Two minority Dutch co-productions selected for Cannes 2015
Minority Dutch co-production The Lobster of Greek director Yorgos Lanthimos and Dutch producer Lemming Film is selected for the main competition of the Cannes Film Festival. The film is competing for the Palme D’Or at the festival (May 13 to 24 2015).
The Lobster is the fourth feature film by Yorgos Lanthimos, who received international acclaim with his previous films ALPS (Main Competition Venice Film Festival), DOGTOOTH (Prix Un Certain Regard, Oscar nomination) and Kinetta (Berlinale Forum, Toronto Discovery). Lanthimos and his regular screenwriter Efthimis Filippou (Dogtooth, Alps) received the 'ARTE International Prize for best project in the CineMart in Rotterdam.
The Lobster is the Netherlands Film Fund’s 10th minority Dutch/Irish co-production. Other financiers include: Film4, Bord Scannán na hÉireann/ the Irish Film Board, Eurimages, Greek Film Centre and BFI in association with Protagonist Pictures, with the participation of CANAL+, CINE+ and Aide aux Cinémas du Monde, Centre National du Cinéma et de l’Image Animée, Ministère des Affaires Étrangères et du Développement International, Institut Français an Element Pictures, Scarlet Films, Faliro House, Haut et Court. Dutch co-producer is Lemming Film in association with Limp and with the support of the MEDIA Programme of the European Union.
Starring Colin Farrell, Rachel Weisz, Lea Seydoux, John C Reilly, Ben Whishaw, Olivia Colman and Michael Smiley, The Lobster is a blackly funny love story set in a near future where finding love is a matter of life or death.
The Lobster will be released in the Netherlands by distributor Filmfreak.
La Tierra y La Sombra (Land and Shade) directed by César Acevedo (Colombia) a heartrending and socially aware family drama which plays out between towering crops and choking dust, was selected for the Semaine de la Crititique of the Cannes International Film Festival 2015.
La Tierra y la Sombra tells the story of an old farmer who returns to his home, but has become completely alienated from his family and the village where he grew up. Danger looms on all sides across the vast, shimmering sugar cane fields; industrial progress is bringing far-reaching changes to the poor countryside.
The film is supported by the NFF+HBF co-production scheme, a program by the Netherlands Film Fund and the International Film Festival Rotterdam. It successfully involves Dutch film producers in international co-productions that have already received support from the HBF (Hubert Bals Fund). Offering support to talented filmmakers from Africa, Asia, Latin America, the Middle East and parts of Eastern Europe the HBF supports 20 to 30 film projects annually in their script development or post-production. Since 2006, the Netherlands Film Fund has annually made a sum of € 200,000 available for production support within the NFF+HBF co-production scheme.
La Tierra y La Sombra is produced by Burning Blue (Colombia) and coproduced by Ciné-Sud Promotion (France), Una Films (Germany) and Topkapi Films (Netherlands) with the support of the Colombian Film Fund, Aide aux Cinémas du Monde, Hubert Bals Fund development and Ibermedia.
Still: The Lobster
Still: The Lobster