A DIFFICULT YEAR

Une Année Difficile

North American Premiere | France | 2023 | Comedy | 118 min | In French with English subtitles
Directed by: Olivier Nakache, Éric Toledano
Written by: Olivier Nakache, Éric Toledano
Produced by: Nicolas Duval Adassovski (Quad Films), Olivier Nakache, Éric Toledano (Ten Films)
Cinematography: Mélodie Preel
Film Editing: Dorian Rigal-Ansous
Original Score: Pascal Lengagne
Cast: Pio Marmaï (Albert), Jonathan Cohen (Bruno), Noémie Merlant, Mathieu Amalric, Luàna Bajrami, Jean-Louis Garçon, Grégoire Leprince-Ringuet
International Sales: Gaumont

The Toledano-Nakache dynamic duo is back in business with another spirited comedy, this time taking on conspicuous consumption, climate change and a couple of impudent con men. Compulsive spenders Albert and Bruno are up to their ears in debt and have pretty much burned all their bridges. Enticed by the free beer, veggie chips and fetching female leader, they’re soon lured into a group of hard-core climate activists — not for their ideals, but as a novel way of scheming and scamming the masses. Yet, despite their differing points-of-view, the two deadbeats find themselves more and more committed to the green revolution… albeit with their own gleeful brand of conviction.

Eric Toledano & Olivier Nakache are the savvy, multi-award-winning creators of the mega-hit comedy, The Intouchables (COLCOA 2012), the third-highest-grossing French film of all time. Childhood friends, the twosome began their careers co-writing and co-directing several shorts, followed by a growing inventory of feature films, including Let’s Be Friends (COLCOA 2005); Those Happy Days (COLCOA 2006); Tellement proches (COLCOA 2009); Samba (COLCOA 2015); C’est la Vie! (COLCOA 2018), which received a whopping 10 César nominations, and The Specials (2019).  Toledano & Nakache were also showrunners on the Arte series In Treatment (COLCOA 2021), and enjoy a very special relationship with COLCOA/TAFFF, where they were first introduced to an American audience in 2006. Since that time, the festival has proudly premiered almost every single one of their films. A Difficult Year was screened at the Toronto International Film Festival in September, and is scheduled for release in France on October 18, concurrent with the TAFFF festival.