THE GROCER’S SON (Le Fils de l’épicier) West Coast Premiere Drama France, 2007 In French with English subtitles 35mm/1.85/Color/Dolby SR DTS/96 min Awards: Golden Bayard award for Best Screenplay for Florence Vignon and Namur City Audience Award, Namur International Francophone Film Festival (2007) Official Selection: Rendez-vous with French Cinema Today (2008), Unifrance French Film Festival in Japan (2008), Fête du cinéma français à Québec (2008 ) Directed by: Eric Guirado Written by: Eric Guirado, Florence Vignon Cinematography: Laurent Brunet Editor: Pierre Haberer Music: Christophe Boutin Produced by: Miléna Poylo, Gilles Sacuto Production Company: TS Productions Co-production: Rhône-Alpes Cinéma With: Nicolas Cazalé (Antoine), Clotilde Hesme (Claire), Daniel Duval (Antoine’s father) Jeanne Goupil (Antoine’s mother), Stéphan Guérin-Tillié (François), Liliane Rovère (Lucienne), Paul Crauchet (le Père Clément), Chad Chenouga (Hassan) www.lefilsdelepicier-lefilm.com Antoine (Nicolas Cazalé, Three Dancing Slaves) left his village for the city in search of a better life, but the city didn’t give him what he was hoping for. Somber and conflicted, he is unable to express his emotions and overcome old family feuds. When his father suffers a heart attack, he goes back to his village to help his mother with her grocery store, delivering groceries to remote areas of the village. He convinces his next-door neighbor Claire (Clotilde Hesme, Love Songs, Regular Lovers), who he is secretly in love with, to accompany him. After a difficult first contact with his new customers, the cold and unfriendly Antoine warms up and learns to see his native land with a new perspective. ERIC GUIRADO Eric Guirado started his career as a journalist and documentary filmmaker for French public television. He started directing short films in 1994 and won a César award for Best Short Film of the year with Un petit air de fete. His first feature, Quand tu descendras du ciel (2002), won multiple awards at film festivals worldwide, including First Prize at the MedFilm Festival in Rome. His fiction work is often inspired by his documentary experience. The idea to make The Grocer’s Son came from a series of documentaries he directed for France 3 television, Les Camions épiciers, about grocers who travel to remote places in order to deliver food to the local residents. Set for a U.S. release later in the year US Distributor: Film Movement 109 W. 27th Street, Suite 9B New York, NY 10001 Phone: 212-941-7744 Fax: 212-941-7812 www.filmmovement.com PRESS " The lead actors are hot and the living is easy in the French summertime idyll Le Fils de l’épicier... The second film from French director Eric Guirado (Quand tu descendras du ciel) is also touching and surprisingly honest, with a genuine eye for character and the small battles of everyday life." (european-films.net) "Eric Guirado has created a modern fairy tale. One of these stories that we hope are true even though we know they are not realistic... He has a sense of dialog, a sense of the beauty of places and people, and he captures their hidden dignity with determination.” (Télérama) “Like taking a vacation the French countryside and meeting people there of whom you grow extraordinarily fond, The Grocer's Son is an unalloyed pleasure, start to finish...This is only Guirado's second full-length feature, yet he has a wonderful sense of pacing, storytelling, characterization and, best of all, the ability to avoid unduly "pushing" anything. His movie unfurls leisurely yet never drags, so filled is it with remarkable detail and interesting people.” (Green Cine Daily)