News 2002

Villa des Roses: Best Belgian Film of 2002

December 2002: "Villa des Roses" won the youth award for "Best Belgian Film of 2002". The jury was composed of 24 members from 13 to 21 years old. Roses Are Blue News

Review: Villa des Roses

December 2002: "Although a small film, it has fireworks in its heart. The performances, especially Delpy, Henderson and Walter, are exquisite..." iofilm.co.uk

Nice girl!

December 2002: In a thread called What celebrities/entertainers have you met?, Sasha writes: "Julie Delpy (seemed in a hurry but was nice and gave autographs)".

Review: Investigating Sex

December 2002: "Alan Rudolph has pulled off a most difficult kind of movie - but it may elude absolute comprehension on a single viewing. Investigating Sex is made with trust in film as poetry, an expressive and evocative art form..." New York Press

Julie Delpy in Bratislava

November 2002: Nine full days can be spent in the magical world of moving pictures during the upcoming fourth International Film Festival (IFF) Bratislava, which opens on November 29. It will offer a high-quality selection of more than 200 feature films and documentaries that represent current trends in European and world cinema. The festival will also feature 22 films competing for the Grand Prix to be awarded by the IFF's international jury, headed this year by French actress Julie Delpy. The Slovak Spectator

FilmAid International Benefit

November 2002: What do international refugees, movies and $20,000 platinum cell phones have in common? Julia Ormond, Rosanna Arquette, Benicio Del Toro, Christian Slater, Daryl Hannah, Lisa Marie and Julie Delpy, that's what. They all showed up at a bash in Beverly Hills Tuesday night to benefit FilmAid International, an international humanitarian organization that educates, entertains and inspires refugees uprooted by violent conflicts around the world, by showing them movies. Source: E! Online

French Connected

October 2002: Guardian Unlimited (UK) recently talked with Julie Delpy about "Villa des Roses" and future plans. Excerpt: "I love history, and as a Parisian I have always been interested in Paris before the war, although the picture was actually shot in Belgium. According to older people that I spoke to, there were many of these fin-de-siècle British-run places that made up little islands of Englishness dotted all over Paris, and all over Europe. I was also interested in the evolution of women for whom everything has changed so radically since then. After the war the 19th century truly ended and there was a new way of thinking." Read the interview here >>

Villa des Roses: Best Feature Film at the Hollywood Film Festival

October 2002: "Villa des Roses" was awarded "Best Feature Film" at the 6th annual Hollywood Film Festival. A European co-production between Belgium, the UK, Luxembourg and The Netherlands, "Villa des Roses" was presented alongside some of Europe and America's finest independent films to take the award on Monday 7th October at the Beverly Hilton Hotel in Los Angeles. As a result, US distributors have been in contact with UK sales agent Electric Dog & Bear with regards to North America rights. Already in the UK, "Villa des Roses" has been nominated for 3 British Independent Film Awards (BIFAs), for Best Achievement in Production and Best Actress nominations for both Shirley Henderson and Harriet Walter. A brilliantly imaginative and beautifully crafted love story set in Paris before the start of the First World War, "Villa des Roses" has already been theatrically released in Belgium and The Netherlands. Electric Dog & Bear will be screening the film at MIFED and are confident of its international potential. Film Council

Review: Villa des Roses

October 2002: "Villa des Roses" is an exquisite postcard from the past. Belgian director Frank Van Passel and cinematographer Jan Vancaillie designed the film so that each scene - indeed each shot - unfolds like a photograph from the early 20th century. Some scenes are black-and-white with a lovely, pale color tint, while others appear as rotogravures from newspapers of that era. Shots of the Paris skyline are indeed stamped postcards come magically to life. This not only evokes a time and place but also gives the drama a melancholy mood as we watch a way of life in Europe about to come to a violent end. After an initial scene in French, this Belgian film switches to English in a bid to increase its chances of North American distribution. While that is a long shot, this deserving film would certainly find a small but enthusiastic audience appreciative of the loving care that has gone into its dark, moody lighting and pristine though antique images of a lost world. It is a gorgeous film. Read more in Hollywood Reporter

Review: Villa des Roses

October 2002: "Villa des Roses" is a far superior film even allowing for the fact that it's a hybrid joint production between Belgium, Luxemburg, Holland and the U.K. Set in a quirky boarding house in Paris in 1913, Timothy West and Harriet Walter star as the owners of this strange piece of Britain on foreign soil. Julie Delpy is the new French maid from the country whose romance with an artist guest is one of several plot lines. As the First World War approaches, things become much bleaker and the atmosphere of the piece changes radically. Excellent production values, brilliant observations, a real sense of period and daguerreotype photography make this a must. Read more in Kingston This Week

Dream Life: An interview with Julie Delpy

September 2002: digitallyOBSESSED! recently talked with Julie Delpy about "Waking Life", her recent roles, directing a film and the continual downward spiral of Hollywood cinema. Read the interview here >>

Julie Delpy in London

September 2002: Julie Delpy will be at Ciné Lumière in London on September 27th for a special preview screening of "Villa des Roses". After the screening, she will be on stage for a Q & A led by Paul Ryan.

