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Valérie Donzelli

Actor
French filmmaker and actor Valérie Donzelli, born in Épinal in 1973, works as both a director and a performer. Her autobiographically inspired film "Declaration of War" ("La Guerre est déclarée", 2011), in which she also starred, was selected as the French entry for Best Foreign Language Film at the Academy Awards and received several César nominations. She competed for the Palme d'Or at the Cannes Film Festival with the historical drama "Marguerite & Julien" (2015). Her more recent work, "Just the Two of Us" ("L'Amour et les Forêts", 2023), was also presented at Cannes and earned lead actress Virginie Efira a César Award.

Films

The Queen of Hearts

The Queen of Hearts

By Valérie Donzelli

2009 | 83 min | Comedy

Adèle's attempt to recover from a breakup leads to surprising results. Jumping from one lover to the next, she realizes that they are similar.

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Burning Beds

Burning Beds

1988 | 83 min | Comedy

It is well known that a German man's love of cars comes before his interest in the opposite sex. Gina wages a two-front war against this state of affairs: as a vehicle inspector at the TÜV, she lovingly seizes her opportunities to take revenge on man and machine, while in her private life she devotes herself to the previously missed sexual revolution with unreserved exploratory fury. What Gina does is done with German thoroughness. Harry, a Brit, values self-control, discretion and restraint. Qualities ...

Tuvalu

Tuvalu

1999 | 91 min | Drama

TUVALU is an island the main characters dream about as a place of refuge. A dream that seems unlikely to come true, given the fact that they are cut off from the outside world in a once opulent but now run-down and largely deserted swimming pool. "A small sensation" (Spiegel.de)

Second Thoughts

Second Thoughts

2021 | 85 min | Drama

Marie is blindsided by her boyfriend at his brother's wedding in front of the assembled family with a marriage proposal. Marie has no idea how to react to this. She flees to the countryside to think about herself, her life and her relationship alone. Alone? In her mother's vacation home, things soon get increasingly tighter and more absurd: because Marie's thoughts suddenly take shape, her "thought people" become more numerous and more penetrating. They force possible baby names on her, an ex-boyfriend ...

Absurdistan

Absurdistan

2008 | 87 min | Comedy

An allegorical comedy about two childhood sweethearts destined for one another until the women of their village go on a sex strike that threatens the couple's first night of love. Veit Helmer tells a lovably absurd story full of passion and fantasy. The young lovers Aya and Temelko seem destined for each other. They await their honeymoon, which is determined by Aya's grandmother and the stars. Finally, their speical night is to commence with a communal bath. But this doesn't happen, because the ...

The Bicycle

The Bicycle

2015 | 82 min | Independent

Antonia is Canadian, who speaks as little German as Mark speaks English. Communication problems are inevitable. The Paris vacation is a last attempt to save the stalled relationship: with moderate success - until Antonia gives Mark a bicycle. German young talent Arne Körner takes us on a road movie in progress - two lonely people who are trying to make the most of their time together - ´but fail gloriously. "A great perceptual and cinematic experience that appeals to the heart and senses. (Film ...

Gate to Heaven

Gate to Heaven

2003 | 88 min | Comedy

After her shift Nisha sneaks into the planes at night and entertains imaginary first class passengers. She meets the young Russian Alexej, who has fled to Germany and works under the table to make ends meet. Their nightly airplane fantasies draws them together, as Alexei dreams of flying - as a pilot.

Kissing?

Kissing?

2017 | 77 min | Comedy

Blunt, sarcastic, honest and in a signature style, filmmaker Yannis Korres' Mumblecore-romcom KISSING? is a declaration of love to the lost souls of today's crisis generation - a story about sex, love and (not) belonging. KISSING? won Best Acting in a debut film at the Athens International Film Festival. Staring down the barrel of their thirties, disoriented Xennials Danny (Thanassis Petropoulos) and Stella (Iro Bezou) feel utterly lost - just what is it about the remainder of their lives that frightens ...

Voltage

Voltage

2018 | 16 min | Drama

Lizzy is in love with Bernhard, but Bernhard is undecided. Lizzy returns Bernhard’s dog, which she occasionally watches, and stays a little longer. Lizzy shows Bernhard some kung-fu moves; Bernhard starts to flirt; and, although it’s not like her, Lizzy gets embarrassed. The same night, Bernhard asks her to drive him to a party outside town. A tense ride begins.

Pantheress

Pantheress

2016 | 22 min | Drama

Her former life has been taken over by strange people. Detached from life, she strolls through the city and tries desperately to find a new start. But can you get something back that has long since disappeared? Winner of best debut at the New Renaissance Film Festival Amsterdam, Lydia-Maria Emrich's PANTHERESS tosses the protagonist from her old life into uncharted waters.

Lovers

Lovers

2019 | 78 min | Drama

Two performance artists are trying to celebrate the last 24 hours of their relationship. After their breakup, performance artists Greta and Rodi decide to spend another 24 hours together to bring their relationship to a dignified end. But their intended farewell gets mixed up with a last joint art project and things progressively get out of hand. The story begins where others end. After breaking up, a young couple decides to spend 24 hours together so they can say goodbye in style. However, this ...