TOSCAN: THE FRENCH TOUCH U.S. Premiere Documentary France, 2010 In French with English subtitles Digibeta I 1.85 I DTS I Color, Black & White Runtime: 87 min Written and Directed by: Isabelle Partiot-Pieri Cinematography by: Isabelle Partiot-Pieri Film Editing by: Vincent Lefèbvre, Nadine Verdier Produced by: Yves Darondeau, Christophe Lioud & Emmanuel Priou (Bonne Pioche Productions) Coproduction: Arte France Cinéma, INA - Institut National de l'Audiovisuel International Sales: Doc & Film International 13, rue Portefoin 75003 Paris, France Ph: +33 1.42.77.56.87 Fax: +33 1.42.77.36.56 docandfilm.com A bon vivant, erudite and man of the arts, Daniel Toscan du Plantier produced over 50 films over the course of his career. He started in advertising and became Deputy Director of Gaumont in 1975, at the age of 35. During his ten-year tenure at Gaumont, he produced legendary filmmakers Werner Herzog ("Nosferatu the Vampyre"), Federico Fellini ("The City of Women"), Ingmar Bergman ("Fanny and Alexander") and Andrei Tarkovsky ("Nostalghia"). After 1985, he became an independent producer and fierce advocate of the Seventh Art, willing to take risks with controversial films like "Under the Sun of Satan" or "The Cook the Thief His Wife & Her Lover." He was also President of Unifrance at the time of his death and president of the highly praised Cinémathèque of Toulouse. A collection of interviews and rare footage of Daniel Toscan du Plantier, TOSCAN, THE FRENCH TOUCH screened at the 2010 Cannes Film Festival and will have its U.S. Premiere at COLCOA. A licensed architect, ISABELLE PARTIOT-PIERI is assistant director, set designer and costume designer for film and opera. After meeting Daniel Toscan du Plantier on the set of DON GIOVANNI at the Monte-Carlo opera in 1983, she worked on most of the opera films produced by Toscan. She was assistant to Francesco Rosi on CARMEN (1984), and worked with Benoît Jacquot on TOSCA (2001). She has created numerous set designs in opera houses worldwide, including AIDA (1995), TURANDOT (1997) and NABUCCO (2004) at the summer opera festival Les Chorégies d’Orange. She directed a first opera in Nantes, LUCIA DI LAMMERMOOR (1992), then directed PETER PAN (2006) at the Châtelet Theatre in Paris, and PAGLIACCI at the Mariinsky Theatre in Saint Petersburg. TOSCAN, THE FRENCH TOUCH, is her first feature. PRESS "As head of Gaumont in the '70s and '80s, Toscan du Plantier oversaw works by Fellini, Bergman and Kurosawa, and then worked independently, nabbing the Palme d'Or for Maurice Pialat's controversial "Under the Sun of Satan." The latter's Cannes press conference is one of many juicy bytes in a film that could touch cinephiles eager to see a producer put his mouth where his money is." VARIETY