London River (2009)

Director:

Rachid Bouchareb

Writers:

Rachid Bouchareb (screenplay)
Olivier Lorelle (screenplay)
(more)

Release Date:

29 April 2009 (Belgium)

Genre:

Drama | Mystery

Plot:

Two strangers come to discover the fate of their respective children in the 2005 terrorist attacks on London.

Plot Keywords:

Guernsey | Koran | London England | Religious Differences | Police

Awards:

3 wins & 4 nominations

Cast

Brenda Blethyn	...	Elisabeth
Sotigui Kouyaté	...	Ousmane
Francis Magee	...	Inspecteur anglais
Sami Bouajila	...	Imam
Roschdy Zem	...	Le Boucher
Marc Baylis	...	Edward
Bernard Blancan	...	Ouvrier forestier
Gareth Randall	...	Psteur
Aurélie Eltvedt	...	Guide chapelle
Diveen Henry	...	Policiére anglaise
Salah Mohamed-Marich	...	Locataire appartement
Gurdepak Chaggar	...	Agent de Voyage
Faycal Sekkoum	...	Homme avec portable
Sherekia Barton	...	Coffeuse
Elisabeth Clark	...	Infirmière anglaise
Vidya Fellon Sreenivasan	...	Enseignante mosquée
Mathieu Schiffman	...	Inspecteur anglais

Directed by
Rachid Bouchareb

Writing credits (in alphabetical order)
Rachid Bouchareb		screenplay
Zoé Galeron		screenplay
Olivier Lorelle		screenplay

Produced by
Rachid Bouchareb	....	producer
Jean Bréhat	....	producer
Matthieu de Braconier	....	co-producer
Bertrand Faivre	....	co-producer
Victoria Goodall	....	line producer: UK
Muriel Merlin	....	associate producer

Original Music by
Armand Amar

Cinematography by
Jérôme Alméras

Film Editing by
Yannick Kergoat

Casting by
Julien Grossi

Production Design by
Jean-Marc Tran

Art Direction by
Jean-Marc Tran Tan Ba

Production Management
Farah Abushwesha	....	production manager: UK
Claire Bodechon	....	production manager
Cedric Ettouati	....	post-production supervisor
Mélanie Pienne	....	assistant unit manager

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Marie Levent	....	second assistant director
Mick Pantaleo	....	first assistant director
Mathieu Schiffman	....	first assistant director

Art Department
Alex Giles	....	assistant property master

Sound Department
Nicolas Gilou	....	boom operator
Philippe Lecoeur	....	sound recordist
Franck Rubio	....	sound editor
Franck Rubio	....	sound mixer
Franck Rubio	....	sound re-recording mixer
Olivier Walczak	....	sound editor

Camera and Electrical Department
Karine Arlot	....	second assistant camera
Roger Arpajou	....	still photographer
Simon Blanchard	....	first assistant camera
Xavier Cholet	....	gaffer

Costume and Wardrobe Department
Karine Serrano	....	costumes

Editorial Department
Ornella Del-Vecchio	....	digital conformation
Sophia Del-Vecchio	....	digital conformation
Frederic Jupin	....	digital conformation
Manuel Pinto	....	assistant editor

Music Department
Camille Adrien	....	conductor
Camille Adrien	....	orchestrator
Sylvain Morizet	....	orchestrator
Emilie Ruby	....	music editor

Other crew
Guillaume Bauer	....	title designer
Lucie Bourzam	....	production accountant
Valentina Brazzini	....	production coordinator: UK
Chris Keys	....	location manager
Emma Murphy	....	head of production

Production Companies

• 3B Productions (co-production)
• Tessalit Productions (co-production)
• Arte France (co-production)
• Bureau, The (co-production)
• Centre National de la Cinématographie (CNC) (participation)
• France 3 (FR 3) (participation)
• Agence Nationale pour la Cohésion Sociale et l'Egalité des Chances (ACSE) (participation)
• Région Provence Côte d'Azur (participation)

