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Filming in Paris has concluded for "Un baiser papillon" (aka "A Butterfly Kiss"), which is now in post production. Written and directed by Vincent's wife, Karine Silla, this film project is a family affair which goes beyond having Vincent in the cast. Whereas most filmmakers do not place their own children in front of the camera, Karine has opted to use daughters Roxane and Iman as shown in the above photo. Interesting... Karine's directorial debut is also partially financed by her sister, Virginie Silla Besson, and brother-in-law Luc Besson, both producers at Europa Corp. Though there is no synopsis available at this time, it can be deduced that a female named Billie, played by Italian actress Valeria Golino ("Rain Man"), is stricken with cancer and struggles with a fateful prognosis while Vincent portrays her love interest. You can click on the above link to visit the new film page and photos.

Viewing the photos, you will quickly notice that the images strongly point to a chick flick. The film was originally described as a sentimental comedy; however, the images reveal much more sadness than humor and the choice of cinematographical effects greatly exaggerate that fact. Unfortunately, the lighting is so dark and muted that I have had to either manipulate the color or convert some of the images to black & white in order to view them. I really hate to do this because their authenticity is lost. I would assume the film will not have its theatrical release for at least another year but I will keep you updated on its editing process and any new information. On a personal note, it is encouraging to see female directors and I salute Kathryn Bigelow nabbing that Oscar last year for her monumental efforts in directing "The Hurt Locker" with an all-male cast!

With the focus on Karine today, I have updated the photo gallery - "Karine and Children" with more pics. Enjoy!

On September 1 on France 2 Television, Vincent will be featured as one of two celebrities whose family history will be explored. You may be familiar with the acclaimed Johns Hopkins program, "Who Do You Think You Are?" broadcast in Britain on the BBC and in the U.S. on NBC. In France it's being called, "Retour aux sources" (Back to Basics) and celebrities will be given the chance to meet their ancesters in France and abroad. The show is hosted by Arnaud Poivre d'Arvor. Part documentary, part adventure, the quest for family history is being made possible thanks to the complicity of multiple stakeholders: parents, genealogists, archivists, historians, etc.. Sharing the spotlight on September 1 will be actress Clémentine Célarié. A few months ago I caught an episode on NBC highlighting the family of Brooke Shields. It was quite fascinating and she was actually able to trace her family origins back to French royalty!

Filming began last month in Paris for "Un baiser papillon" (aka "A Butterfly Kiss"), directed and written by Vincent's wife, Karine. The project, financed by Europa Corp and Thelma Films, stars Valeria Bolino as Billie, Cécile De France as Alice, Elsa Zylberstein as Marie, Jalil Lespert as Paul, and last, but not least, Vincent as Louis!

Earlier this month on Saturday, June 12, Vincent and his wife attended the marriage of Marine Delterme and Florian Zeller. The small intimate wedding took place at the Winter Circus in Paris. Guests included the French President and his wife and Vincent's ex, Carla Bruni.

Today is Vincent's 46th birthday and this web site also celebrates another anniversary! It has been 11 years since The Vincent Perez Archives was launched and this fact proves to be a very rare occurrence among celebrity web sites. The typical celeb site is created by someone between 18 and 25 years old, whose interest begins to wane after two years. Truly, there are massive grave sites of celeb sites that haven't been updated in years!  I am proud to say that this web site has never featured any ads, is continually updated and retains clean visuals and foremost, informative reporting. I appreciate the support from fans through the years and I especially thank Mr. Perez for the honor of celebrating his life and career in this online endeavor.

An international conference at the University of California, Berkeley, was the setting for a screening last month of INHALE (note the new poster). The subject of the conference was combating illegal trafficking in human organs and tissues. A second film, "H.O.T. - Human Organs Trafficking", a 2009 documentary was also shown. Todd Brown of Twitchfilm.net had the chance to view a promo reel of the film and this was his take - "Dermot Mulroney is essentially being asked to carry this film - he features in every shot of the promo - and he looks to be a stellar fit as the sort of weathered anti-hero Kormakur prefers, playing a DA forced to travel to Mexico to procure an illegal organ transplant to save the life of his young daughter. One of the things I love best about Kormakur is how his films interact with their environments and it was fascinating to see how the shift from Iceland to a desert environment has forced him to change his preferred palette while still retaining his signature shooting style. This one hasn't sold in North America yet but it could very well end up being something of a solid little sleeper hit for fans of intelligent, morally complex thrillers." In a May 11th Spanish interview, director Baltasar Kormákur indicated that the film will premiere in the U.S. and other countries in the autumn. Be sure to click on the film link above for more publicity stills.

