THE NAMES OF LOVE Stills

MUSIC BOX FILMS PRESENTS

Michel Leclerc’s

THE NAMES OF LOVE

(Le nom des gens)

*** César Awards 2011 – WINNER – Best Actress, Best Original Screenplay ***
*** Col-Coa Film Festival 2011 – Official Selection ***
*** Cannes International Film Festival 2010 – Official Selection ***

OPENING IN LOS ANGELES AND NEW YORK ON JUNE 24

Baya Benmahmoud (Sara Forestier), a young, extroverted liberal, lives by the old hippie slogan: “Make love, not war” to convert right-wing men to her left-wing political causes by sleeping with them. She seduces many and so far has received exceptional results – until she meets Arthur Martin (Jacques Gamblin), a Jewish middle aged, middle-of-the road scientist. Bound by common tragic family histories (the Algerian War and Holocaust under Vichy), the duo improbably fall in love. Amid the bubbly amour, humorous lasciviousness and moments of sheer madness, filmmaker Michel Leclerc injects satirical riffs on such hot-button sociopolitical issues as Arab-Jewish relations, anti-Semitism, immigration, and racial and cultural identity.

24 year-old rising French star Sara Forestier first got noticed for her performance in Abdellatif Kechiche’s “Games of Love and Chance” which earned her the César for Best Female Newcomer in 2005. She has since alternated work on commercial and “auteur” films with directors such as Michel Deville, Bertrand Blier, and Alain Resnais. She will next be seen in the US as French pop star France Gall in Joann Sfar’s “Gainsbourg: A Heroic Life.” Ms. Forestier won the 2011 César for Best Actress for THE NAMES OF LOVE against Kristin Scott Thomas, Catherine Deneuve, Charlotte Gainsbourg and Isabelle Carré.

Jacques Gamblin is one France’s most popular actors, whose many film credits include Bertrand Tavernier’s “Safe Conduct” for which he won the Berlin Film Festival’s Best Actor Award, and Claude Chabrol’s final film, “Bellamy.” Mr. Gamblin just completed filming Gianni Amelio’s “The First Man” based on the novel by Albert Camus.

THE NAMES OF LOVE is scheduled to open in Los Angeles and New York on June 24, 2011 followed by a national release.

Directed by Michel Leclerc. Written by Michel Leclerc and Baya Kasmi. Starring Jacques Gamblin and Sara Forestier with Zinedine Soualem, Carole Franck, Jacques Boudet and Michèle Moretti.

Running Time:     102 minutes
Language:             French (with English subtitles)
Rating:                 Not yet rated