Distributors

• ABC Distribution (2009) (Belgium) (theatrical)
• Cinema Libre Studio (2011) (USA) (theatrical)
• Cinemien (2009) (Netherlands) (theatrical)
• Magyarhangya (2010) (Hungary) (theatrical)
• Mongrel Media (2011) (Canada) (theatrical)
• Primer Plano Film Group (2010) (Argentina) (theatrical)
• Tadrart Films (2009) (France) (theatrical)
• Trinity Filmed Entertainment (2010) (UK) (theatrical)
• Audio Visual Entertainment (2010) (Greece) (DVD)
• California Filmes (2009) (Brazil) (all media)
• Film1 (2010) (Netherlands) (TV) (limited)
• Homescreen (2010) (Belgium) (DVD)
• Homescreen (2010) (Netherlands) (DVD)
• Mongrel Media (2011) (Canada) (DVD)
• NonStop Entertainment (2009) (Sweden) (all media)
• Spentzos Films (2009) (Greece) (all media)
• Transeuropa Video Entertainment (TVE) (2010) (Argentina) (DVD)

Special Effects

• Laboratoire GTC

Other Companies

• Mediacom 24-7  accommodation

Also Known As:

Runtime:

88 min | Argentina:87 min (Pantalla Pinamar Festival)

Country:

UK | France | Algeria

Language:

English | French | Arabic

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

DTS

Certification:

USA:Not Rated | Netherlands:12 | Argentina:Atp | Sweden:Btl | Canada:G (Quebec) | Canada:PG (Ontario) | Australia:PG | UK:12 | Singapore:M18 (Blu-ray) | Singapore:PG

Filming Locations:

Cavaillon, Vaucluse, France

Company:

3B Productions

Trivia:

The film received a one-week run release in Los Angeles starting 13 November 2009 in order to qualify for the Academy Awards. However it wasn't released in New York until 7 December 2011.

Goofs:

Anachronisms: The film is set in July 2005, however an advertisement for the ps3 video game "Haze" (released in May 2008) can be seen on a bus.

Movie Connections:

Featured in "Breakfast: Episode dated 6 July 2010" (2010)

Two Damaged Souls Searching For Truth

In the days following the London train bombings,hundreds of people from England,as well as other parts of Europe scrambled anxiously trying to find out about their loved ones. In this story,we get stories of two single parents in search of their children. There is Elizabeth,a fifty something woman,living as far north of the (so called)big,evil city of London,being perfectly content to work the earth on her farm,while Ousmane,a tall,lanky man of African descent is trying to find out about his estranged son,whom he hasn't seen since he left home to work in France,when his son was only six. Through a series of chance meetings, they both find out that the daughter & son were lovers,living together in London. Both travel there in search of their estranged children. Do they find them & find some kind of closure? Brenda Bleythn (Secrets & Lies)is Elizabeth,a woman who obviously fears the unknown. Mali actor, Sotigue Kouyate is Ousmane,a worry worn man,who just wants to live out his days,tending the Elm trees. Also featuring Francis Magee,Sami Bouajila, Roschady Zem & Marc Baylis. Rachid Bouchareb ('Little Senegal')directs from a screenplay written by Zoe Galeron,Olivier Lorelle & Bouchareb. Cinematography by Jerome Almeras,with editing by Yannick Korgoat. This is a heart breaking,but very well written,directed & acted drama of a woman trying to rise above fear & ignorance & banding together with a stranger who is attempting to find some reasoning in the middle of chaos. As this film has no North American distribution,it may be a bit hard to track down (it has been screened mostly at film festivals,and as far as I know,there is no DVD release available). Spoken in English,and French,Arabic & Bambarra with English subtitles. Not rated by the MPAA,this film contains some rather gruesome images of some of the victims of the London train bombings that could be traumatic to young children