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CANNES 2021 ACID

Seven world premieres to grace Cannes’ ACID line-up

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- Nine independent titles are set for the showcase, including five fiction films and four documentaries, while French movies are likewise strong in number, boasting works filmed all over the world

Seven world premieres to grace Cannes’ ACID line-up
Aya by Simon Coulibaly Gillard

True to an editorial line which seeks to enhance the visibility of high-quality independent works which often don’t enjoy adequate distribution when demand for movie-release slots is incredibly high, ACID (the French Association for the Distribution of Independent Film) unveiled its 29th programme this morning, which will be unspooling on the Croisette between 7 and 16 July, as part of the 74th Cannes Film Festival. The selection consists of 9 full-length titles (of which seven are world premieres and six are first films), including five works of fiction and four documentaries.

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Standing especially tall in the showcase is Vedette [+see also:
trailer
film profile
]
, the 4th feature-length documentary helmed in tandem by French directors Claudine Bories and Patrice Chagnard (who previously graced the ACID line-up in 2014 with Les règles du jeu [+see also:
trailer
film profile
]
, which also triumphed at Dok Leizig).

Stealing similar focus are two French debut feature films in the form of Pascal Tagnati’s unusual and very well-executed work I Comete – A Corsican Summer [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Pascal Tagnati
film profile
]
(awarded the Special Jury Prize at IFFR early this year), unfolding in a small village in Corsica, and Municipale [+see also:
trailer
film profile
]
by Thomas Paulot, which is set in a small town in the Ardennes where a stranger puts himself forward for the position of local mayor.

Another debut fiction feature comes in the form of the Belgian-French production Aya [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Simon Coulibaly Gillard
film profile
]
by Simon Coulibaly Gillard, a director who was born in Romania but grew up in France following his adoption and went on to settle in Brussels. The film was shot on an island in the area of Lahou on the Ivory Coast.

Likewise gracing the showcase is Down With the King, the second fiction feature film by Diego Ongaro (co-written by Xabi Molia), a French director living in the US who turned heads at the Sundance Film Festival and who won Karlovy Vary’s Crystal Globe with Bob and the Trees in 2015. The present film revolves around a famous rapper who is sick of the pressures that come with his job, who is supposed to put together a new album tucked away in a house in the middle of nowhere, and who discovers he has an expected taste for the farming life.

Similarly set on American soil is Ghost Song [+see also:
trailer
film profile
]
, the second feature film by the French documentary-maker Nicolas Peduzzi (who was discovered in 2017 via Southern Belle [+see also:
trailer
film profile
]
which scooped the Grand Prize in FID Marseille’s French competition and which also spent time at CPH:DOX, among other festivals) who has this time immersed himself in Houston, Texas.

Damas in Syria, meanwhile, which is home to the biggest Palestinian refugee camp in the world, is where Abdallah Al-Khatib chose to shoot his debut feature film, the documentary Little Palestine (Diary of a Siege) [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile
]
, which unites the production prowess of Lebanon, France and Qatar, and which was presented at the Visions du Réel Festival this year.

Another eye-catching first feature-length documentary is Soy libre [+see also:
trailer
film profile
]
by French director Laure Portier, with Chinese filmmaker Lin Wang’s first fiction feature Venus by Water rounding off the 2021 ACID selection.

The full ACID line-up is as follows:

Aya [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Simon Coulibaly Gillard
film profile
]
Simon Coulibaly Gillard (Belgium/France)
I Comete – A Corsican Summer [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Pascal Tagnati
film profile
]
Pascal Tagnati (France)
Down with the King - Diego Ongaro (USA/France)
Ghost Song [+see also:
trailer
film profile
]
- Nicolas Peduzzi (France)
Little Palestine (Diary of a Siege) [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile
]
- Abdallah Al-Khatib (Lebanon/France/Qatar)
Municipale [+see also:
trailer
film profile
]
- Thomas Paulot (France)
Soy libre [+see also:
trailer
film profile
]
- Laure Portier (France)
Vedette [+see also:
trailer
film profile
]
Claudine Bories, Patrice Chagnard (France)
Venus by WaterLin Wang (China)

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(Translated from French)

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