The Red Head

François Lepic has come to spend his holidays with his parents in the Morvan region. He is twelve years old, has red hair and his face is covered with freckles: he is nicknamed Poil de Carotte. The last born of the family, he is hated by his tyrannical mother who reserves her love for her elder son, Félix, a sly and lazy adolescent... Poil de Carotte suffers profoundly from this lack of love. His father seems to be indifferent to the problem, being much more preoccupied by the forthcoming municipal elections. His rejection plunges Poil de Carotte into the depths of despair and he tries several times to commit suicide. Fortunately, his father arrives at the last minute to save him and finally has a proper conversation with his son. From now on, Poil de Carotte will have someone to defend him against his mother.

Born in Lille in 1896, Julien Duvivier was a theatre actor before turning to the cinema at the end of the First World War. After a period as assistant to Louis Feuillade and Marcel L’Herbier, Duvivier directed his own first film, Haceldama ou Le prix du sang, in 1919. During a long and prolific career, Duvivier made more than sixty films, and colaborated in many others. In addition to his work in France where he was reknowned for his commercial success, his efficacity and his technical prowess, he worked in the USA (particularly during a period of exile in the Second World War), in Canada, in England, in Belgium and in Germany. OCTUOR DE FRANCE The BNP Paribas Brazil Foundation, the Accor Group and Fnac present Octuor de France. Formed in 1979 by clarinettist Jean-Louis Sajot, the Octuor de France has always given priority to the promotion of music for the clarinet from the 18th century to the present day. The ensemble aims to have the widest possible repertoire and its name testifies to its desire to promote French music beyond its frontiers by means of regular overseas tours. The musicians of the Octuor de France perform in formations from duet to octet, with or without piano. They propose a vast repertoire of classical, romantic and contemporary works but also give their public the opportunity to rediscover forgotten or rarely played works. Furthermore, Octuor de France commissions scores from present day composers to encourage the creation of new works. The Octuor de France also participates in the revival of the silent movie by giving « concert-projections » with scores specially written for the Octuor de France. The Octuor de France has recorded the works of Antonin Reicha, Carl-Maria von Weber, Franz Schubert, Wolgang-Amadeus Mozart, Johannes Brahms, Joseph Haydn, Jean Françaix and Marcel Landowski. In the field of the silent cinema they have recorded the music for The Man Who Laughs written for the Octuor de France by the Canadian composer, Gabriel Thibaudeau, to accompany Paul Leni’s 1928 film based on Victor Hugo’s famous novel, L’homme qui rit, and also their first DVD, Visages d’Enfants by Jacques Feyder (1925) with music written for the Octuor de France by the Italian composer, Antonio Coppola, recorded in October 2004. In the 32th Mostra, o Octour de France if live present in the screenings of The Man Who Laugh’s and other classic movie mute, the drama Poil of Carrot, masterpiece of director Julien Duvivier, from 1925. Born in 1959 in Beauharnois, Quebec, Mr. Thibaudeau studied piano at the Vincent d’Indy Music School and composition at the Music Faculty of Montreal University. He also participated in summer schools at the Orford Arts Center where he worked on composition with Iannis Xenakis. As permanent pianist at the Quebec Film Library since 1988, and recognised as the Canadian specialist in the accompanying of silent movies, he has been invited since 1991 to the Gionarte del Cinema Muto, in Pordenone and since 1992 to the festival Il Cinema Ritrovato, in Bologna, Italy. Since 1993, among other works for the silent cinema, he has composed a quintet for brass and percussion for the film Straight Shooting (1971), a concerto for piano and chamber orchestra for the film The Fall of the House of Usher, a sextet for the film Foolish Wives, and a Requiem for soprano and piano for the film The Hunchback of Notre-Dame. In association with the Octuor de France he has composed the music to accompany The Man who Laughs, Au Bonheur des Dames, The Iron Mask and Poil de Carotte, as well as adapting for the Octuor de France his orchestral score for The Phantom of the Opera.

43ª MOSTRA INTERNACIONAL DE CINEMA

43ª MOSTRA INTERNACIONAL DE CINEMA