Six years to the day since the release of Amélie in Germany (attracting 3 million spectators), Hunting and Gathering by Claude Berri has had a promising opening weekend in the country.
Distributed by Prokino Filmverleih on August 16 on 130 prints, the film has registered one of French films’ best debuts this year, with 113,000 admissions to date. It boasts the highest per-print score at the box office, and ranks in 6th place. The high profile of Audrey Tautou in Germany along with the success of the novel by Anna Gavalda have no doubt boosted the popularity of the film.
Germany has long been considered one of French films’ key markets, and this year has already seen around 20 French productions hitting the screens.
Among these titles, Arthur and the Invisibles has put in a fine performance (close to 700,000 admissions on 500 prints, released by Tobis Film, as has La Vie en Rose (around 500,000 admissions on 200 prints, released by Constantin Film), Two Days in Paris (252,000 admissions on 68 prints, released by 3L Filmverleih), You Are So Beautiful (225,000 admissions on 52 copies, released by Movienet Film GmbH), Quand j'étais chanteur (The Singer, aka I Did It My Way) (200,000 admissions on 74 prints, released by Prokino), Paris, je t'aime (170,000 admissions on 72 prints, released by Senator Filmverlei), and La Tourneuse de Pages (The Page Turner)(118,000 admissions on 43 prints, released by Alamode).
All these successful releases were handled by different distributors, indicating the high level of interest shown in French films in Germany at this time.
The upcoming Franco-German Film Meetings (Rendez-vous Franco-Allemands du Cinéma),
to be held in Versailles from November 22 through 24, will throw the spotlight on the excellent relations between the French and German movie industries.
