World premiere Belvaux’s 38 TÉMOINS opens IFFR 2012

41st International Film Festival Rotterdam
25 January – 5 February 2012

PRESS RELEASE 20 December 2011

• World premiere Belvaux’s 38 TÉMOINS opens IFFR 2012
• THE HUNTER closes the Rotterdam film festival

Wednesday January 25, the world premiere of Lucas Belvaux’s 38 TÉMOINS (38 WITNESSES, France), starring Yvan Attal, Sophie Quinton and Nicole Garcia, opens the 41st edition of the International Film Festival Rotterdam; the festival closes on February 4 with the screening of Daniel Nettheim’s THE HUNTER (Australia) – a former CineMart project - starring Willem Dafoe, Frances O’Connor and Sam Neill.

In 38 TÉMOINS, Louise (Sophie Quinton) returns home to discover that while she was away on business in China her street was the scene of a crime. There were no witnesses. Apparently everybody was asleep. Pierre, Louise's husband (Yvan Attal) was at work. Apparently.

Rutger Wolfson, Director of the International Film Festival Rotterdam, about 38 TÉMOINS: “Lucas Belvaux brings us an excellently written and directed film that is not only tense but also moving and offering food for thought. He makes us very clear what may be the consequences of emotions like fear and shame. Just like in his strong Grenoble-triptych in 2002 and his dramatic RAPT in 2009, Belvaux knows how to capture life’s complexities in beautiful cinema.”

Lucas Belvaux (1961, Belgium) has been a film, TV and stage actor for over thirty years; he acted in Claude Chabrol's MADAME BOVARY and several of his own films. Before he embarked on his ambitious Grenoble Trilogy, he directed two other features. 38 TÉMOINS, written by Belvaux based on the novel ‘Est-ce ainsi que les femmes meurent?’ by Didier Decoin, is his seventh film.
38 TÉMOINS was produced by Patrick Sobelman (Agat Films), Patrick Quinet (Artemis) and Yvan Attal. Sales agent is Films Distribution and Diaphana will distribute the film in France.


Closing Night Film: THE HUNTER
The International Film Festival Rotterdam closes its 41st edition on Saturday February 4 with a screening of The Hunter. THE HUNTER is a powerful psycholigical drama that tells the story of Martin (Willem Dafoe) a mercenary sent from Europe by a mysterious bio-tech company to the Tasmanian wilderness on a hunt for the last Tasmanian tiger. Next to Willem Dafoe (SPIDERMAN, THE ENGLISH PATIENT, PLATOON), THE HUNTER stars Frances O’Connor (BLESSED, A.I. ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE, MANSFIELD PARK) and Sam Neill (JURASSIC PARK, THE PIANO) in the principal roles. THE HUNTER is based on the novel of the same name written by Julia Leigh.

THE HUNTER was launched as film project at Rotterdam’s CineMart 2004. The film premiered last September during the Toronto IFF. Australian filmmaker Daniel Nettheim directed many television series and the short film THE THIRD STROKE (1995). After his début feature ANGST (2000), THE HUNTER (2011) is his second feature film.

The IFFR’s festival program consists of three main sections: Bright Future - idiosyncratic and adventurous new work by novice makers, including the Tiger Awards Competitions -, Spectrum - new and recent work by experienced film makers and artists who provide, in the opinion of the IFFR, an essential contribution to international film culture -, and Signals, a series of thematic programs and retrospectives offering insight in topical as well as timeless ideas within cinema. Thursday January 19 the full IFFR 2012 lineup will be published as a supplement to Dutch national newspaper de Volkskrant and online on www.filmfestivalrotterdam.com.


(End of press release)

Press information IFFR:
IFFR Press Office, Bert-Jan Zoet / Nancy van Oorschot, [email protected], +31 10 8909090