The Boat That Rocked docks in France, Little Ashes fires up Spain and UK

Germany:

Hans-Christian Schmid’s documentary The Wondrous World Of Laundry about the dirty laundry from Berlin’s leading hotels being taken to Poland for cleaning had its premiere a Forum Special at this year’s Berlinale. Piffl Medien now opens the film on eight prints in such selected cities as Berlin, Dresden, Berlin and Hamburg

A specialist in distributing Turkish films, Kinostar Theater has now released Tomris Giritlioglu’s family epic Güz Sancisi set against the background of riots against non-Muslims in 1955 over 20 screens. Many of the prints in Turkish with German subtitles are booked in multiplex cinemas owned by such operators as Cinestar, CinemaxX, or Kinopolis.

Premiering at the Locarno Film Festival last year, Marcus Vetter and Leon Geller’s award-winning documentary The Heart Of Jenin is about a Palestinian father’s decision to donate the organs of his son, who was killed by Israeli soldiers, to save the lives of six Israeli children. Arsenal Film organised a tour of the film to such cities as Leipzig, Hanover, Munich, Stuttgart with director Vetter, the father Ismail Khatib and producer Ernst Ludwig Ganzert before the film’s theatrical launch in Tübingen on May 7.

France:

SND’s French drama Je L’Aimais, directed by Zabou Breitman and starring Daniel Auteuil and Marie-Josee Croze was in second place after its first day on Wednesday with 37,017 admissions on 343 screens. The tale of a married man who falls for a young woman he can not forget, has received strong reviews from the local press.

The Boat That Rocked, released by StudioCanal, lapped up 15,481 admissions on 291 screens to put it in third place on opening day. Richard Curtis’ ensemble – which is being called Good Morning England in the market – stars Philip Seymour Hoffman, Rhys Ifans and Bill Nighy in a story based on the pirate radio stations of Sixties Britain. This is the kind of film that could build to a strong local audience, especially given that reviews have been very positive in France if not at home.

Spain:

Michael Winterbottom’s drama Genova will be released by local distributor Wanda Vision on 55 screens in Spain. The winner of a Silver Shell at last year’s San Sebastian film festival, Genova tells the story of Joe (played by Colin Firth) who moves to Italy with his two daughters following the death of their mother.

Wide Pictures is showing Joel Hopkins’ Last Chance Harvey across Spanish cinemas. The romantic drama, which was nominated for two golden globes, stars Emma Thompson and Dustin Hoffman as late bloomers who fall in love over a summer weekend in London. 

 
Sorolla Films will be showing Paul Morrison’s Little Ashes about the early lives of Spanish artist Salvador Dali, filmmaker Luis Bunuel and writer Federico Garcia Lorca in cinemas this weekend. The UK-Spanish co-production, starring Robert Pattinson as Dali, will be released on about 60 screens.
 

UK:

Against Star Trek’s saturated release in the market this weekend, Warner Bros will open Stephen Frears’ Cheri on a limited release from May 8. The romantic comedy, which stars Michelle Pfeiffer and Kathy Bates, is set in Twenties Paris and follows a young man who enters a fantasy world after ending an affair with an older woman.

Artificial Eye are releasing Bent Hamer’s comedy O’ Horten, which stars Baard Owe as the eponymous Horten, a train engineer whose life changes upon his retirement,

Paul Morrison’s Little Ashes also hits UK screens in a limited release through Kaleidescope, while rock doc Sounds Like Teen Spirit is released by WME after its recent UK premiere at the East End Film Festival.