Cécile and Julien begin their new life together. Julien
works long hours in a video library, a world full of
pictures. Coming home late one night, he encounters a young, beautiful, disturbing woman in front of his building. She seems lost, as if in a dream. She mumbles something to him, like a call for help, and then vanishes.
Since this strange encounter, and maybe for the first
time in his life, Julien is confused, becoming obsessed by the mystery surrounding this intriguing woman, Gabrielle. He discovers that she lives across the street with an intimidating, violent-looking man, Louis. Following her at night, Julien sees Gabrielle sleepwalking, perhaps a refugee from the distressful, dangerous world she must inhabit. Risking everything, including Cécile’s love for him, Julien plunges into Gabrielle’s strange but fascinating life, determined to save her from Louis.
This is a hypnotic second film from Xavier Giannoli,
the director of Eager Bodies / Les corps impatients and featuring an almost unrecognisable Ludivine Sagnier and the magnetic Nicolas Duvauchelle.

Cast: Nicolas Duvauchelle, Ludivine Sagnier,
Bruno Todeschini
Dir / scr: Xavier Giannoli.
2005. 100mins
UK Release: Momentum Pictures
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This dramatic para-documentary follows the life,
activities and environmental philosophy of one of
the very last real trappers, still braving the Great
White North. The affection for his native wife and
their husky dogs help him to keep smiling even when
faced with the worst hardships the Yukon Rockies
can throw his way.
The images are appropriately majestic and the
episodes depict the different aspects of survival
“out there”. He insists many times that the
industrial exploitation of the land leads to an
ecological disaster.
An inspiring achievement, close in spirit and
temperature to The March of the Penguins.
The exterior photography by Thierry Machado
(who previously worked on the exquisite French
documentaries Le Peuple migrateur and
Microcosmos) is stunning.

Cast: Norman Winther, May Loo, Alex Van Bibber.
Dir / scr: Nicolas Vanier.
2005. 94mins.
Original version in English with French subtitles
Int. Sales: MC4

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Vanessa Paradis, in her first screen role for six years,
plays a hooker with a heart of gold who suddenly
finds her world turned upside down.
She is asked by an acquaintance to pick up her child
from an orphanage. When the child turns out to be a
hormonal 17-year-old boy, played by the excellent
Vincent Rottiers, she finds herself confronted with
other issues that get in the way of her quest for her
own child.
The screenplay, written by the first-time director
Serge Frydman, was written expressly for Paradis
who already played in a film based on Frydman’s
screenplay, The Girl on the Bridge. Visually, the film
is beautiful, with some memorable images of the
Netherlands.

Cast: Vanessa Paradis, Vincent Rottiers, Eduardo Noriega, Claude Perron, Eric Ruf, Thomas Fersen.
Dir / scr: Serge Frydman.
2005. 92mins.
UK Release: Parasol Peccadillo
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What would happen to the world if all people
that passed away in the last ten years came back
to life and started to re-inhabit the planet? In the
case of Les Revenants, the focus is on the personal
problems of a loved one (a husband, a wife, a child)
returned and the pressure of continuing the
relationship where it left off.
Besides the emotional problems, Les Revenants also
deals with more practical issues, like where are all
these people have to stay and what to do when most
of them want to be reinstated in their jobs.
There is hardly much sci-fi when it comes to the film’s
visual aspects, proving it is possible to construct an
interesting, emotional, social drama, even when
its main theme seems to be focused on a rather
sci-fi-like subject.
Campillo takes several individual stories, including
a mayor who sees his wife return, a woman who
watches her fiancé emerge from the hereafter and
a family that gets reunited with their son.

Cast: Géraldine Pailhas, Jonathan Zaccaï, Frédéric Pierrot
Director: Robin Campillo.
2004. 110 mins.
Int. Sales: Films Distribution

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Winner of the prestigious Louis Delluc Prize for Best
First Film, as well as a surprise box-office success,
When the Sea Rises chronicles a few weeks in the life
of Iréne, an actress travelling across the north of
France putting on a one-woman show in town halls
and makeshift theatres.
One night she meets Dries, thirty-something and
going nowhere fast, whose most gainful employment
seems to be when he helps carry giant mannequins
in local parades. A flirtation turns into a tenuous
relationship.
The film beautifully captures the ups and downs
of this decidedly odd couple, but the film’s greatest
achievement is its touching portrait of the world of
traveling theatre shows such as the one in which
Irène performs.
As Irène, co-director Yolande Moreau is extraordinarily
touching, and is ably aided by Wim Willaert as Dries.

Cast: Yolande Moreau, Wim Willaert, Olivier Gourmet,
Jackie Berroyer, Philippe Duquesne.
Directors: Gilles Porte and Yolande Moreau.
2004. 93mins.
Int. Sales: Pyramide International

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