SONS OF RAMSES
(GOUTTE D’OR)
Thursday, October 13 – Truffaut Theatre – 10:30 pm
FICTION / THRILLER, DRAMA
FILM NOIR SERIES & AFTER 10
Presented in Association with:
France Televisions
MK2 Films
North American Premiere | France | 2023 | Thriller, Drama | 98 min | In French with English subtitles
Directed by: Clément Cogitore
Written by: Clément Cogitore, Thomas Bidegain, Fanny Burdino, Camille Lugan, Nadja Dumouchel
Produced by: Jean-Christophe Reymond, Amaury Ovise (Kazak Productions), France 2 Cinéma
Cinematography: Sylvain Verdet
Film Editing: Isabelle Manquillet
Original Score: Éric Bentz
Cast: Karim Leklou (Ramsès), Malik Zidi (Michaël), Yilin Yang (Grace), Ahmed Benaïssa (Younes), Elsa Wolliaston (Céleste), Farida Ouchani (Captain Berthier)
International Sales: MK2 Films
Clément Cogitore‘s sophomore feature Sons of Ramses revolves around an alleged medium/scam artist who does a bustling trade in Paris’ multi-ethnic Goutte d’Or quarter. Mediumship is big business in the ‘hood, and Ramses is so good at conning his marks that local rivals are up in arms and begin threatening him. He thinks that’s his biggest problem, until a predatory gang of feral kids from Tangier — think Fagin’s Oliver Twist bad boys on steroids — burst onto the scene and begin terrorizing everyone in sight… And Ramses, in particular. They continually wreak havoc in his life, trying to enlist him to use his (non-existent) clairvoyant skills to help them. Then, clearly despite himself, Ramses begins to actually communicate with the dead. That’s when he really gets spooked.
Writer/director Clément Cogitore is a filmmaker and contemporary multi-media artist. His work has been awarded, screened and exhibited at numerous major museums worldwide. After directing five short films, his documentary Bielutine premiered in the Cannes Director’s Fortnight. His first feature, The Wakhan Front (2015), was screened in the Cannes International Critic’s Week section, where it was awarded the Gan Foundation Support for Distribution Award. It was also nominated for a César Award for Best First Feature, and won Best First Film Awards from the French Syndicate of Cinema Critics and at COLCOA in 2016. His 2017 documentary Braguino also garnered several festival prizes and another César nomination, this time for Best Short Film. In 2019, the Opéra National de Paris invited Cogitore to stage Jean-Philippe Rameau’s 1735 baroque opera ballet Les Indes Galantes, for which he cast 30 highly nontraditional contemporary dancers. That vibrant production was hailed by The New York Times, garnered numerous prizes in the opera world, and was documented in Philippe Béziat’s dynamic film Gallant Indies, which won the Best Documentary prize at COLCOA in 2021. Sons of Ramses, his second feature, premiered in the International Critic’s Week section of this year’s Cannes Film Festival.
