Documentary Films - Competition 2017 / Avant la fin de l’été / Switzerland, France 2017
Even after studying in France for five years, Arash hasn’t completely gotten used to the place, so he decides to return home to Iran. But friends Hossein and Ashkan are determined not to accept the loss of their closest pal. This documentary comedy, about a goodbye road trip across France, boasts beer chugging and French girls, but it’s also about cultural differences and the natural need to find and hold onto kindred spirits when living in a foreign land.
Even after studying in France for five years, Arash hasn’t completely gotten used to the place, so he decides to return home to Iran. Friends Hossein and Ashkan, however, are determined not to accept the loss of their closest pal. So when they plan a goodbye road trip across France it’s just a matter of time before their ulterior motives become clear. This documentary comedy, about the natural need to find and hold onto kindred spirits when living in a foreign land, conveys Arash’s delight in chugging beer, Hossein’s poetic vision of the surrounding world, and Ashkan’s weakness for the charms of French girls. Indeed, encouraged by the presence of musicians Charlotte and Michèle, the boys start showing off, but that’s okay with the girls, who join the likable trio for a portion of the journey. Yet the movie, in which the authentic repeatedly merges into the staged, also has a graver undertone, portraying the homesickness, the cultural differences, and the burdens that await our heroes at home in Iran.
Martin Horyna
80 min / Color, DCP
International premiere
Director Maryam Goormaghtigh
/ Dir. of Photography Maryam Goormaghtigh
/ Music Marc Siffert
/ Editor Gwénola Héaulme
/ Producer Luc Peter, Anne Deluz, Andrea Queralt, David Mathieu-Mahias, Mani Mortazavi
/ Production Intermezzo Films, 4 A 4 Productions
/ Coproduction RTS Radio Télévision Suisse, Sunny Independent Pictures, Salvajes Productions
/ Contact Intermezzo Films, 4 A 4 Productions
www: www.avantlafindelete.ch
Maryam Goormaghtigh (b. 1982, Geneva, Switzerland) lives in Paris and Geneva although she studied musicology and history and aesthetics of cinema in Lausanne; her training in direction came from INSAS, the Brussels film and theater school. Her filmography of short and medium-length films includes Bibeleskaes (2006; co-dir. Blaise Harrison) and Le fantôme de Jenny M (2009), screened at the Visions du Réel fest in Nyon, Switzerland. She shot several shorts for Cut Up, ARTE channel’s documentary film magazine, as well as the web doc Code barre, for which she won an award at the festival in Biarritz, France, in 2012. Before Summer Ends, a sophisticated mix of documentary and dramatic approaches to direction, is her directing debut. At present Goormaghtigh is writing the script for her first purely feature movie while also shooting a documentary series for ARTE Creative.
Intermezzo Films
28, Rue de Bâle, 1201, Geneva
Switzerland
Phone: +41 227 414 747
E-mail: [email protected]
4 A 4 Productions
10 bis, rue Bisson, Paris, 75020
France
Phone: +33 153 367 288
E-mail: [email protected]
Maryam Goormaghtigh
Film Director
Seyed Hossein
Protagonist
Luc Peter
Producer
Andrea Queralt
Producer
Yann Raymond
Film Institution Rep.
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