The full length trailer has been released for PARTISAN, which stars Vincent Cassel and is the debut feature from director Ariel Kleiman.
The trailer gives us a glimpse behind the walls – telling the tale of a young Alexander (Jeremy Chabriel) who has been raised alongside other children in a closed community by its patriarch Gregori (Vincent Cassel), his mother Susanna (Florence Mezzara) and a group of women. Reality for this extended family is a colourful and energetic world, where freedom of expression and creativity are encouraged through open education and karaoke nights. But it’s also an insular environment closed off from the outside world. Alexander is like any other kid: playful, curious and naive. He is also a trained assassin.
In addition to this claustrophobic environment, the film features stunning imagery of otherworldly landscapes shot on location in Georgia, Europe. These powerful images earned cinematographer Germain McMicking the World Cinema Dramatic Special Jury award for Cinematography at Sundance this year.
PARTISAN’s co-writer and director Ariel Kleiman is a graduate of the Victorian College of the Arts. His award winning short films have resonated with audiences around the world; the absurdist love story, Young Love (click to view) and the epic submarine drama, Deeper Than Yesterday (click to view), the latter winning the Petit Rail d’Or and the Kodak Discovery Award for Best Short Film at the 2010 Cannes Film Festival and the Grand Jury Prize at Sundance 2011.
PARTISAN’s producers Anna McLeish and Sarah Shaw of Warp Films Australia (Snowtown, Shopping) commissioned Kleiman and screenwriting partner Sarah Cyngler to develop PARTISAN as their first feature film. Kleiman and Cyngler’s screenplay was inspired by a newspaper article and exploring the concept of innocence stolen.
Since PARTISAN’s Sundance premiere early this year, Kleiman has received worldwide attention as the filmmaker to watch. PARTISAN will shortly open the Jeonju Film Festival in Korea.
PARTISAN will release in Australian cinemas nationally May 28.
View the trailer below.