Catherine Deneuve on the red carpet at the Ghent Film Festival
01 Oct 2010
The 37th edition of the Ghent Film Festival has not started yet, however it is already expected to be worth remembering. The long list of international guests shall be completed with none other than Catherine Deneuve. On October 16, she will be accompanied by Jérémie Renier and François Ozon to present the latter's new film Potiche. After 8 Femmes, this is her second cooperation with the wonder boy of contemporary French Cinema. The film met high expectations last month at the Venice Film Festival. The Benelux premiere will be at the Ghent Film Festival.
Catherine Deneuve is the prototype of the French actress, or more precisely of the French woman. In the 80's, she modelled for a portrait of the legendary revolution leader Marianne. This was a great honour given the alleged chauvinistic nature of the French. Coming from a family of actors, Deneuve is a fashion icon and a diva, but mostly known as a brilliant actress.
In 1963, Deneuve got her first big role in Roger Vadim's film Le Vice et La Vertu. Afterwards, she was casted for the musical comedies Les Parapluies de Cherbourg (1964) and Les Demoiselles de Rochefort (1967) by Jacques Demy, who made her a star. Next she shined in films of cult directors Luis Bunuel (Belle de Jour), Roman Polanski (Repulsion), Jean-Paul Rappeneau (Le Sauvages) and François Truffaut (Le Dernier Metro). She won her first César for this last film. After a very successful career, she reinvented herself through acting in films such as Indochine (1992) by Régis Wargnier and Dancer in The Dark (2000) by Lars von Trier. In the past 50 years not a year has gone by in which she did not act in a film. She has acted in more than 100 films. This makes her one of the most productive French actresses ever.
Catherine Deneuve inspired a whole generation of directors and actresses. Furthermore she was fashion icon Yves Saint Laurent's muse. She even sang a duet with enfant terrible Serge Gainsbourg called 'Dieu est un fumeur de havane'.
It is clear that François Ozon is also a big fan of her's, casting her for a second time in his latest film Potiche which was filmed in Belgium. In this film she plays an unpredictable heiress who must replace her husband (Fabrice Luchini) as the head of an umbrella factory, after he had a heart attack. Her former communist lover (Gérard Depardieu) stands by her side through this ordeal. This is the seventh time that Deneuve and Depardieu are seen side by side on screen. Other actors in this film include Karin Viard, Ludivine Sagnier, Judith Godrèche and Jérémie Renier.
Potiche:
16/10 - 20h15 - Kinepolis 2
19/10 -14h30 - Kinepolis 1
21/10 - 10h - Kinepolis 1
The film is distributed by Cinéart and will be released in cinemas on the 10th of November.
37th Ghent Film Festival
October 12 - 23, 2010
For more information: www.filmfestival.be or contact Tom Heirbaut - Tel.: 09 242 80 79 - E-mail: press@filmfestival.be