The upcoming film by Romanian director Cristi Puiu, La Conac/The Manor House is one of 17 projects selected for Paris Projects this year, part of the Paris Cinema Festival, according to cinema news site Screen Daily. The Paris Projects program runs between June 30 and July 3.

“We received 400 projects, some 30 percent more than last year… we’ve tried to achieve a balance between established filmmakers and new talents,” said Vanja Kaludjercic, quoted by Screen Daily, who is leading Paris Projects for the second time this year.

The program also includes works by Terence Davies, Mads Matthiesen, Belgian Bavo Defurne, Indonesian filmmaker Edwin and K Rajagopal, from Singapore, according to Screen Daily.

The idea of Paris Projects is to get filmmakers from around the world together with French producers and distributors, hopefully fostering deals to bring more world cinema to French screens.

Puiu's film is reportedly based on A Short Story of the Anti-Christ, an excerpt from the writings of 19th Century Russian philosopher Vladimir Sergeyevich Solovyov, who was a friend an confident of the great Russian writer Fyodor Dostoevsky. The film received a RON 910,000 (some EUR 210,000) grant from Romania's National Center of Cinematography, according to local news agency Mediafax.

Cristi is probably best know for his film The Death of Mr Lazarescu, which won Un Certain Regarde at the 2005 Cannes film festival. He has also won a Golden Bear at the Berlinale with Un cartuş de Kent şi un pachet de cafea/A Pack of Kent and a Packet of Coffee.

editor@romania-insider.com