29/03/2019 - Tributes are set to be paid to these two famed European filmmakers during this enticing 11th edition of the thriller-focused festival, running 3 to 7 April

Directors Nicolas Winding Refn and Fatih Akin

Final preparations are underway for the 11th Beaune International Thriller Film Festival, which will take place between 3 - 7 April and which will be enriched this year by a double homage: not one, but two filmmakers will join the wonderful assortment of directors to whom the festival has previously paid tribute. Indeed, following in the footsteps of William Friedkin, James Gray, David Lynch, John McTiernan, Bertrand Tavernier, Brian De Palma, Park Chan-wook and David Cronenberg, the explosive Danish director, Nicolas Winding Refn, will now take centre stage, travelling to the Burgandy town for the screening of his entire film back-catalogue. Tribute will also be paid to the German filmmaker Fatih Akin, who will share his views on the thriller genre and will be conversing with audiences on 6 April. 

Standing out among the eight titles selected for the international competition are Piranhas [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Roberto Saviano
film profile] by Italian director Claudio Giovannesi (the recent winner of the Best Screenplay award in Berlin) and The Realm [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Rodrigo Sorogoyen
interview: Rodrigo Sorogoyen, Isabel P…
film profile] by Spanish filmmaker Rodrigo Sorogoyen (screened in competition in San Sebastian and in the Contemporary World Cinema section in Toronto, to be distributed in France as of 17 April by Le Pacte). Also topping the bill are three European co-productions: Rojo [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Benjamín Naishtat
film profile] by Argentine director Benjamin Naishtat (which scooped awards for Best Direction, Best Actor and Best Cinematography in San Sebastian, following its premiere in Toronto within the Platform programme – due for release in France on 3 July via Condor Distribution), Birds of Passage [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile] by the Colombian duo Ciro Guerra - Cristina Gallego (which opened the Directors’ Fortnight in Cannes last year and which will be distributed in French cinemas by Diaphana as of 10 April) and The Factory [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile] by the Russian, Yury Bykov (unveiled in Toronto and which will also be released in France on 3 July, courtesy of Kinovista and Bac Films). Completing the competition line-up are Alpha – The Right To Kill by the Filipino, Brillante Mendoza, Cities of Last Things [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile] by the Malaysian, Ho Wi Ding, and Savage by Chinese filmmaker Gui Siwei. The jury who will have to choose between these eight films will be headed-up by French filmmaker, Benoît Jacquot (assisted by Tonie Marshall and Nicolas Saada among others).

Four European productions feature among the six titles headlining the parallel Sang Neuf competition section (whose jury will be presided over by director, Samuel Benchetrit, and will notably include Frédéric Tellier): The Miracle of the Sargasso Sea [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile] by Greek filmmaker Syllas Tzoumerkas (discovered in the Panorama section during the latest Berlinale), Mothers’ Instinct [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Olivier Masset-Depasse
film profile] by the Belgian director Olivier Masset-Depasse (which world premiered in Toronto and is due to launch in France on 1 May, courtesy of Haut et Court), the French-Belgian co-production The Mustang [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Laure de Clermont-Tonnerre
film profile] by Laure Clermont-Tonnerre (her first feature film, which was unveiled at The Sundance Film Festival and which will be distributed in France by Ad Vitam from 19 June), and the Israeli-German film Chained [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Yaron Shani
film profile] by Yaron Shani (also a participant in the Berlinale’s 2019 Panorama section).

Noteworthy titles outside of the competition include 70 Big Ones [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Koldo Serra
film profile] by the Spaniard Koldo Serra, A Bluebird In My Heart [+see also:
trailer
film profile] by Frenchman Jérémie Guez, the European co-production The Operative [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile] by Israeli director Yuval Adler, the documentary Chabrol, l’Anticonformiste by Cécile Maistre-Chabrol and the animated film Spy Cat [+see also:
trailer
film profile] by the German team Christoph and Wolfgang Lauenstein in league with the Dane, Jesper Møller (produced by Germany with Belgium and China). Also worth a mention is the Cult Screening, this year placing the limelight on Bugsy Malone by English filmmaker Alan Parker and the presentation of the Claude-Chabrol Prize (awarded each year to a French film released over the previous year and whose cinematographic qualities are deemed to be a credit to the thriller genre), which will go to Xavier Legrand for Custody [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Xavier Legrand
film profile].

(Translated from French)