HIGH LANE Vertige Festival Selection: Rendez-Vous with French Cinema in India (2009) North American Premiere Thriller/Horror France, 2009 In French with English subtitles 35mm/Scope/Color/Dolby SRD/84 min Directed by: Abel Ferry Written by: Johanne Bernard, Louis-Paul Desanges Cinematography by: Nicolas Massart Editing by: Soline Guyonneau Music by: Jean-Pierre Taïeb Produced by: Alain Benguigui, Thomas Verhaeghe Production Company: Sombrero Films Coproduction: Gaumont International Sales: Gaumont 30 avenue Charles-de-Gaulle 92200 Neuilly-sur-Seine France Phone: +33 1.46.43.20.00 www.gaumont.com Cast: Fanny Valette (Chloé), Johan Libéreau (Loïc), Raphaël Lenglet (Guillaume), Nicolas Giraud (Fred), Maud Wyler (Karine), Justin Blanckaert (Anton) Towering heights and beautiful vistas turn into a nightmare reminiscent of Deliverance in this suspenseful horror film starring Fanny Vallette (Molière, Change of Address (COL•COA 2008) Little Jerusalem) and Johan Libéreau (The Witnesses, A Simple Heart, Stella). A group of friends on vacation in Eastern Europe embarks on an ambitious mountain expedition along a Via Ferrata closed for repair. The thrill of this foolish challenge quickly turns sour as it becomes clear that not only is the path a lot more dangerous than they thought, but they are not alone in the mountain. Fear exposes old traumas and brings up hidden emotions to the surface. Soon, everyone is fighting for their survival. ABEL FERRY has been directing commercials and episodes for the cult TV show Les Guignols on French channel Canal + for nine years. Previous to High Lane, he made his mark in international genre circles with two short films, which he co-wrote and directed: the burlesque Putain, la vieille faut pas l'énerver! (2002), starring Dominique Pinon (Delicatessen, The City of Lost Children) and The Good, the Bad, and the Zombies, a comedy/horror/western also starring Pinon and genre actor Lloyd Kaufman. Written by Johanne Bernard and Louis-Paul Desanges (Mutants), High Lane is his directorial debut. A native of the Alps and hiking aficionado, Ferry insisted that the actors be physically trained to hike and shoot the film in extreme mountain conditions. PRESS "The group's explosive tension is effectively captured from the start by d.p. Nicolas Massart's sporty, stomach-churning camerawork. It quickly reaches death-defying levels when the kids try to cross a suspension bridge that seriously needs a safety inspection. (...) Ferry's maneuvering of the action, especially in the mountain climbing scenes performed by the actors themselves, reveals a knack for storyboarding sequences into moments of condensed, throbbing anxiety." Jordan Mintzer, Variety. "Ferry has a sure hand behind the camera, the dynamics between the characters ringing true and giving the proceedings some nice depth and added tension. (...)Vertige marks the arrival of a significant, openly commercially minded player on the international horror market." Todd Brown, Twitch.