she has a very special gift: she can assemble puzzles really fast! Intrigued by an ad “Looking for Partner for Puzzle Competitions” in her local store, she decides to live her new addiction fully, no matter how unsupportive her family is. Together with the author of the ad, a magnetic millionaire bachelor, she trains to the rules of the game, even if it means lying to her husband… Maria is determined to take things to a new level: she dreams of winning the national tournament and traveling to Germany for the World Puzzle Championship.

Argentina, France/2009/88 mins./Spanish

A revealing portrait of Contemporary China in the post Marxist era which explores facets of socio-political life in China, by putting it in the context of globalization and individualisation. Personal stories unflod with unexpected straightforwardness and a striking sense of humor: an old peasant who has lost his land, a millionaire in a stock exchange office, a country boy who came to the city to wash cars, a weapon factory worker who wishes Mao was stile alive, a successful hotel owner who praises the government’s liberal economy policies, and young kids who dream of becoming famous…

China, Germany, UK/2009/76 mins./Mandarin

Following a nervous breakdown, ski athlete Jomar has isolated himself to a lonely existence as the guard of a ski park. When he learns that he might be the father of a child way up north, he sets on a strange and poetic journey through Norway on a snowmobile, with 5 liters of alcohol as sole provisions.

On this journey through amazing arctic landscapes, Jomar seems to do everything in his power to avoid reaching his destination. He meets other tender and confused souls, who will all contribute to push Jomar further along his reluctant journey towards the brighter side of life.

Norway/2009/78 mins./Norwegian

Iraq, 1988… Young husband and father Ako is forced to join Saddam Hussein’s army. The unwilling soldier dreams of fleeing the country, but his wife Selma refuses to leave while her old bedridden father is still alive. Ako is sent away to the frontline of the Iran-Iraq War, where he experiences not only the reality of war, but also abuse due to his Kurdish background.

The desperate man considers drastic measures for a fast ticket home. Ako thinks it’s his lucky day when he receives orders to escort the return of a fellow soldier’s corpse to his family. But his driver turns out to be an anti-Kurd Arab. With flag-wrapped coffin in tow, the mismatched duo prepares for an unexpected voyage across the majestic Iraqi landscape. Ako won’t miss his chance to trick the driver into heading north toward the Kurdistan region…

France, Kurdistan/2005/96 mins./Kurdish, Arabic

Banished by her husband and her village, Katalin Varga is left with no other choice than to set out on a quest to find the real father of her son, Orbán. Taking Orbán with her under another pretense, Katalin travels through the Carpathians where she decides to reopen a sinister chapter from her past and take revenge. The hunt leads her to a place, she prayed eleven years prior, she would never set foot in again.

Romania, United Kingdom, Hungary/2009/84 mins./Hungarian, Romanian

Early 20th century Philippines. The sounds of war signal the arrival of the Americans. An aging mother and her son flee to the mountains, hoping for a quiet life. One day, the son discovers a wounded woman in the middle of the forest, and decides to bring her home. Years pass. The man, the rescued woman and their child live in total isolation from the growing chaos all over the country. But a coming storm soon threatens their existence, and American troops draw nearer…

Philippines, France, Germany, Netherlands/2009/77 mins./Tagalog

A family’s peaceful existence is threatened when a busy highway is opened only meters away from their isolated house. Refusing to move, Marthe, Michel and their three children find innovative ways to adapt to their new environment. They continue their happy-go-lucky routine despite the daily stress of hundreds of noisy speeding cars. But suspicions about the highway’s unknown long-term dangers cause family tension. Remaining in the disrupted household might not be so easy, but it’s still their home.

France/Switzerland/Belgium/2008/95 mins./French

Albert buys his daughter Jeanne an initiatory journey to a European country every year. For her 17th birthday he chooses a trip to Sweden to look for the lost treasure of a famous Viking. When they arrive in the rented house, it is occupied by Annika and Christine. The improbable quartet decides to share the place which makes Albert upset and Jeanne quite happy. The forced cohabitation will shatter everyone’s beliefs and delusions, and will push all of them into rethinking their lives and starting anew. Leaving behind ancient demons for some, and discovering unexpected feelings for others, they will all come back deeply changed.

France/2008/84 mins./French

Souléymane, AKA Solo, a 34 year old, Senegalese taxi driver in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, is hired by William, a tough 70-year-old white southerner, to drive him in two weeks time, on October 20th, to Blowing Rock, the peak of a secluded mountain. Solo comes to understand William’s plan, and makes one of his own – to befriend the stubborn 70-year-old and dissuade him from jumping off the rock before the two weeks are up. He brings William with him on taxi rides; they visit drug dealers and bars, play pool, and flirt with barmaids. Solo even introduces William to his 9-yearold stepdaughter, smart and independent Alex, with whom William immediately forms a bond. He also meets Solo’s strong-willed Mexican wife Quiera, who discourages Solo from pursuing his dream of becoming a flight attendant. Ultimately, Solo leaves Quiera and moves into William’s motel room. Though William tries to keep Solo at arm’s length, Solo convinces him to act as his study partner for his flight attendant test. Just days before the 20th, Solo is convinced that he has succeeded in saving William.

William also keeps a secret from his past to himself. When he closes his bank account and gives away the last of his possessions, Solo, crushed, realizes that William has not forgotten his death wish, and confronts him. William violently throws him out of their motel room. No longer William’s driver, Solo has lost everything. That’s when Solo realizes that to truly be a selfless friend to William, he must do the opposite of what he had planned: he must be the one to take his friend to his death. And so, on October 20th, Solo drives William to the mountaintop. With them comes Alex, Solo’s last hope to save William. There on Blowing Rock, high above the brilliant autumn colors, where the wind is powerful enough to blow a man up into the sky, the drama reaches its climax.

USA/2008/91 mins./English