PRÉSUMÉ COUPABLE (GUILTY) WINS EUROPA CINEMAS LABEL
09/09/2011
Vincent Garenq’s PRÉSUMÉ COUPABLE (GUILTY) from France has won the Europa Cinemas Label as Best European film in the Giornate degli Autori/Venice Days section, it was announced today by a jury of four exhibitors – the eighth time the Label has been awarded in the section. PRÉSUMÉ COUPABLE (GUILTY) will now receive the support of the Europa Cinemas exhibitors who will give it additional promotion across the Network and commit themselves to extend the length of its run on screen.
The jury issued the following statement: “This is a film that grips you right from the start. It is a raw and intense personal story, which challenges our faith in the legal system – a concern shared right across Europe. The fact that this film is based on a true story only serves to increase the impact of watching an ordinary man’s life turned into a Kafka-esque nightmare in a flash. Vincent Garenq’s direction is concise and unambiguous, driving the film forward with energy and pace.”
Sold internationally by Films Distribution, sales are expected to be confirmed soon in many territories. Vincent Garenq is the director. The screenplay is by Garenq, written with the collaboration of Alain Marécaux, Serge Frydman and Hubert Delarue, and based on the novel Chronique de mon erreur judiciaire by Alain Marécaux.
The film stars Philippe Torreton, Wladimir Yordanoff, Noémie Lvovsky, Raphaël Ferret Michèle Goddet, Farida Ouchani and Olivier Claverie. Produced by Christophe Rossignon and Philip Boëffard, PRÉSUMÉ COUPABLE (GUILTY) is a Nord-Ouest Films production, co-produced with France 3 Cinema.
Alain Marécaux is a bailiff. He has a family, a job, a nice house, a normal life. One night the police break in and handcuff him and his wife. They are accused of the most dreadful of crimes: paedophilia. This is true story of Alain Marécaux and his wife, crushed by one of the most important miscarriages of French justice system, the Outreau affair.
“When beginning a new film project, the question of necessity should always be posed. When I discovered Alain Marécaux’s prison diary, the answer quickly became evident. Reading his account filled me with indignation, tears and anger. Never had I imagined that such a thing could be possible in France. It is this feeling of anger and indignation that I wanted to convey.” (Vincent Garenq)
The Europa Cinemas jury comprised four Network exhibitors, including a colleague from Hong Kong – reflecting the increasingly international reach of the Network:
Mark Cosgrove - Watershed - Bristol (United Kingdom)
Alberto Fassina - Multisala Astra - Padova (Italy)
Marynia Gierat - Kino Pod Baranami - Krakow (Poland)
Gary Mak - Broadway Cinematheque - Hong Kong
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