One of the pleasant surprises of the 72nd Berlin International Film Festival, usually called the Berlinale, was undoubtedly the film “Peter von Kant” by the acclaimed French director François Ozon, starring Isabelle Adjani, Denis Ménochet and Hanna Schygulla. The film opened the festival and was part of the international competition. Bulgarian fans of the director can be calm – CineLibri bought the rights to distribute the film in Bulgaria.
We are delighted to announce that “Peter von Kant” will be part of the main selection of CineLibri 2022 – its Bulgarian premiere will take place within the festival, after which the film will be distributed in the art house cinemas, again by CineLibri. Ozon traditionally works on screenplays based on literary works, and among his most recent successes are deeply emotional films such as “Summer 85,” which received 12 César nominations, including nomination for adapted screenplay, and “Everything Went Fine,” a warming story about aging with excellent casting in the person of Sophie Marceau and André Dussollier.
“Peter von Kant” is a free interpretation of the masterpiece “The Bitter Tears of Petra von Kant” (1972) by Rainer Fassbinder and is the sixth consecutive participation of Ozon in this prestigious film forum. The director admits that it is a pleasure and an honor for him to return to Berlin 22 years after the premiere of “Water Drops on Burning Rocks”, also an adaptation of Fassbinder. According to Ozon, the Berlinale is the perfect place for а premiere of “Peter von Kant” – a film that illustrates the respect of a French artist for German culture. According to artistic director Carlo Chatrian, in the hands of Ozon, this story accumulates powerful energy of love and jealousy, humor and seduction – all that makes life and art so inextricably intertwined. Turning the character Petra von Kant into a man, and even a film director played superbly by Denis Ménochet according to international critics, François Ozon pays tribute not only to the original film, but also to Fassbinder himself.
Rainer Werner Fassbinder (1945-1982) is one of the most significant representatives of the new German cinema. In addition to being a film director, he is also a playwright, film and theater actor, screenwriter, producer, theater director, editor, cinematographer, composer and designer. For 15 years he created 44 films, 2 TV series, 3 short films, 4 video productions, 24 theater and 4 radio plays and played 36 roles. There is no other director in world cinema who had achieved such productivity. “The Bitter Tears of Petra von Kant” (1972) is based on his own cult play. Actually, this is one of his most influential works, which shows the influence of the French playwright Jean Cocteau.
We remind you that exactly 20 years ago the cast of “8 Women” by François Ozon, with the participation of a whole constellation of amazing actresses, was awarded the Silver Bear. The film was shown again this year as a tribute to Isabelle Huppert, who received the Honorary Golden Bear for lifetime achievement. Ozon masters the elegant provocation to perfection and is recognized as one of the brightest figures of modern European cinema, whose artistic biography includes brilliant films such as “5 X 2”, “Swimming Pool”, “Frantz”, “In the House”. In 2019, the director was awarded the Grand Prize of the Berlinale jury for the film “By the Grace of God” – a stinging drama about the sexual abuse of children within religious institutions of the Catholic Church.