There is good news for Vincent! Back in 2006 he was able to acquire the exclusive film rights to the 1947 book, ALONE IN BERLIN by German author Hans Fallada. Last year the book was translated to English and it is presently taking the bestseller lists by storm on both sides of the Atlantic! In the UK alone, Penguin Classics has sold more than 100,000 copies in just three months and is expecting to exceed 250,000 sales within the year. Word-of-mouth recommendations, partly through book clubs, are resurrecting an author who had been practically unknown in the English-speaking world. That this translation has taken so long is particularly surprising as Primo Levi, the revered Jewish Italian writer who survived the Nazi  concentration camps, once described it as "the greatest book ever written about the German resistance to the Nazis".

The film rights are owned by both Vincent and Stefan Arndt, who produced the acclaimed "Good Bye, Lenin!" Vincent told UK's Observer that, as the son of a German mother, he was shocked by the book saying, "I felt how it was to be living in Germany under the Third Reich. I understood how it was to deal with that pressure around you." By chance, he has just discovered - from television researchers preparing a program on him - that his own German family had resisted the Nazis and that his uncle had been gassed by them.

In the US and Canada, the book was released as "Every Man Dies Alone" and in France as "Seul dans Berlin". Vincent plays to direct the film next year in English. The story is based on that of an actual working-class Berlin couple who conducted a three-year resistance campaign against the Nazis, by leaving anonymous postcards at random locations around the city. The book has the suspense of a John le Carré novel, and offers a visceral, chilling portrait of the distrust that permeated everyday German life during the war.

I've added several more photos to the Cannes Film Festival page. I also came across these two photos taken at the festival showing Vincent scampering around on his cell phone.

What's an appearance in Cannes without a stop at the hottest nightclub on the Riviera! I'm talking about Jimmy'z, now referred to as Heaven's Floor (hokey, yes?), presided over by Albane Cleret, the hostess with the mostess. It's where the French film industry does business during the evening hours. Here's Albane with one of her cherished VIPs on Friday night and the photo on the right was taken during last year's festival.

Apparently three film premieres were not enough for our Gallic heartthrob as he was also photographed on Saturday evening at the premiere of Woody Allen's "You Will Meet a Tall Dark Stranger". At almost 46 years old, you've got to admit this guy is as dashing as ever! He is absolutely gorgeous in ALL these photos taken at Cannes.

It has just come to my attention that a couple months ago Vincent and his illustrator Tiburce Oger were autographing books at the annual book fair in Paris on March 28th. The third volume of "La Foret" was published in January. Here are a few photos taken that day with Vincent hamming it up for the camera.

It appears that Vincent is basking in the limelight in Cannes this week with a premiere every night! The first night was "Robin Hood" followed by "On Tour" last night, again accompanied by Iranian director Marjane Satrapi. Then tonight he arrives with Melita Toscani du Plantier on his arm for the premiere of "Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps" Click here for more photos from Cannes. Normally Vincent attends the annual film festival with his wife Karine but so far there are no signs of her attendance this year.

Every so often we still catch rumors of Karine's film project, which she plans to direct. It will star her husband as well as Cécile de France and Elsa Zylberstein. It is presently entitled "Un baiser papillon" (A Butterfly Kiss). Vincent will probably not have time to direct his third feature-length film until next year when he will helm "Seul dans Berlin" (Alone in Berlin). When asked if he will also be in front of the camera, he responds, "No, I want to concentrate, and I cannot imagine filming myself!"

Today Vincent attended the opening ceremony of the 63rd Cannes Film Festival with the premiere of "Robin Hood". His guest was Iranian filmmaker Marjane Satrapi.

Vincent's latest TV film, TRAHIE! will be aired on TF1 on Thursday, May 6th. You can watch the preview video at this link. In a recent interview Vincent spoke about the reasons that prompted him to accept this role. He admitted he was attracted to both the character and location. "I liked the idea of a character caught up in the past." In describing the city of Marseilles, he said, "This city has beauty and it's full of stories, both real and imaginary, about gangsters and the Mafia." For a while Vincent had refused TV roles in favor of film projects but he did not hesitate to accept this role after being captivated by the story. He responded, "If it were just a thriller that had been made 1000 times before, I would say no. Here, it's more a story of hooligans and I found it more exciting." Here are a few more photos from the film:

For checking out what's on TV this month featuring Vincent, visit TV Now by clicking on the icon. 

For previous news & photos, visit the following pages:

2010: January/February, March/April

2009: January/February, March/April, May/June, July/August, September/October, November/December

2008: January-April, May-September, October-December

2007: January-March, April/May, June/July, September/October, November/December

2006: January-May, Summer, September/October, November/December

2005: January/February, March/April, May-August. September-December

2004: January/February, March/April, May ,  June , July/August , September , October , November , December  

2003: January , February , March , April , May , June , July , August , September , October , November/December

2002: January , February , March/April , May , Summer , September , October , November/December

2001: January/February ,  March/April, May/June, July/August,  September/October , November/December

2000:  January/February,  March , April , May , June , Summer , September , October , November , December

1999:  Summer, September/October, November/December