Other Angle Plays For More Than Just Laughs With 3rd Edition Of French Comedy Club in L.A.
28.11.2023 - 22:51
/ deadline.com
L.A. French cinema lovers were deprived of their annual fall fix of Gallic film culture this year with the cancellation of the American French Film Festival due to the Hollywood strikes.
A handful of the titles originally slated to play at that event will now screen at the third edition of the French Comedy Club, running this weekend at the Lumière Cinema in Beverly Hills.
The two-day showcase opens with The Midwife (Sage-homme) which grossed $4.6 million at the box office in France for Warner Bros. France earlier this year.
Newcomer Melvin Boomer stars opposite Karin Viard as a young man who decides to try out midwifery after he fails his medicine exams.
The program also features A Difficult Year, the latest film from Untouchable directorial duo Eric Toledano and Olivier Nakache. Pio Marmaï, and Jonathan Cohen co-star as two swindlers opposite Noémie Merlant as an eco-activist.
The film, which made its international premiere in Toronto, released in France on October 18 and has grossed some $6.5 million at home for Gaumont.
The line-up is rounded out by Albert Dupontel’s presidential election comedy Second Tour, which has grossed around $7.1 million in France for Pathé since its theatrical launch on November 1, and Tarek Boudali’s kidnap caper Only 3 Days Left, which has grossed $13.3 million for Studiocanal, also from November 1.
The French Comedy Club showcase is the brainchild of Olivier Albou and Laurence Schonberg, co-heads of Paris-based sales and production house Other Angle, who are currently based L.A. as they attempt to expand their activities in the U.S.
“One thousand people attended each of the first two editions with sold out theatres.” says Albou. “It a mix of professionals and public. That’s a nice