COLCOA French Film Festival To Honor Mélanie Laurent; Announces The COLCOA "Classics Line-Up"

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Category: Entertainment News

Published on Monday, 26 February 2018 20:14

COLCOA FRENCH FILM FESTIVAL is presented by the Franco-American Cultural Fund, a unique collaboration between the Directors Guild of America, the Motion Picture Association, the Writers Guild of America West, and France’s Society of Authors, Composers and Publishers of Music (SACEM). COLCOA is also supported by France’s Society of Authors, Directors and Producers (L’ARP), the Society of Dramatic Authors and Composers (SACD) and the Film and TV Office of the French Embassy in Los Angeles, the CNC, TV France International, and Unifrance.

About Mélanie Laurent

Multitalented actress-turned-filmmaker Mélanie Laurent began her career almost as a lark. At the tender age of 16, visiting the set of Asterix and Obelix, she caught mega-star Gérard Depardieu’s eye. He casually asked if she’d like to be in a film. She nonchalantly replied, "Why not?" And he immediately cast her in The Bridge (1999), which he starred in and co-directed with Frédéric Auburtin. The daughter of a ballet teacher and a voice-over actor (her father is the voice of Ned Flanders in the French version of The Simpsons), Laurent’s breakthrough role came with her powerful performance in Philippe Lioret’s Don’t Worry, I’m Fine (2006), which earned her both the César Award for Most Promising Actress and the Prix Romy Schneider.

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Best known to American audiences for her roles in Quentin Tarantino’s Inglorious Bastards (2009), Mike Mills’ Beginners (2011) and Louis Leterrier’s Now You See Me (2013), the actress has appeared in some 40 films to date, including Jacques Audiard’s The Beat That My Heart Skipped (2005), Cédric Klapisch’s Paris (COLCOA 2008), Radu Mihaileanu’s The Concert (COLCOA 2010) and Billie August’s Night Train to Lisbon (2013). Her most recent films as an actress include Christian Carion’s drama My Son (2017) and Laurent Tirard’s Return of the Hero (2018).

In 2008, Laurent moved behind the camera, as writer/director of two shorts, De moins et moins (Official Competition, Cannes 2008) and À ses pieds, the latter part of the Canal+ erotic short film series, X Femmes. A distinctly feminist — yet not necessarily political — filmmaker, Laurent makes films that resonate a very female point of view. While universal in scope, they sensitively explore subjects that are both personal and revolve around issues that profoundly touch upon the lives and experience of women.

She made her feature directorial début with The Adopted (Audience Award winner, COLCOA 2012), which tells the story of a close-knit family of women that’s turned upside-down when one of them falls in love with a man. Her powerful second film, Breathe (International Critics’ Week, Cannes 2014), recounts the volatile tale of the intense friendship between two teenage girls. And her most recent feature, Diving (2017), which premieres at this year’s COLCOA festival, delves into the murky waters of maternal love and artistic freedom.

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An impassioned ecological activist, Laurent joined forces with Cyril Dion to co-direct the buoyant, hugely successful environmental doc, Tomorrow (Best Documentary Award winner, COLCOA 2016), which went on to snag the César Award for Best Documentary.

Laurent most recently directed Nic Pizzolatto’s adaptation of his own first novel, the thriller, Galveston (2018), which premiered in March at this year’s South by Southwest Film Festival and is soon to be released worldwide.

For additional information visit: www.colcoa.org