Michel Gondry’s ‘Mood Indigo’ to Open Karlovy Vary Fest
Michel Gondry’s “L’Ecume des jours” (Mood Indigo) will open the Czech Republic’s Karlovy Vary Film Festival, which is Central and Eastern Europe’s leading sprocket opera. The fest also unveiled its main competition lineup.
“Mood Indigo,” which toplines Audrey Tautou and Romain Duris, is an adaptation of Boris Vian’s novel — a poetic fantasy about making sacrifices for a loved one. The film was produced by Studiocanal in association with Brio Films.
Fest prexy Jiri Bartoska said: “Michel Gondry is one of the most original filmmakers on the current international scene. Like his contemporaries — Spike Jonze or David Fincher — he steers clear of the straightforward, mainstream route; he aims to present his audiences with a fresh view of the world.”
The fest’s main competition section will include six world premieres and seven international preems.
Poland’s Krzysztof Krauze and Joanna Kos-Krauze, who won at the 2005 Karlovy Vary fest with “My Nikifor,” will return with “Papusza,” about a Romany poetess.
Israel’s Yossi Madmony brings “A Place in Heaven,” about a father-son relationship set against the backdrop of four decades of Israeli history.
Czech director Jan Hrebejk, who won the Karlovy Vary 2006 Special Jury Prize for “Beauty in Trouble,” returns with psychological thriller “Honeymoon.”
Also competing is “The Value of Time,” Spanish filmmaker Xavier Bermudez’s melancholic and humorous story of undying love. Bermudez’s “Leon and Olvido” took the prizes for director and actress at Karlovy Vary in 2004.
British helmer Ben Wheatley (“Kill List,” “Sightseers”) brings “A Field in England,” which is set in the English Civil War in the mid-17th century.
Also selected is family saga “Sources of Life,” by German director Oskar Roehler, and an adaptation of Agota Kristof’s novel “The Notebook,” directed by Hungarian director Janos Szasz.
Other pics include French director Philippe Godeau’s heist drama “11.6,” Italian Roberto Ando’s political satire “Viva la Liberta,” starring Toni Servillo (“Il Divo,” “Gomorrah”), U.S. debutant helmer Lance Edmands’ existential look at a small-town community, “Bluebird,” Croatian director Vinko Bresan’s parody “The Priest’s Children” and Icelander Marteinn Thorsson’s nightmare vision of alcoholism and corruption, “XL.”
Films from Greece and Russia featuring female protagonists also figure in the lineup. Penny Panayotopoulou tackles the theme of loneliness and the fragility of human relationships in “September,” while Yusup Razykov, who is from Uzbekistan, will premiere “Shame,” a drama about Russian women waiting at a military base for the uncertain return of their husbands from naval service.
The fest, which runs June 28-July 6, hosts up to 350 thesps and filmmakers, as well as some 850 distributors, sales agents, producers and fest programmers.
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