‘Other People,’ ‘Rascal’ Win Les Arcs Festival’s Arte Kino Prize
By Elsa Keslassy
LOS ANGELES (Variety.com) – Aleksandra Terpinska’s “Other People” and Peter Dourountzis’s “Rascal” won the inaugural Arte Kino International Prize at the 10th edition of ’s Co-Production Village.
The award was given by Remi Burah, who runs Arte France Cinéma and launched in 2016 ArteKino Festival, a European online festival in partnership with the digital service Festival Scope. Each “Other People” and “Rascal” will receive 2000 Euros.
Mixing comedy, drama and musical, “Other People” tells the story of a man who lives with his mum and teenage sister who starts a romance with Iwona, a woman in her early 40’s who cannot cope with her marriage. “Other People” was selected as part of this year’s focus on Poland. Terpinska’s last short “The Best Fireworks Ever” premiered at Cannes’s Critics’ Week and won two awards.
Meanwhile, “Rascal” in a French-language thriller following a charming young man who arrives in a city without any money and seizes every opportunity he gets to work, love, sleep and kill. Pierre Deladonchamps (“Stranger By The Lake,” “Little Tickles”) is attached to star.
“Other People” and “Rascal” were among the 20 projects which were pitched at the Co-Production Village. The industry event brought together more than 500 professionals, including producers, distributors and sales agents. Among the guests were Francois Yon (Playtime), Vincent Maraval (Wild Bunch), Yohann Comte, Pierre Mazars and Carole Baraton (Charades), Vanessa Saal (Protagonist), Juliette Schrameck (MK2), Gregoire Melin (Kinology) and Jean-Christophe Simon (Films Boutique).
Spanning 12 countries, the projects were selected by Jérémy Zelnik, the head of industry at Les Arcs, Anna Ciennik, the manager of the industry village, and Pierre-Emmanuel Fleurantin, the festival’s CEO.
Swedish director Niclas Larsson’s comedy drama “Pantylover(dot)com” and the period drama “Each of Us” proved the most popular projects among sales agents and co-producers, said Zelnik.
“Pantylover(dot)com” is a high-concept project revolves around a couple, Karin and Mattias who are in debt. Karin starts selling her dirty underwear to unknown men online in order to pay back the debt, which ends up making her husband uncomfortable — specially when he learns that the men are no longer unknown. Larsson’s previous credits include the shorts “Magic Diner” with Alicia Vikander, and “Our Broken Heart.”
A rare historical drama project pitched at Les Arcs, “Each of Us” is set in 1945 and takes place in the only all-women German concentration camp. “Each of Us” will be directed by Carla Simon, whose “Summer 93” won best best first feature at this year’s Berlin; Anne Zohra Berrached (“24 Weeks”); and Meritxell Colell (“Facing the Wind”).
Ciennik, who plays a key role in selecting the projects, pointed out the several genre projects presented – Brendan Mccarthy’s “Woken,” Dean Puckett’s “I feel Blood,” Jagoda Szelc’s “The Delicate Balance of Terror” and Marylise Dumont’s “Black Dog” — also sparked interest from sales agents and co-producers.
“Black Dog,” drama fantasy about a dog who comes back to a small town after being abandoned in the woods, has British actress Gemma Arterton (“Their Finest”) attached to star.
Since launching a decade ago, Les Arcs Film Festival’s industry events have drawn many talented emerging directors. Celebrated alumni include László Nemes with “Son of Saul,” which went on to win Cannes’ Grand Jury Prize and a foreign-language Oscar, as well as Alice Rohrwacher (“The Wonders”), Carla Simon Pipo (“Ete 93”), Lukas Dhont (“Girl”), and Gabriel Abrantes and Daniel Schmidt (“Diamantino”).
