FAREWELL L’Affaire Farewell U.S. Release date: July 23, 2010 Festival Selection: New York Rendez-Vous with French Cinema Today (2010), Cinémania (2009), Toronto International Film Festival, Special Presentation (2009) West Coast Premiere Thriller/Espionage France, 2009 In French and Russian with English subtitles 35mm/1.85/Dolby DTS/113 min Directed by: Christian Carion Written by: Éric Raynaud, Christian Carion Based on the original work by: Sergei Kostine Cinematography by: Walther Vanden Ende Editing by: Andréa Sedlackova Music by: Clint Mansell Produced by: Christophe Rossignon Production Company: Nord-Ouest Films Coproduction: Le Bureau - Le Petit Bureau, Blackfeet Pictures, France 2 Cinéma, Une Hirondelle Productions, Pathé Distribution / Pathé International International Sales: Pathé International 2, rue Lamennais 75008 Paris France Phone: +33 1.71.72.30.00 www.patheinternational.com U.S. Distribution: Neoclassics Films 3710 S Robertson Blvd Ste 230 90232 Culver City, CA Phone: +1 310.559.9200 www.neoclassicsfilms.com Cast: Emir Kusturica (Sergei Gregoriev), Guillaume Canet (Pierre Froment), Alexandra Maria Lara (Jessica Froment), Ingeborga Dapkunaite (Natasha), Oleksii Gorbunov (Choukhov), Dina Korzun (Alina), Philippe Magnan (François Mitterrand), Niels Arestrup (Vallier), Fred Ward (Ronald Reagan), David Soul (Hutton), Willem Dafoe (Feeney), Evgenie Kharlanov (Igor), Valentin Varetsky (Anatoly), Diane Kruger (agent jogging) http://www.laffairefarewell-lefilm.com Starring two filmmakers in the lead roles, Guillaume Canet (Tell No One, Anything You Say, both shown at COL•COA) and Emir Kusturica (Life is a Miracle, Underground, Arizona Dream), Farewell recounts a crucial episode in the Cold War. Hoping to sabotage the Brejnev regime and give his son a better future, disillusioned KGB colonel Gregoriev (Kusturica) makes contact with Pierre (Canet), an ordinary French engineer working for Thompson. He gives him explosive confidential documents about a network of KGB moles in the West, leaking crucial scientific information to the Soviet Union. Torn between his fear of putting his family in harm’s way and his desire to know more, Pierre brings the documents to the French government and soon gets involved against his will in a highly sensitive espionage affair. CHRISTIAN CARION was an engineer for the Ministry of Agriculture before making films. He decided to change careers after meeting young producer Christophe Rossignon, who has been his producer ever since. Carion made his debut with The Girl from Paris (COL•COA 2002), co-written with Éric Assous and nominated for Best First Film at the 2002 César awards. He followed with another commercial and critical success, the Academy Award® and Golden Globe nominated Merry Christmas (2005). Written and directed by Carion, this moving tale of friendship in WWI trenches among enemy soldiers topped the 2 million viewer mark on its French release and was highly acclaimed during its presentation in official selection at the 2005 Cannes festival. Co-written by Eric Raynaud (Just a Pitch, COL•COA 2009) Farewell is Christian Carion’s third feature as writer-director. PRESS "If this were an amped-up American production, it would, given its subject matter, be one of the most heavily promoted films of the year. (...) Intelligent handling should make Christian Carion's compelling picture a solid international success at least throughout the Western world." Todd Mc Carthy, Variety. "With a wonderfully eclectic soundtrack that’s heavy on Queen, a hilariously accurate portrayal of Ronald Reagan by Fred Ward, a perfectly placed red balloon and one of the most excruciating border crossings ever, L’Affaire Farewell marks another step in the right direction for this Oscar-nominated director." Vanessa Farquharson, National Post.