THE EMPIRE
(L’Empire)
CINEMA COMPETITION
TRUFFAUT THEATRE
Comedy / Sci-Fi
SATURDAY NOVEMBER 2
10:20 pm
Presented in association with:
Kino Lorber
Memento International
North American Premiere | France, Germany, Italy, Belgium | 2024 | Comedy, Sci-Fi | 110 min | In French with English subtitles
Directed by: Bruno Dumont
Written by: Bruno Dumont
Produced by: Jean Bréhat (Tessalit Productions), Bertrand Faivre, Emma Binet (Furyo Films), Dorothe Beinemeier (Red Balloon Film), Matteo Rovere & Andrea Paris (Ascent Film), Olivier Dubois (Novak Prod), Joaquim Sapinho & Marta Alves (Rosa Filmes), Fabrizio Mosca.
Cinematography: David Chambille
Film Editing: Bruno Dumont, Desideria Reyner
Cast: Lyna Khoudri (Line), Anamaria Vartolomei (Jane), Camille Cottin (The Queen), Brandon Vlieghe (Jony), Julien Manier (Rudy), Fabrice Luchini (Belzébuth), Bernard Pruvost (Van der Weyden), Philippe Jore (Carpentier)
International Sales: Memento International
US Distributor: Kino Lorber Films
US Release date: 2025
It’s the age-old battle of good vs. evil — or perhaps church vs. monarchy — in Bruno Dumont‘s off-the-wall Star Wars parody, The Empire. Set in the quaint seaside town of Boulogne-sur-Mer, the plot revolves around a “very special” toddler named Freddy, his lobsterman father (who’s serving the dark side), a beach bunny beauty (who serves the light), a jovial “Darth Vader” surrogate in a court-jester get-up, an ethereal Queen in a hovering hologram… and a colossal invasion of aliens plotting an imminent Armageddon. Complete with space ships, light sabers, intergalactic battles and CGI architectural monuments, The Empire delves even deeper into the twisted jocularity of its auteur filmmaker.
Philosophy professor-turned-filmmaker Bruno Dumont took the cinema world by storm with his first film, La vie de Jésus (COLCOA 1998), which won the coveted Caméra d’or at Cannes and the Prix Jean Vigo. His films have garnered countless prizes the world over, and he continues to be a favorite at Cannes, where Humanity (1999) walked away with an unheard of three trophies — the Grand Jury Prize and both Best Actor and Best Actress Awards; Flandres (COLCOA 2007) nabbed the Grand Jury Prize, yet again; and Jeanne (2019) won the Un Certain Regard Award. Other titles include Twenty-nine Palms (2003), Hadewijch (2009), Outside Satan (2011), Camille Claudel 1915 (2013) and Jeannette: The Childhood of Joan of Arc (2017). Dumont’s decidedly bleak vision has more recently turned to farce, with Slack Bay (COLCOA 2017), France (COLCOA 2021), and the mini-series Li’l Quinquin (2014) and Coincoin and the Extra-Humans (2018). The Empire premiered at this year’s Berlin Film Festival, where it was awarded the Silver Bear Jury Prize.
