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| The veteran party girl Angelique plays herself in the choice for the opening film in Cannes Un Certain Regard |
Party Girl - a first film about a 60-year-old night club hostess who still loves men and enjoys partying - has been chosen for the opening slot in the official selection of the Cannes Film Festival’s Un Certain Regard strand, it has just been announced.
The film is written and directed by Marie Amachoukeli, Claire Burger and Samuel Theis, who all met when they were studying screenwriting and editing in Paris at the French film School Fémis.
Previously they had produced short films, amassing awards at several festivals: Forbach (Cinéfondation Second Prize, Festival de Cannes 2008 and Grand Prix at the 2009 Clermont-Ferrand International Short Film Festival), C’est Gratuit Pour Les Filles (Semaine de la Critique 2009 – César Award for Best Short Film, 2010), and Demolition Party (2013).
The film follows in the opening slot The Bling Ring by Sofia Coppola, which was presented in 2013. Un Certain Regard, which has a mission to discover new talents, will provide an excellent platform for a collective first work that is said to be innovative both in its form and its subject.
Carancho director Pablo Trapero, President of the Jury for Un Certain Regard 2014, has declared he wants “to present a passionate selection of established masters, young talents and new forms of cinema.”
The lead role is played by the real-life Angélique, who now, as the senior member on the staff, feels she has reached the end of the line. On an impulse, she agrees to marry her regular client, Michel.
The film provides a portrait of a free woman who has chosen to live on the margins of conventional society, and delves deep into a France that is often under-represented on screen.
Party Girl screens on Thursday, May 15. Meanwhile the full programme for Un Certain Regard will be announced, together with the complete Official Selection, on Thursday, April 17.
