Festivals - Colcoa 2018 : Television Competition

Par Mulder, 27 mars 2018

COLCOA French Film Festival is pleased to announce the 12 selections competing for the COLCOA 2018 Television Awards. This year’s Television section is comprised of television series and TV movies, including the International Premiere of PROUD, a three-part miniseries that spans three generations with each generation dealing with a crucial gay rights moment in France.

This year the Television section includes 12 selections competing for the COLCOA 2018 Television Awards given by both audience and a professional jury. This year’s Television section is comprised of television series and TV movies, including the International Premiere of PROUD, a three-part miniseries that spans three generations with each generation dealing with a crucial gay rights moment in France. The section is presented in association with TV France International and TITRAFILM with the support of AMC Networks, Arte Distribution, Endemol Shine International, Film & Picture, France TV Distribution, Gaumont, Lagardère Studios, Leonis, Scarlett Productions, StudioCanal, Tetra Media, TF1 Studio, Walter Presents.

Beyond Suspicion (Insoupçonnable) (TV Series – Season 1) – North American Premiere
This highly anticipated series is an unexpectedly chilling thriller that follows gifted Parisian criminologist Chloé Fisher, who is sent to Lyon to investigate the murder of a powerful politician’s daughter-in-law. The perp in question is Paul Brodsky, a loving family man, perfect in every way and beyond reproach — shrink by day, abominable serial killer by night. And he’s just spotted his next victim. An adaptation of the Belfast-based BBC series THE FALL. Written by Virginie Brac; directed by Fred Garson, Christophe Lamotte; with Emmanuelle Seignier, Melvil Poupaud, Jean-Hugues Anglade, Claire Keim, Patrick Chesnais.

The Age of Stateless (Le Temps des Egarés) (TV Movie) - North American Premiere
Sira is a former refugee. She speaks six languages and works as a translator for OFPRA, the French Office for the Protection of Refugees and Stateless Persons, which is responsible for applying the dictates of the Geneva Convention. Unscrupulous and extremely lucid, Sira doesn’t hesitate to extort huge sums of money from displaced foreigners seeking asylum in France. While the story is fictional, the dramatic fate and cruelty imposed upon refugees rejected by OFPRA are approached with great accuracy. Written by Virginie Sauveur, Gaëlle Belland; directed by Virginie Sauveur; with Claudia Tagbo, Biyouna B, Jean-Pierre Lorit, Hadja Traore, Alice Belaïdi.

The Art of Crime (L’Art Du Crime) (TV series) - North American Premiere
Booted off the Paris police force for insubordination, Antoine Verlay is transferred to a government task force fighting the illegal trafficking of cultural artifacts. A hothead and keen investigator, he teams up with Florence Chassagne, a renowned art historian at the Louvre. As Antoine and Florence solve a series of modern-day crimes that take place in France’s storied museums and landmarks, they unveil some of the great mysteries of the country’s cultural and historical heritage. Created by Angele Herry-Leclerc, Pierre-Yves Mora; directed by Charlotte Brandstrom and Nicolas Guicheteau; with Benjamin Egner, Eleonore Gosset-Bernheim, Nicolas Gob, Philippe Duclos.

Baron noir (TV Series – Season 2) - North American Premiere
This second season of this critically-acclaimed political thriller returns with the election of France's first female president and an unprecedented institutional crisis. Will Philippe Rickwaert's tactical genius be enough to reconcile the irreconcilable or will he have to accept his own destiny and reveal the true nature of the Baron Noir? Created by Eric Benzekri and Jean-Baptiste Delafon; directed by Ziad Doueri; with César Award-winner and International Emmy nominee Kad Marad, Anna Mouglalis, Astrid Whettnall. (Season 1 screened at COLCOA 2017 and is available in the U.S. on Walter Presents platform.)

Beautiful Loser (Irresponsable) (TV Series – Season 2) - North American Premiere
Exasperating, charming, disarming... Julien is back! And so is BEAUTIFUL LOSER, which last year’s Season 1 won the COLCOA 2017 Best Series Award. Incurable slacker, perpetual teenager, improbable father, Julien is ever improvising his life with as much poetry as he can conjure up. Season 2 opens with Julien spending his days hanging out at his son Jacques’ middle school, where his ex-girlfriend, Marie, works. Julien is thrown a curve ball when an unexpected turn of events suddenly threatens his carefree, cozy existence of squatting at mom’s place. Julien is forced to look for an alternative living situation and is finally determined to become self-sufficient. But learning to live as a responsible adult at 32 is apparently not as easy as it seems. Created by Frédéric Rosset; with Sébastien Chassagne, Théo Fernandez, Nathalie Cerda, Sam Karmann.

