GERMANY – 2008 – DCP – color – 100’

Direction: Claire Denis
Screenplay: Jean-Pol Fargeau
Cinematography: Agnès Godard
Editing: Guy Lecorne
Set design: Arnaud de Moléron
Music: Tindersticks
Costumes: Judy Shrewsbury
Cast: Alex Descas (Lionel), Mati Diop (Joséphine), Nicole Dogué (Gabrielle), Grégoire Colin (Noé), Jean-Christophe Folly (Ruben), Ingrid Caven, Djédjé Apali, Eriq Ebouaney
Producers: Komplizen Film in coproduzione con Haut Et Court, Frakas Productions, Ndr, Tobis, Mmc Movies Köln, Erfttal Film, Rtbf (Télévision Belge), Proximus, Shelter Prod in coproduzione con Christoph Friedel, Claudia Steffen
Production: International Distribution: Soudaine Compagnie, Pandora Film Produktion, Arte France Cinema, Wdr/Arte, Sofica Cofinova 4 And Soficinema 4, Canal+, Tps Star

SYNOPSIS

Lionel is a widower and lives with his daughter Joséphine, whom he raised alone after his wife died. Their life now seems that of a close and established couple, but Lionel realises that his daughter has become an adult and it is now time for her to pursue her own path.

CRITICAL NOTE

“There is love in Claire Denis’ act of filming, which makes possible a film like this one: a strong film, even though its plot precisely consists in feelings and their variations, intangible and concrete as they always are. (…) Cinema as a complex, moving, impalpable narrative, where an increasingly rare power of seduction of the image is affirmed” (Cristina Piccino, Il manifesto , 31 August 2008)“ 35 Rhums is perfectly shot, simply enchanting – an empathetic study of a tiny black community living in a block of flats, a kind of vertical family that believes in its own little world, fortified by real feelings, while outside deception creeps in” (Dario Zonta, L’Unità , 31 August 2008) “You can live in a movie like this. It doesn’t lecture you. These people are getting on with their lives, and Denis observes them with tact. She’s not intruding, she’s discovering. We sense there’s not a conventional plot, and that frees us from our interior movie-going clock. We flow with them. Two are blessed, two are problematic. Will all four be blessed at the end? 35 Shots of Rum is a wise movie, and knows that remains to be seen.” (Roger Ebert, www.rogerebert.com)

AWARDS
2008 Hamburg FF: Art Cinema Award
2008 Gijón IFF: Special Jury Award