22 Bullets in France, Germany experiences Gravity

France:

EuropaCorp’s 22 Bullets (L’Immortel) will be released in France on 500 screens. The thriller stars Jean Reno as an ex-con now living a happy family life, until one day when is attacked and left for dead with 22 bullets in his body. Against the odds, however, he survives. Richard Berry directs, with Kad Merad, Marina Fois and Jean-Pierre Darroussin rounding out the cast.

Tout Ce Qui Brille, a Pathe Distribution release starring Leila Bekhti, Geraldine Nakache and Virginie Ledoyen, goes out on 290 screens from Wednesday March 24. The comedy, directed by Nakache and Herve Mimran, follows a pair of friends who have been like sisters since childhood and who will do anything to live the dream life in Paris.

Claire Denis’ White Material gets its release on 86 screens courtesy of Wild Bunch Distribution. Set in Africa, the film is the story of a woman’s struggle to defend her coffee plantation in the middle of a civil war. Isabelle Huppert stars alongside Isaach de Bankole and Christophe Lambert.

Germany:

Universum Film opens Pierre Morel’s French buddy agent film From Paris With Love, starring John Travolta and Jonathan Rhys Meyers, nationwide in 128 towns, with Walt Disney Studios Germany handling booking and billing.

The White Ribbon’s distributor X Verleih releases Hajo Schomerus‘ Im Haus Meines Vaters Sind Viele Wohnungen. The portrait of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in the walled Old City of Jerusalem is Schomerus’ first feature-length documentary as a director and was produced by Busse & Halberschmidt Filmproduktion with Switzerland’s T&C Film.

Maximilian Erlenwein’s feature debut Gravity (Schwerkraft) is released by Farbfilm in 27 towns across Germany. The film was shown at the Berlinale in the German Cinema and Perspektive Deutsches Kino sidebars.

UK:

Arthouse distributor Artificial Eye releases Jessica Hausner’s Lourdes in cinemas in key UK cities, from Friday March 26. The Austria-France-Germany co-production stars Sylvie Testud as a wheelchair-bound woman on a pilgrimage to the French Catholic shrine.

Art Alliance Media has a special one-day-only release of Eric Idle and John Du Prez’s musical reworking of the 1979 Monty Python comedy Life Of Brian, entitled Not The Messiah (He’s A Very Naughty Boy). The alternative content specialists have screenings of the performance in cinemas nationwide on Thursday March 25.

Bahman Ghobadi’s No One Knows About Persian Cats receives a limited opening through Network Releasing, also from Friday. The opening film at Cannes’ Un Certain Regard, Cats is a rendering of the true, tragic tale of two young musicians, Negar (Shaghaghi) and Ashkan (Koshanejad), who attempt to put together a rock/heavy metal band after being released from prison.

Spain: 

Aurum will release Roman Polanski’s thriller The Ghost Writer on 286 prints this weekend. Based on a best-seller by Robert Harris, who also co-wrote the script, the film tells the story of a ghost writer (Ewan McGregor), hired to write the memoirs of a former Prime Minister (Pierce Brosnan) who uncovers a secret that endangers his life.

Renowned Argentinian director Marcelo Piñeyro’s new drama The Widows Of Thursdays hits Spanish cinemas on 85 prints through Alta Films. Based on a best-seller by Claudia Piñeiro, this Spanish-Argentinian co-production follows the lives of wealthy people living in a posh neighbourhood of Buenos Aires whose lives are transformed by the country’s financial crisis at the turn of the century. It stars leading Argentinian actors Leonardo Sbaraglia, Ernest Alterio and Juan Diego Botto. Piñeyro’s previous film The Method took $3m in Spain.

Scandar Copti and Yaron Shani’s Oscar nominated Israeli drama Ajami will be shown on 12 screens in Spain through Karma Films. Set in the crime infested neighborhood of Ajami in Tel Aviv, the film revolves around the activities of four characters whose lives are intertwined by the religious tension and violence of the town.