Archive of films Cold Souls / Cold Souls

USA
2008, 101 min

Section: Official Selection - Competition
Year: 2009

A melancholic comedy by debuting Sophie Barthes which presents Paul Giamatti as a New York stage actor who decides to confront his approaching nervous breakdown by having his soul extracted and deep-frozen. Gogol, Buñuel, Jung and Woody Allen were the inspiration behind this original film, screened for the first time at this year’s Sundance festival.

Synopsis

In this melancholic comedy by debuting Sophie Barthes, we find Paul Giamatti, as a famous New York stage actor, in the midst of an existential crisis brought on by his role in an upcoming production of Chekhov’s Uncle Vanya. After seeing an ad in a magazine, angst-ridden Paul places himself in the care of a mysterious company which guarantees him relief by extracting and temporarily freezing his soul. Now suddenly unburdened, the celebrated actor soon encounters one bizarre complication after another, and he begins to sense that the road leading back to his soul will be paved with once-in-a-lifetime experiences. While the director acknowledges inspiration from Gogol, Buñuel, Jung and Woody Allen, her mature debut is one of the most original films to come out of this year. She presents the story, based on her own dream, incorporating surreal elements and philosophical overlay, with intellectual playfulness and a sense of the absurd. Alongside the superb Giamatti, who was also involved in the production, the film also boasts the equally outstanding Emily Watson, David Strathairn and Dina Korzun.

About the director

Sophie Barthes was born in France and grew up in the Middle East and South America. She moved to New York in 2000 in order to study international relations and film at Columbia University. Three years later she graduated with a documentary film about UNICEF literacy programmes, which she worked on in Yemen with cinematographer Andrij Parekh. Together they subsequently made a short film in Ukraine entitled Snowblink (2004). In 2006 she wrote and directed the film Happiness, screened to critical acclaim at Montreal and Sundance, and at the Prague Shorts festival. Her feature film debut Cold Souls began its journey to the Sundance competition 2009 in the festival Institute’s Writers Lab and corresponding Directors Lab. Sophie Barthes was named one of Filmmaker magazine’s "25 New Faces of Independent Film” for the year 2007.

Contacts

Entertainment One Films International
175 Bloor St. East, Suite 601, North Tower, M4W 3R8, Toronto
Canada
Tel: +1 416 646 2400
Fax: +1 416 979 5824
www: www.eonefilms.com

Aerofilms
Milady Horákové 383/79, 170 00, Praha 7
Czech Republic
Tel: +420 224 947 566
E-mail: [email protected]
www: www.aerofilms.cz

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About the film

Color, 35 mm
European premiere

Section:	Official Selection - Competition

Director:	Sophie Barthes
Screenplay:	Sophie Barthes
Dir. of Photography:	Andrij Parekh
Music:	Dickon Hinchliffe
Editor:	Andy Mondshein
Producer:	Paul Mezey, Jeremy Kipp Walker, Dan Carey, Elizabeth Giamatti, Andrij Parekh
Production:	Journeyman Pictures, Two Lane Pictures, Winner Arts Ltd., Touchy Feely Films, Memento Films, Arte France Cinema
Cast:	Paul Giamatti, David Strathairn, Emily Watson, Dina Korzun
Contact:	Entertainment One Films International, Aerofilms
Distributor:	Aerofilms

Guests

Natalie Kampelmacher

Sophie Barthes

Film Director

Andrij Parekh

Director of Photography

Zuzana Pudilová

Distributor

Ivo Andrle

Distributor