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For the second year, COL•COA presents After 10, an eclectic series of late evening screenings in association with LA Weekly
Come early and have a drink in the COL•COA lounge – it’s on us!
Lounge open from 9:00pm to 10:30pm
Reserved to audience attending the After 10 screenings
Beer offered by Hollywood Blonde
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Non-alcoholic drinks offered by O.N.E
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Tuesday April 21
Theater 2 – 10pm
ME TWO
(La Personne aux deux personnes)
North American Premiere
Comedy
France, 2008
Written & Directed by: Bruno Lavaine, Nicolas Charlet
Daniel Auteuil (Queen Margot, Girl On the Bridge, Caché) has Alain Chabat (I Do, The Science of Sleep, the Taste of Others) stuck in his head for better or worse in multiple personality comedy Me Two. When corny pop singer Gilles Gabriel dies in a car accident that involves the austere accountant Jean-Christian Ranu, his spirit invades Ranu and they become two entities forced to share one body. Frustrated by this new existence that shows little prospect for excitement, Gilles is determined to make his long-awaited comeback through Jean-Christian, even though the latter seems light years away from being a pop star. Disconcerted at first to hear Gilles’ voice talk through him, Jean-Christian gradually lets Gilles Gabriel take control of his personality.
ABOUT NICOLAS & BRUNO
Nicolas Charlet and Bruno Lavaine, A.K.A Nicolas & Bruno, started their career making music videos, commercials and jingles for television. Known for their skits Amour, gloire et débats d'idées (1997-1998) and most of all their cult classic series Message à caractère informatif (1998-2000) on French television channel Canal +, they also adapted the British TV series The Office (Le Bureau on Canal +), with François Berléand (Comedy of Power, Transporter 2) in the title role. In 2007, they co-wrote the successful 99 Francs (COL•COA 2008) with Jan Kounen, an adaptation of Frédéric Beigbeder’s novel. For their first feature film as writer-directors, Nicolas & Bruno have teamed up with two of France’s best comedians, Daniel Auteuil and Alain Chabat, whose Chez Wam also produced the film.
Wednesday April 22
Theater 2 – 10pm
GOD’S OFFICES
(Les Bureaux de Dieu)
West Coast Premiere
Drama/Comedy
France/Belgium, 2008
Directed by: Claire Simon
Written by: Claire Simon, Natalia Rodriguez, Nadège Trebal
Moved by what she experienced in a family planning center, Claire Simon crafted God’s Offices using extensive material from a series of interviews and sessions that she did at the center over the course of seven years. Through various encounters among the women who come for help and their counselors, the film points to the essential role played by these centers and the complexity of the issues at stake. Combining non-professional actresses with an all-star cast including Nathalie Baye (Day For Night, The Green Room) Béatrice Dalle (Betty Blue, I Can’t Sleep) and Nicole Garcia (Peril, Mon Oncle d’Amérique), God’s Offices pays homage to the courage, dedication and empathy of these women.
ABOUT CLAIRE SIMON
After a first career as a film editor, Claire Simon trained at the Ateliers Varan and quickly found a strong affinity for “direct cinema,” crafting a body of work that blurs the divide between fiction and non-fiction. Following her award-winning documentary Coûte que coûte (1996), she wrote and directed her first feature, A Foreign Body (1997), presented at Cannes during Cinémas en France, which won the SACD Grand Prize for Best Screenplay at the Journées Franco-Américaines d’Avignon. After a series of critically-acclaimed documentaries, including Recreation (1998), That’s Just Like You (2000) and Mimi (2003), she returned to narrative features with On Fire (COL•COA 2007), also presented during the Cannes Directors’ Fortnight. God’s Offices is her third feature film.
Thursday April 23
Theater 2 – 10pm
THE GIRL FROM MONACO
(La Fille de Monaco)
Los Angeles Premiere
Comedy/Drama
France, 2008
Directed by: Anne Fontaine
Written by: Benoît Graffin, Anne Fontaine, Jacques Fieschi
Bertrand Beauvois (Fabrice Luchini, The Discreet, Full Moon in Paris, The Aviator’s Wife, Colonel Chabert) is a brilliant lawyer hired to defend criminal Edith Lassalle (Stéphane Audran, The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie, Babette’s Feast, The Butcher) at a high-profile trial in Monaco. Given the sensitive nature of the case, the overzealous bodyguard Christophe (Roschdy Zem, Bad Faith (COL•COA 2007), Days of Glory) is assigned to protect him. However, the danger seems to come less from organized crime than from local weather girl Audrey Varella (newcomer Louise Bourgoin, a real life personality on French TV channel Canal +). A stunning beauty, Audrey seduces and enthralls the otherwise austere lawyer, who falls head over heels for her.
ABOUT ANNE FONTAINE
A former actress and dancer, Anne Fontaine started her career as assistant director on a stage adaptation of Céline’s Journey to the End of the Night and won the Jean Vigo Prize with her first feature Love Affairs Usually End Badly (1992). After the provocative Dry Cleaning (COL•COA 1998), Best Screenplay Award at the Venice Film Festival in 1997, she confirmed her talent for creating complex and sexually ambiguous characters with Nathalie (COL•COA 2004). Acclaimed for her psychological dramas How I Killed My Father (Best Actor César in 2002 for Michel Bouquet) and In His Hands (COL•COA 2006), Anne Fontaine has also collaborated with her brother Jean-Chrétien Sibertin-Blanc for her Augustin trilogy. Starring Audrey Tautou, her new Film Coco Before Chanel is based on Edmonde Charles-Roux’s biography about the fashion designer.
Friday April 24
Theater 2 – 10:30pm
SPY (IES)
Espion(s)
North American Premiere
Drama/Romance/Thriller
France, 2009
Written & Directed by: Nicolas Saada
Art house thriller Spy(ies) stars French heart-throb Guillaume Canet (Tell No One (COL•COA 2007), Hunting and Gathering (COL•COA 2007), The Beach) as Vincent, a baggage handler at a Paris airport recruited by the French counterintelligence. Vincent and his colleague Gérard often commit petty theft on the job, an unfortunate habit that proves fatal for Gérard, who dies in the explosion of a perfume bottle found in a Syrian diplomatic suitcase. Accused of being an accessory to the crime, Vincent is forced to cooperate and go on a mission to London in exchange for amnesty. Upon arrival, his local MI5 contact Palmer (Stephen Rea, V For Vendetta, The Confessor) instructs him to seduce the wife of a pharmaceutical executive suspected to be linked with the terrorists. Vincent follows orders but quickly becomes emotionally involved and confused about his feelings for her.
ABOUT NICOLAS SAADA
A film critic for Les Cahiers du Cinéma, Nicolas Saada is well-known for his radio show dedicated to film soundtracks on Radio Nova, “Nova fait son cinema.” He started writing for film and television in 2000 with Le Détour and The Sandmen, two films directed by Pierre Salvadori. In 2004, he wrote and directed his first short film Les Parallèles, starring Géraldine Pailhas and Mathieu Amalric (Munich, The Diving Bell and the Butterfly). He worked with Arnaud Desplechin on the adaptation of a play by Edward Bond, In the Company of Men and from 1992 to 1998, he was also in charge of fiction programs for French TV channel Arte, in collaboration with Pierre Chevalier. His first film as writer-director, Spy(ies) was released in early 2009 to rave reviews and box office success.
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