VICTORIA
festivals & media
Interviews :
Écoutez Anna Karina et Hejer Charf sur SBS, la radio en français d’Australie. Rires et cinéma. Émoivant
Elles étaient au Melbourne Film Festival pour présenter Victoria écrit.
FESTIVALS :
* The 13th Pusan International Film
Festival. The Hand Printing ceremony, the most honorable event of the festival, celebrated the body of work of Anna Karina and her film VICTORIA (South Korea, October 2008)
* 30th Florence International Women Film Festival where Anna Karina received the best actress award (Italy, November 2008)
* Mill Valley Film Festival, San Francisco, California, Oct 2009
* Melbourne Film Festival (Australia) July 2009
* Copenhagen Cinematheque, (Denmark)May 2009
* OFF plus CAMERA, Festival international Film independent, (Krakow Poland) April 2009
* Creteil Women Film Festival (France)
March 2009
http://www.filmsdefemmes.com/Anna-Karina.html
* Toulon (France), March 2009
ANNA KARINA
À LOS ANGELES
CALIFORNIE
Un hommage à Anna Karina au Festival Col-Coa (City of Lights - City of Los Angeles) du 19 au 25 avril 2010
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Festival Col-Coa pays a tribute to Anna Karina in Los Angeles (California) from April 19 to 25 2010.
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MEDIA : some excerpts
Dialogue: Anna Karina
By Charles Masters (THE HOLLYWOOD REPORTER)
Oct 1, 2008, 09:50 AM ET
Iconic French actress-writer-director-producer-composer-singer Anna Karina will bring her wide talents into play this year as head of the Pusan International Film Festival's New Currents jury. Darling of the New Wave, the Danish-born Karina first came to prominence as the muse and later wife of director Jean-Luc Godard. She starred in many of his films, notably "Pierrot le fou" and "Alphaville," and also starred in films from New Wave luminaries Agnes Varda and Jacques Rivette. Karina's second film as director, "Victoria," is being presented in PIFF's World Cinema section this year. On the eve of her first trip to South Korea, she talked to The Hollywood Reporter's French correspondent Charles Masters.
The Hollywood Reporter: How are you approaching your role as jury president in Pusan?
Anna Karina: It's not the first time I've been president of a festival jury; I've done it several times before. Obviously it's an adventure because it takes place in a country that I don't yet know, so I'm quite excited. I've heard a lot of good things about this festival, so it should be a wonderful adventure. The first thing is to see the films. I'm not going to tell you how I work; I've got my own little system. But I think you have to speak with your heart, and we have to agree among us which are the three best films.
THR: You're going to see 14 films from very diverse origins across the wider Asia region. Are you familiar with Asian cinema?
Karina: I know the kind of Asian cinema that finds its way to Paris. But I can't say I know it as well as French, Italian or other European cinema because there are fewer (Asian) releases here (in France). But it's a very interesting prospect to discover these films. I hope they're subtitled in English, otherwise I won't understand much.
THR: You're also going to present your latest film as director, "Victoria." What is the film about and how did you come to make it?
Karina: In fact it was a film that was initially destined to be made with two French singers and set in Quebec. It was going to star Philippe Katerine, who's now a star in France. But he couldn't be in the film because he went on tour. So I transposed the story and found two Canadian singers to replace the two French ones, played by Jean-Francois Moran and Emmanuel Reichenbach. It's a road movie which recounts their adventures on tour and their encounter with the mysterious Victoria, who is played by me. At times you wonder what's going on, but you don't know until the end. If you like, on one level it's a human manipulation; she sort of kidnaps them. It's a micro-budget film that we shot in 19 days. We must have covered 4,000 miles because Quebec is enormous. It's an entirely Canadian production produced by Hejer Charf.
THR: This is your first film as writer-director since "Living Together" in 1973. What made you go back behind the camera?
Karina: I was on tour for 61&frasl2 years with Philippe Katerine. We met Hejer Charf in Spain when we were giving a concert in Bilbao, and she invited us to Canada and said why don't you shoot the film here? She said she'd produce it, so I wrote the screenplay. At the last minute, Katerine couldn't participate in the film as an actor, but he wrote the music, because there are songs in the film.
THR: You are giving a master class in cinema here in Pusan on Oct. 8. What kind of lesson would you like to give?
Karina: I don't exactly how this class will be structured. I suppose people will ask me questions and I'll answer. It depends what people ask, but I'll try to answer with my heart. You know, everyone is so different in this world that I don't think you should impose your point of view. Life's like a game of chess with feelings. I started in cinema aged 14, so it's been a long, long road full of adventures and good moments but also some disappointments. We sometimes think we've made a good film, but of the 80 or so films I've made, they aren't all masterpieces. It still gives me great pleasure that I receive a lot of letters from some very young people, and when I present films abroad its usually to audiences of between 15 and 35 years old, which proves that films like "Pierrot le fou" still have an appeal, even for a 17-year-old today. That gives me a lot of pleasure.
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Victoria
(Canada)
By RICHARD KUIPERS (VARIETY.COM)
A pleasant gambol through the backwoods of Quebec with a drag singing duo and a mysterious oldster, "Victoria" is most noteworthy as the first feature helmed by key French New Wave thesp Anna Karina since her 1973 debut, "Living Together." Dramedy about lost souls finding themselves and old wounds being healed has plenty of goodwill, but not quite the sparkle needed to rise above the comfortably familiar. World preemed at Pusan, pic looks to have sturdy fest legs and claims for limited theatrical exposure, predominantly in French-language territories.
Calling themselves "Les Lolitas," straight guys Jimmy (Emmanuel Reichenbach) and Stanislas (Jean-Francois Moran) are booed off the stage by the handful of patrons witnessing their woeful drag act. Thrown in jail after being involved in what turns out to be an orchestrated back-alley brawl, the cash-strapped singers are bailed out by cool cat Louis Jardin (Woodson Louis), an impresario of sorts who offers the boys big money to tour Quebec.
Talent has little to do with the duo's sudden change of fortune. Bankrolling the tour of venues along the St. Lawrence River is Louis' employer, Victoria (Karina), a mute woman who is unable to remember anything since a tragic incident 30 years ago, but is somehow compelled to keep Les Lolitas in her sights.
Jumping at the chance for what seems like a paid holiday, Jimmy lets his libido run wild and becomes involved with Susanna (Sophie Desmarais), a high-strung drug user who appears to be underage. Less lusty than his showbiz partner, Stanislas finds himself attracted to Pauline (Sylvie De Morais-Nogueira), a hotel worker who looks like a younger version of Victoria.
Karina's screenplay makes little secret of a connection between Victoria and Stanislas, but this is not detrimental to a yarn that's much more concerned with lonely people slowly finding happiness than with revelations. Given plenty of room to work off each other, the members of this fine ensemble keep pic on track with restrained playing at meaningful moments and amusing flourishes when the script calls for philosophizing on life's big questions. With restricted screen time, considering her top-billed status, Karina effortlessly brings charisma to the screen in her in her first feature role since "Moi Cesar, 10 ans 1/2, 1m39" (2003).
HD lensing by Philippe Lavalette is clean and unobtrusive, with several eye-pleasing sequences filmed in remote, snow-covered locations. Big plus is the music score and heartfelt songs by French popster Philippe Katerine, who has recorded and toured with Karina during her long musical career. Lyrics relating to love, loss and memory are strategically positioned to fill in the gaps for characters struggling to find the right words. Rest of the tech package is pro.