email print share on Facebook share on Twitter share on LinkedIn share on reddit pin on Pinterest

LES ARCS 2019

120 European films to be showcased at Les Arcs

by 

- The programme for the 11th edition of the Les Arcs Film Festival - running 14-21 December - has been unveiled

120 European films to be showcased at Les Arcs
A Thief's Daughter by Belén Funes

An unmissable event for all European auteur cinema professionals, Les Arcs Film Festival will offer an opulent, high-class menu for its 11th edition (running 14 – 21 December), welcoming the actresses Isabelle Huppert (as the ambassador of Talent Village) and Barbara Sukowa as guests of honour.

The winning feature film from among the 10 titles in the running for the Crystal Arrow 2019 will be decided upon by a jury presided over by French filmmaker Guillaume Nicloux, who will be shored up in his work by Hungarian filmmaker Ildikó Enyedi, German star Nina Hoss, French-Afghan filmmaker Atiq Rahimi and Argentine screenwriter and director Santiago Amigorena.

(The article continues below - Commercial information)

The competition concocted by artistic director Frédéric Boyer includes nine French premieres, amongst which A Thief’s Daughter [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Belén Funes
film profile
]
by the Spaniard Belén Funes (who scooped the Best Female Performance trophy in San Sebastian), the prize-winning Berlin work System Crasher [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Nora Fingscheidt
film profile
]
by Germany’s Nora Fingscheidt (discovered last year in the Les Arcs’ Work-In-Progress sidebar), Lara Jenkins [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: GoCritic! Interview: Jan-Ol…
interview: Jan Ole Gerster
film profile
]
by fellow German Jan-Ole Gerster (who bagged the Special Jury Prize and the Best Actress award at Karlovy Vary), Atlantis [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Valentyn Vasyanovych
film profile
]
by Ukrainian filmmaker Valentyn Vasyanovych (who triumphed in Venice’s Orizzonti section), two titles which went down well in the San Sebastian New Directors programme (Invisible [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Ignas Jonynas and Kristupas…
film profile
]
by Lithuania’s Ignas Jonynas and Lynn + Lucy [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Fyzal Boulifa
film profile
]
by the Brit Fyzal Boulifa), Rocks [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Sarah Gavron
film profile
]
by British filmmaker Sarah Gavron (screened in competition in Toronto and San Sebastian), and three feature films discovered in Locarno: Echo [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Rúnar Rúnarsson
film profile
]
by Iceland’s Rúnar Rúnarsson, O Fim do Mundo [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Basil Da Cunha
film profile
]
by Swiss-Portuguese director Basil Da Cunha and Instinct [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Halina Reijn
film profile
]
by Dutch filmmaker Halina Reijn.

Jostling in the Playtime line-up (which tots up six French premieres) are Disco [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Jorunn Myklebust Syversen
film profile
]
by Norway’s Jorunn Myklebust Syversen (which is making its way to the festival via Toronto and San Sebastian), Corpus Christi [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Bartosz Bielenia
interview: Jan Komasa
film profile
]
by Poland’s Jan Komasa (awarded the Europa Cinemas Label at Venice Days), Patrick [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: GoCritic! Interview: Tim Mi…
interview: Tim Mielants
film profile
]
by Belgian director Tim Mielants (unveiled in competition at Karlovy Vary), Pelican Blood [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Katrin Gebbe
film profile
]
by Germany’s Katrin Gebbe (which opened Venice’s Orizzonti section), Our Lady of the Nile [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile
]
by French-Afghan director Atiq Rahimi (which also premiered in Toronto), Romulus & Remus – The First King [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile
]
by Italy’s Matteo Rovere, and the documentaries Sing Me A Song [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile
]
by Frenchman Thomas Balmès and Sanctuary [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile
]
by Spain’s Álvaro Longoria.

The Hauteur section, meanwhile, will treat audiences to Aga’s House [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Lendita Zeqiraj
film profile
]
by Kosovo’s Lendita Zeqiraj, Kongo [+see also:
trailer
film profile
]
by French directors Hadrien La Vapeur and Corto Vaclav, Let There Be Light [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Marko Škop
interview: Milan Ondrík
film profile
]
by the Slovakian Marko Skop (named Best Actor at Karlovy Vary), the British production Nocturnal [+see also:
film review
interview: Nathalie Biancheri
film profile
]
by Italy’s Nathalie Biancheri, Stitches [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Miroslav Terzić
film profile
]
by Serbian director Miroslav Terzic, Twelve Thousand [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile
]
by French filmmaker Nadège Trebal and the Italian title Tommaso [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Abel Ferrara
film profile
]
by America’s Abel Ferrara.

The Focus section of the festival will this year be dedicated to Finland and the Baltic States, with a dozen feature films in the offing, including the recent works Tom of Finland [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Dome Karukoski
film profile
]
by Dome Karukoski and Sasha Was Here [+see also:
trailer
film profile
]
by Ernestas Jankauskas.

Standing tall amongst the French premieres on offer are The Translators [+see also:
trailer
interview: Régis Roinsard
film profile
]
by Régis Roinsard, which is set to open the festival, the majority French production Two of Us [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Filippo Meneghetti
film profile
]
by the Italian Filippo Meneghetti (very well received in Toronto), Into the World [+see also:
trailer
film profile
]
by Marion Lainé (in a world premiere), Play [+see also:
trailer
film profile
]
by Anthony Marciano, The Holy Family [+see also:
trailer
film profile
]
by Louis-Do de Lencquesaing, the collective film Selfie [+see also:
trailer
film profile
]
, and four titles discovered in Venice: the prize-winning works Back Home [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile
]
by Jessica Palud and A Son [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Mehdi M Barsaoui and Sami B…
film profile
]
by Mehdi M. Barsaoui, as well as My Days of Glory [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Antoine de Bary
film profile
]
by Antoine de Bary and the documentary Woman [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Anastasia Mikova and Yann A…
film profile
]
by Anastasia Mikova and Yann Arthus-Bertrand.

In terms of works of interest to schoolchildren, these include Marona’s Fantastic Tale [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile
]
by Romania’s Anca Damian, Simon’s Got a Gift [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile
]
by Léo Karmann, Little Man [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile
]
by Benjamin Parent, the documentary Marche avec les loups [+see also:
trailer
film profile
]
by Jean-Michel Bertrand and L’Équipe de secours, en route pour l’aventure by Latvia’s Jānis Cimermanis.

Equally of note, the short film jury will be presided over by filmmaker Houda Benyamina (flanked by such names as Agathe Bonitzer, Guillaume Gouix, Kacey Mottet Klein and Belorussia’s Olga Pärn).

This year, the Les Arcs Film Festival will also be launching Green Lab Cinema (offering debates, a Cinema Green Label for films and a "Cinema and environmental commitment" award), as well as repeating its spotlight on "Women in Film" (by way of a dedicated Lab and a Woman in Film award). The film debate organised in partnership with the LUX Prize, meanwhile, will be dedicated to God Exists, Her Name is Petrunya [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Labina Mitevska
interview: Teona Strugar Mitevska
film profile
]
by Macedonian director Teona Strugar Mitevska.

For the record, the professional sidebar of the Les Arcs Film Festival encompasses the Industry Village (running 14 – 17 December), largely consisting of the Co-Productions Village (read our article), the newly overhauled Work-in-Progress section (news), the Talent Village (running 11 – 17 December), the Music Village and the Distributors-Exhibitors Summit (running 17 – 21 December).

(The article continues below - Commercial information)

(Translated from French)

Did you enjoy reading this article? Please subscribe to our newsletter to receive more stories like this directly in your inbox.

Privacy Policy