Leconte, Bondarchuk & Gans - the guests of the 42 FEST

The prominent French director Patrice Leconte has been active since the mid-70’s. To date, he has directed more than 30 films. While he was studying at the film school, he used to draw for the French cartoon Pilote. Although he made his first film in 1976, he was relatively unknown outside of his home country, until 1989, when Monsieur Hire was selected in the programme of the Cannes festival and drew international attention. The topics for Leconte’s films varied; some of his works were internationally successful, while others didn’t leave a mark outside of France. Leconte managed to make a name for himself as one of the leading figures of arthouse film. In the early 2000’s, he began exerting influence in the USA, where he was emphasized to be one of the authors with the biggest influence on American arthouse film. His films have been screened on all the major international festivals and nominated for many awards, including the Golden Palm, Golden Bear, BAFTA or the Golden Lion. In the supporting programme in the Yugoslav Film Archive some of Leconte’s best films will be screened, including Ridicule, La fille sur le pont, La veuve de Sant-Pierre and Confidences trop intimes.

Fedor Bondarchuk was born for fame. His parents were acrtress Irina Skobtseva and the famous Sergey Bondarchuk, actor, writer and director, Oscar winner for the epic War and Peace (Voyna i mir). Interestingly enough, Sergey was a guest of the second FEST in 1972, as the most prominent Soviet film author, in the year when Kirk Douglas, Robert De Niro, Vittorio de Sika and other stars came to Belgrade. He also contributed to the golden age of Yugoslav partizan films: he was the writer for the film Sutjeska, while starring in Bitka na Neretvi (The battle of Neretva) and Vrhovi Zelengore (The peaks of Zelengora). Fedor continued in his father’s footsteps; he is coming to FEST with the epic Stalingrad. He started his career as an actor alongside his father; he made a name for himself as the first producer of music videos in Russia. He has produced many films, videos and TV programs, while also acting, until 2005, when he directed his first film 9^th company (9 Рота). The film was a huge success in Russia. Bondarchuk’s following two films were equally successful - the duology The Inhabited Island (Обитаемый остров). Stalingrad is his third film.

Christophe Gans is a unique French director. He was born in 1960, at the peak of the French new wave. As a young man, he turned to a completely different aesthetics and the directors that become famous in the 70’s - Carpenter, Cronenberg and Lynch. As early as when he was a young boy, he started making short films with his friends. The topic? Kung fu! He also founded the magazine Starfix, where he wrote about the films that fascinated him, trying to bring them closer to a disinterested French audience. As the guest of the 42th FEST, he will introduce himself to the Belgrade public with his film Beauty and the Beast. Persisting on that course, Gans turned to horror films. One of his first professional endeavors was the film Nekromikon, written on the basis of the novel of H.P. Lovkraft. He then directed the application of the Japanese Manga Crying freeman, while making a name for himself at the international stage, including in Serbia, with Le pacte de loups. That blockbuster scored a major box office success worldwide, with five million spectators, while enabled Gans to go to Hollywood and make the adaptation of the video game Silent Hill. Eight years have passed before he got to make his new film - Beauty and the Beast - he will present to the visitors of the 42th FEST, which film has been premiered on the Berlin Festival.