The Consolation (TV Movie) - North American Premiere
Based on French TV host Flavie Flament’s autobiographical novel of the same name, the film recounts the story of Flavie, a successful TV host suddenly stricken with dizzy spells. In an attempt to avoid fainting on-air, she decides to see a psychiatrist, who suggests she bring a photo album of childhood pictures to their session. When a particular Polaroid of Flavie at 13, taken by celebrated British photographer David Hamilton, tumbles out of the album, horrific obliterated memories suddenly flood her consciousness. “He raped me,” the stunned woman mutters. As a footnote, despite his denials, one week after Flament publicly identified Hamilton as the character in her novel, the photographer — famous for his soft-focus photos of nude young girls — famously committed suicide. Written and directed by Magaly Richard-Serrano, based on the novel by Flavie Flament; with Lou Gable, Émilie Dequenne, Philip Schurer.

I love you 2 (J’ai Deux Amours) (TV series) – North American Premiere
Hector’s life is nice and neat. He’s gay, a doctor, and has been living with Jérémie for five years now. They’re even planning to adopt a child. Then he runs into his first love, Louise and he is head-over-heels all over again. Suddenly his cup runneth over. He truly loves them both and refuses to give up either one. So what’s a boy to do? Your classic triangular romantic farce, with more than a dash of Marivaux thrown in, this original miniseries offers a refreshingly relaxed, delicate and, at times, very funny take on homosexuality, bisexuality, shared parenting, love and family. Created by Olivier Joyard, Jérôme Larcher; directed by Clément Michel; with Francois Vincentelli, Julia Faure, Olivier Barthelemy.

Iskander (Maroni Les Fantômes du Fleuve) (TV Series) - North American Premiere
Thriller Rookie cop Chloé is transferred to Cayenne in French Guiana where she’s partnered with Dialo, a local cop with a prickly personality. Despite their mutual dislike, they’ll have to work together to solve the brutal, ritual murder of a French couple from the mainland. When the murdered couple’s son is discovered missing, and all clues point to a group of descendants of African slaves who worship a forest spirit called Iskander, Chloé and Dialo will have to double their efforts—and the time they spend together. Iskander takes us on a relentless journey from tin-shack favelas and mysterious hallucinogenic drugs to voodoo rituals and a troubled past that will not stay buried. Created by Olivier Abbou, Aurélien Molas; directed by Olivier Abbou; with Stéphane Caillard, Adama Niane, Jérémie Laheurte, Issaka Sawadogo. Presented at COLCOA before its U.S. release by AMC Networks.

Infidelity (Un Adultère) (TV Movie) – International Premiere
The tale of duplicitous husband and father Julien, a real estate agent who falls in love with Alice, a young client who, it turns out, works in Julien’s wife Marie’s tea shop. Written by Eric Assous, Stéphanie Vasseur; directed by Philippe Harel; Isabelle Carré, Xavier Lemaître, Roxanne Arnal, David Stone.

Proud (Fiertés) (TV Series) - International Premiere
This three-part miniseries is a family saga spanning three generations — Charles, Victor and Diego. Each episode coincides with a crucial gay rights moment in France. Episode one begins in 1981, with the election of François Mitterrand, at a time when the WHO still considered homosexuality a mental illness. That’s when Victor comes out. Episode two takes place in 1999, with the creation of the PACS domestic partnership agreement. Now, Victor is living with Serge and hoping to adopt a baby. Episode three unfolds in 2013, with the ratification of gay marriage, when Diego must come to terms with the fact that he has two fathers. While a chronicle of our changing times, the series is, first and foremost, a love story, captured with quiet restraint and the quivering exhilaration of first love. Created by José Caltagirone, Philippe Faucon, Niels Rahou; directed by Philippe Faucon; with Emmanuelle Bercot, Chiara Mastroianni, Jérémie Elkaïmm, Frédéric Pierrot, Samuel Theis, Stanislas Nordey, Nicolas Cazalé, Benjamine Voisin.
 
(Source: press release)