LOUISE-MICHEL Official Selection: Sundance International Film Festival (2009), Rotterdam International Film Festival (2009), Hong Kong International Film Festival (2009), San Sebastian International Film Festival (2008), London Film Festival (2008) 2009 Sundance World Cinema Special Jury Prize for Originality 2008 San Sebastian International Film Festival Best Screenplay award West Coast Premiere Comedy France/Belgium/Luxembourg, 2008 In French with English subtitles 35mm/1.66:1/Color/Dolby SRD/94 min Written & Directed by: Benoît Delépine, Gustave Kervern Cinematography by: Hugues Poulain Editing by: Stéphane Elmadjian Original Music by: Gaëtan Roussel Produced by: Mathieu Kassovitz, Benoît Jaubert Production Company: MNP Entreprise Co-production: Arte France Cinéma, No Money Productions International sales: FUNNY BALLOONS 4 bis, rue Saint-Sauveur 75002 Paris Tel: +33 1 40 13 05 84 www.funny-balloons.com With: Yolande Moreau (Louise), Bouli Lanners (Michel), Benoît Poelvoorde (The mad scientist), Albert Dupontel (The madman), Philippe Katerine (The singer), Mathieu Kassovitz (the new farm landlord), Pierre Broodthaers (Pierrette), Terence Debarle (Terence), Robert Dehoux (The priest), Hervé Desinge (Poutrain), Yannick Jaulin (the banker), Jacqueline Knuysen (Jackie), Francis Kuntz (Flambart), Sylvie Vanhiel (Sylvie) http://www.myspace.com/louisemichellefilm After the sudden shutdown of their company, the factory workers, led by Louise (played by the iconic Yolande Moreau, 2009 César for Best Actress in Séraphine), are determined to get their revenge on the CEO responsible for the relocation. They hire Michel (Belgian actor Bouli Lanners, A Very Long Engagement, When the Sea Rises, I Always Wanted to Be a Gangster), an incompetent hit man who proves unable to do the job. Louise decides to take matters in her own hands and teams up with Michel to hunt down the "boss." Along the way, the eccentric duo encounter a mad scientist (Benoît Poelvoorde, Man Bites Dog, The Return of James Battle (COL•COA 2005), Podium), a singer (famous French pop artist Philippe Katerine) and a farmer played by Writer-Director-Actor Mathieu Kassovitz (Babylon A.D., Munich, Amélie, La Haine), who also co-produced the film. ABOUT BENOÎT DELÉPINE AND GUSTAVE KERVERN Well-known TV personalities on French TV channel Canal +, Benoît Delépine and Gustave Kervern have been writing comedy and satire for television since the 1990s on popular shows Les Guignols de l’Info, Le Plein de Super and Groland. In 2004 and 2006, they wrote and directed their exuberantly dark and surrealist first two features Aaltra (COL•COA 2005) and Avida, presented at the Cannes Film Festival out of competition. For their third feature, named after 19th century French revolutionary Louise Michel, Benoît Delépine and Gustave Kervern wanted to make "a film somewhere between the Dardenne and the Coen Brothers"..."a social western where the best of people can become villains, and where the villains are criminals on a never-seen before scale". PRESS "If Jean-Luc Godard and John Waters had a shotgun marriage, the afterbirth might turn out something like Louise-Michel (...) How many Marxist/Anarchist comedies are you likely to see at your local theatre this year?" (Box Office) "I was exhausted and angry but, I can say that "Louise-Michel" immediately turned my rotten mood upside down. From the opening sequence of a hilariously bleak and botched cremation, I was committed to this film....Writers/directors Benoit Delépine and Gustave de Kervern use actors Yolande Moreau and Bouli Lanners to their full potential..." (Film Threat) "With its sure sense of timing, enjoyable odd-couple dynamic and talent for one-liners, Louise-Michel displays a sincere human touch in its critique of modern business ethics...this cross between Aki Kaurismaki's surreal whimsy and Takeshi Miike's shock tactics should be a lure for sophisticated urban audiences and may wind up achieving cult status." (Screen International)