Julie Delpy in Venice

September 2002: Julie Delpy spotted at Venice Film Festival, September 4th - Milla Jovovich, Dame Shirley Bassey, Sophie Dahl, Gong Li, Julie Delpy, Julie Taymor, Lady Helen Taylor, Lauren Bush, Rhea Durham, and Elizabeth Berkeley were among those who came out to support the fight against AIDS at amfAR's annual Cinema Against AIDS benefit during the International Venice Film Festival. Held at the Arsenale, the event was hosted by Milla Jovovich. It raised over $500,000 for the lifesaving work of the American Foundation for AIDS Research (amfAR).

Villa des Roses released in the Netherlands

April 2002: "Villa des Roses" - was released on April 11th in the Netherlands. Review from IMDb: "In the world of Belgian cinema, Frank Van Passel has been more than just a name for quite some years now. Both 'Manneken Pis' and 'Terug naar Oosterdonk' made an unforgettable impression and made him perhaps the most important Belgian director to walk the face of the earth. Recently, though, things grew a bit quiet around Frank Van Passel, but let there be no mistake about it: he is back. And how! A firm script by Christophe Dirickx, years of hard work by Frank Van Passel and a for a Belgian movie most extraordinary cast (Julie Delpy, Shaun Dingwall, Harriet Walter, Jan Decleir, Dora Van der Groen and Frank Vercruyssen), all these ingredients make 'Villa Des Roses' an incredible and unforgettable cinematographic experience. Though I was fairly sceptic about the mix of ingredients, the result is more than convincing. Each character receives a well-balanced attention. 'Villa Des Roses' is a must-see and I hope that audiences abroad as well as distributors worldwide will acknowledge, through this subtle masterpiece, that Belgium is more than capable of producing great cinema." Read more >>

Waking Life available on DVD

April 2002: "Waking Life" available on DVD (region 1) from May 7th! Source: Amazon. Review by Dennis Schwartz: "This is a dazzling and overwhelming film, a unique work of true art. It's an intellectual oddity that will be long remembered for its spirited approach to philosophy and to life, it's a film that has given me more pleasure and hope for future films than any other one I have seen this year. It is free-flowing and has the feel of being both scripted an improvisational. It reflects the curiosity of the director who is not afraid to be still learning and breaking new ground in film. The film is not concerned with plot or about trying to make a point, but with ideas and having the medium itself be the message. The effort is a genuine artistic one, there's not one ounce of Hollywood slickness in this film. For that alone, this film is closer to reality than most films. The Disney animation cartoon that the public has grown used to tends to hardly resemble reality, while this Linklater animation cartoon is a whole different animal." Read more

Julie Delpy supports the New York State WTC Relief Fund

March 2002: French actress Julie Delpy bowed out of L.A.'s "24 Hour Plays" on Sunday. The blond beauty was recuperating from a minor car accident the night before. But fellow thespians William H. Macy, Jennifer Grey, Portia di Rossi, Jennifer Coolidge, Ted Danson and Christina Applegate lent their talents to six plays - all written, cast, rehearsed and performed in just one day. The event raised $20,000 in ticket sales alone for the New York State WTC Relief Fund. (From The New York Daily News, March 1.)

Villa des Roses: New trailer

February 2002: Exclusive trailer for "Villa des Roses" now available!

King Lear to premiere 15 years late

February 2002: French director Jean-Luc Godard's all-star adaptation of "King Lear" will premiere in French movie theaters in April - 15 years after it was made. Bodega Films, a new French distribution company bought the theatrical, DVD and television rights to the film, which Godard made for the now-defunct Cannon Films in 1987. Written by and starring Godard and Norman Mailer, "King Lear" also features Woody Allen, Burgess Meredith, Peter Sellers, Leos Carax, Molly Ringwald and Julie Delpy. Sources: Guardian - Allocine

Awards for Waking Life

January 2002: "Waking Life" appears on numerous 2001 Top Ten lists and receives a lot of awards. Read more >>