• Au cœur du bois
  • Au cœur du bois
  • Au cœur du bois
Competition - French independent Feature films
Au cœur du bois
Ladies of the Wood

Claus Drexel
Documentary | France | 2021 | 1h30
Date & Time
Screen
VERSION
20:45 - Wed. 15 Sep 2021
Le Balzac - Salle 2
French with English subtitles
14:00 - Sat. 18 Sep 2021
Publicis Cinémas - Salle 2
French with English subtitles
SYNOPSIS

Bois de Boulogne, Paris. In this green lung bordering the city, between dusk and dawn wandering among joggers and dog walkers, you may come across queer mystical souls. They all share their life story paced by the clients who come and go. Those are the Ladies of the Wood.

ABOUT THE DIRECTOR

Claus-DrexelClaus Drexel was born in 1968. Of Bavarian origin, he lives and works mostly in France. His films have been nominated for the Louis-Delluc award and the César for Best Documentary Film.

A dunce during his school years in the international section, marked by repeating grades and expulsions, an experience as a hard rock singer in a band that never performed and a title of champion of France's 2nd division of American soccer, Claus Drexel suddenly discovered he had a dazzling passion for cinema. He then left Grenoble, the city where he grew up, and settled in Paris.

He directed several short films, including The Divine Inspiration (2000), starring Keir Dullea (lead actor in Stanley Kubrick's 2001 - A Space Odyssey).

His first feature film, Affaire de Famille, starring André Dussollier and Miou-Miou, was released in June 2008. The screenplay, co-written with Claude Scasso, won the Trophées du Premier Scénario (First Screenplay Award) of CNC (National Centre for Cinema and the Moving Image).

In 2012, he directed the production of Bach's Saint Matthew Passion at the Cirque d'Hiver in Paris, with Didier Sandre in the role of the evangelist.

Au Bord du Monde, a documentary on the homeless in Paris, was presented in the ACID selection in Cannes in 2013. It won the La Croix award for Best Documentary of the Year in 2014, and was nominated for the Louis-Delluc award. The editorial board of Télérama selected it in their festival presenting the fifteen best films of 2014.

In Autumn 2016, Claus Drexel moved to a small isolated town in Arizona, to shoot the documentary America, about the American presidential election. The film, whose original music is signed by Ibrahim Maalouf, was previewed in the Télérama Festival, then distributed in theaters by Diaphana. It was nominated for the César for Best Documentary Film 2019.

In 2019, Claus Drexel shot Sous les étoiles de Paris, a feature film with Catherine Frot. The release of the film was postponed several times because of the Covid-19 crisis. It was finally released on October 28, 2020, and remained in theaters for two days before the second lockdown. It won three awards at the 35th Fort Lauderdale International Film Festival, USA (Best International Film, Audience Award, Best Actress). Télérama named it among the "15 best films of 2020".

His new film, Au Coeur du bois, a documentary on prostitution, mainly transsexual, in the Bois de Boulogne, should be released in 2021.

FILM INFO
Year : 2021
Country : France
Runtime : 1h30
Language : French, Portuguese, Spanish, English (with English and French subtitles)
Colour : -

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