THE FRENCH KISSERS Les Beaux gosses 2010 Lumière Award - Most Promising Young Actor for Vincent Lacoste and Anthony Sonigo 2010 César Award - Best First Film Festival Selection: New York Rendez-Vous with French Cinema Today (2010), Cannes Directors’ Fortnight (2009), Montreal International Festival of New Cinema (2009), Pusan International Film Festival (2009), Kiev Molodist International Film Festival (2009), HOF International Film Festival (2009) West Coast Premiere Comedy France, 2009 In French with English subtitles 35mm/1.85/Color/Dolby SRD/90 min Directed by: Riad Sattouf Written by: Riad Sattouf, Marc Syrigas Cinematography by: Dominique Colin Editing by: Virginie Bruant Music by: Flairs, Riad Sattouf Produced by: Anne-Dominique Toussaint Production Company: Les Films des Tournelles Coproduction: Pathé Distribution/Pathé International, Studio 37 International Sales: Other Angle Pictures 39 rue de Constantinople 75008 Paris France Phone: +33 9.54.88.02.41 Cast: Vincent Lacoste (Hervé), Anthony Sonigo (Camel), Alice Trémolières (Aurore), Noémie Lvovsky (Hervé’s mother), Julie Scheibling (Laura), Camille Andreys (Meryl), Robin Duverger (Benjamin), Baptiste Huet (Loïc), Simon Barbier (Nicolas), Salomé Durchon (Nolwenn), Irène Jacob (Aurore’s mother), Emmanuelle Devos (School Principal) 14 year-old Hervé (newcomer Vincent Lacoste) is not among the popular kids at school. A mediocre student, mocked for his looks, Hervé is constantly berated and embarrassed by his overwhelmingly nosy mother (actress/filmmaker Noémie Lvovsky, Actresses, Feelings (COL•COA 2004), Kings and Queen). He spends most of his days hanging out with his best friend Camel (Anthony Sonigo), a mullet-wearing Metallica fan who shares his plight of being ‘uncool’. Together, they look at lingerie catalogs and talk about sex. Their only serious goal is to kiss a girl, but they can’t even bring themselves to utter a word when a female classmate walks by. Their world is turned upside down when the pretty Aurore starts showing interest in Hervé. Comic book artist RIAD SATTOUF studied animation at the prestigious school Les Gobelins. He has published various works since 2000, including Manuel du puceau (2003) and Ma Circoncision (2004) for the Breal Jeunesse collection directed by Joann Sfar (COL•COA 2010, Gainsbourg: Je t’aime...Moi Non plus), and the best-seller Retour au collège (2005) for Hachette Littératures. He draws a weekly cartoon in Charlie Hebdo and also writes for Fluide Glacial, Teknikart and Les Inrockuptibles. Riad Sattouf was awarded a Best Comic Book Fauve d’Or for the third installment of his series Pascal Brutal, Plus fort que les plus forts at the 2010 Angoulême International Comics Festival. Co-written with Marc Syrigas (The New Eve, Replay), The French Kissers is his first feature film. PRESS "A hilarious spin through contemporary French adolescence. (...) Milking the kids' highly charged sexual states with their clumsy social skills, filmmaker Sattouf has knocked out a farcical but realistic depiction of young teenagers. Like Hughes' movies, "The French Kissers" is often funniest when mocking teenage authority figures." Duane Byrge, The Hollywood Reporter. "A notable directorial debut for comic book writer Riad Sattouf, this French teen sex comedy possesses a nice blend of humour and intelligence that places it somewhere between American Pie and Wild Reeds. (...) It is a well-observed portrait of a teenage boy’s sexual awkwardness whish also has strong international value." Mike Goodridge, Screen International.