Official Selection - Out of Competition 2015 / Partisan / Australia 2014
Charming Gregori (Vincent Cassel) is the leader and only man in a community of women and their kids he opened his arms to and gave shelter. His favorite, eleven-year-old Alexander, is the eldest of the kids that Gregori trains to carry out tasks of a special and dangerous nature. Talented newcomer Ariel Kleiman’s feature debut.
Alex celebrates his 11th birthday. He lives in a closed-off compound of mothers and children overseen by the smooth-talking Gregori. Alex believes that the world beyond the rock walls is evil and he willingly listens to this fatherly leader. But then another 11-year-old boy, Leo, appears in the group and refuses to acknowledge Gregori’s authority. Alexander looks at Leo with awe, experiencing a curiosity he has never felt before. “In many ways, it’s a Pied Piper tale,” says debut director Ariel Kleiman. “In our version, Gregori’s hypnotic instrument is not his pipe but his mouth.” Kleiman was able to rely on charismatic French charmer Vincent Cassel as Gregori, while young Jeremy Chabriel was a true discovery in the role of a boy with an angelic smile and the eyes of a killer. In terms of craft, Partisan is a stylized effort that emphasizes careful camerawork and grandiose music, with the finishing touches provided by a backdrop of urban tenements. The picture took part in the world dramatic competition at the Sundance festival.
Šimon Šafránek
98 min / Color, DCP
European premiere
Director Ariel Kleiman
/ Screenplay Ariel Kleiman, Sarah Cyngler
/ Dir. of Photography Germain McMicking
/ Music Daniel Lopatin
/ Editor Jack Hutchings, Chris Wyatt
/ Art Director Steven Jones-Evans, Sarah Cyngler
/ Producer Anna McLeish, Sarah Shaw
/ Production Warp Films Australia Pty Ltd
/ Cast Vincent Cassel, Jeremy Chabriel, Florence Mezzara
/ Sales Protagonist Pictures
Ariel Kleiman (b. 1985, Melbourne, Australia) is one of today’s premier talents. While studying at Australia’s Victorian College of the Arts his student efforts began enjoying international acclaim: the short Young Love (2009) screened at Sundance, while his 20-minute drama Deeper Than Yesterday (2010) world premiered during Cannes’ Critics’ Week and took two awards; it was also presented at Karlovy Vary. Partisan is Kleiman’s feature debut. Prior to filming, the script, which Kleiman wrote with longtime professional and life partner Sarah Cyngler, garnered the Mahindra Global Filmmaking Award, and the director was invited to workshop the project at Sundance’s Directors and Screenwriters Lab. Partisan then premiered at this year’s Sundance festival, winning an award for DOP Germain McMicking.
Protagonist Pictures
48-48 Great Portland Stcy, W1W 7NB, London
United Kingdom
Phone: +44 207 734 9000
E-mail: [email protected]
Ariel Kleiman
Jeremy Chabriel
Actor
George Hamilton
Sales Agent
Florence Mezzara
Actress
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