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Emmanuel Benbihy (born 6 November 1969, Paris) is a French film producer, [1] best known for creating the Cities of Love series of films set in various cities around the world; most notable of those are Paris, je t'aime and New York, I Love You . [2]
A graduate of Reims Management School, Emmanuel Benbihy demonstrates an early interest in art and international trade. During his studies, he displays a passion for contemporary painting and philosophy (art, law, nature), studies abroad and, while still in his teens, participates in the creation of a Parisian restaurant dedicated to classical music, the Opus Café. Several internships in the US and England give him a grounding in international marketing. This leads him to two years as main buyer for a Los Angeles import-export company specializing in fine foods. This period also gives him the opportunity to work with an independent film producer on the financial set-up of a feature film.
In France in 1994, Benbihy spent over a year working on the co-development of European and Asian cinemas, while studying Japanese at the Langues'O. He also attended many foreign markets. His research was sent to the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Centre National de la Cinématographie, and became his central theme of research at La Sorbonne University (Strategic Analysis in Cinema). This period of reflection on the industry of film was decisive: cinema needed to serve diversity and peace. He chose his profession: producing world films. Benbihy participated in a panel about the Future of Asian Cinema at the Busan International Film Festival in 1997 during which he claimed that the future of cinema would be in Asia, and more specifically in China. The same year, he joined an independent production company whose first project was an international collection of 12 feature films inspired by parables from the New Testament. For this non-denominational project, he represented the company in international markets and festivals, managing relations with the filmmakers, supervising script development, preparing international production and distribution agreements, and built a strong network of contacts and private investors. He raised a development fund, and took his first steps in the industry, collaborating with directors such as Peter Del Monte, Ermanno Olmi, Djibril Diop Mambety, Mira Nair, Liv Ullmann, Fernando Spiner, Im Kwon-taek ou Mikheil Kobakhidze.
Cities of Love is a series of motion pictures illustrating the universality of love in major cities around the world. Each episode is a collective feature film composed of no fewer than 10 segments – created by directors from around the world.
Five such pictures have been completed: Paris, je t'aime in 2006, New York, I Love You in 2008, Tbilisi, I Love You and Rio, Eu Te Amo in 2014, and Berlin, I Love You in 2018. The next episodes will be in Los Angeles, Shanghai, Jerusalem and Venice, before heading to Delhi, Marseille, and New Orleans.
Each segment's story line must center on an encounter that bears the hope of love and takes place in the current time. Each segment must contain a strong presence of the illustrated city and a visual identification with the area selected by each director so that the audience may experience its singularity. All the segments shall be woven together by interstitial transitions placed before, between and after each of the segments. The transitions are directed by an additional director. The transitions involve some, if not all, of the characters created by the segment directors and at least one character, specifically created for the transitions, called the "recurrent character". The recurrent character must have an excuse to be found anywhere in the city at any time, and a good reason to connect or interact with any of the segments' characters. The recurrent character serves the unity of the film. The transitions, and the absence of credits inside the film, are essential to the unity and the fluidity of the overall experience. In a final scene, a narrative epilogue allows the audience to watch again some of the segments' characters of the film in a single unifying moment.
In April 2000, the development of the film Paris, je t'aime began with a simple idea: 20 arrondissements, 20 directors, 20 love encounters. Benbihy, along with co-executive producer Gilles Caussade determined a production timeline for the project, and little by little put together the principal elements needed for its development and production: narrative development, artistic and technical specifications, material to approach directors and talents, contracts, consistent marketing strategy and international approach to film financing. All these elements are today part of the Cities of Love franchise.
The production of Paris, je t'aime began in July 2005 and involved 24 international directors. The film was pre-sold in numerous territories at high levels, and opened the Cannes Film Festival 2006, Un Certain regard section. Directors such as the Coen brothers, Alexander Payne, Gus Van Sant, Alfonso Cuaron, Wes Craven, Walter Salles, Tom Tykwer, and actors such as Elijah Wood, Juliette Binoche, Willem Dafoe, Natalie Portman, Nick Nolte, Gena Rowlands, Gérard Depardieu participated in this film.
Paris, je t'aime was the opportunity to give some of the first lead roles on screen to Olga Kurylenko, Leïla Bekhti and Aïssa Maïga, and to produce the first short film of the Coen brothers.
Following Paris, je t'aime, New York, I Love You is the second episode of the Cities of Love series. Directors of the segments include Jiang Wen, Mira Nair, Shunji Iwai, Yvan Attal, Brett Ratner, Allen Hughes, Shekhar Kapur, Natalie Portman, Fatih Akın, Joshua Marston and Randy Balsmeyer. The film stars Bradley Cooper, Justin Bartha, Andy García, Hayden Christensen, Rachel Bilson, Natalie Portman, Irrfan Khan, Emilie Ohana, Orlando Bloom, Christina Ricci, Maggie Q, Ethan Hawke, Anton Yelchin, James Caan, Olivia Thirlby, Blake Lively, Drea de Matteo, Julie Christie, John Hurt, Shia LaBeouf, Uğur Yücel, Taylor Geare, Carlos Acosta, Jacinda Barrett, Shu Qi, Burt Young, Chris Cooper, Robin Wright Penn, Eva Ammuri, Eli Wallach and Cloris Leachman.
In the Diamond District, an inter-cultural romantic fantasy transforms the purchase of a precious stone. Meanwhile, in Chinatown, a desperate artist pursues a reluctant muse. Within an Upper East Side hotel, a sophisticated guest and a mysterious bellboy journey outside of time. After an unexpected night in Central Park, a young man's prom date has a surprising revelation. Traveling towards the Village, two lovers speed by taxi, subway and foot to meet for the first time after what they thought was a one-night stand. In Tribeca, a pickpocket finds the tables turned when he follows an alluring girl. And in Brooklyn, a moment of Coney Island bliss envelops an octogenarian couple. These stories and more are all woven together to form a colorful, lyrical collage not only of the city – but of the deep yearning for love and human connections that sustain everyone within it. [3]
New York, I Love You was the opportunity that gave Bradley Cooper's first lead role on screen, and also produced the first short films directed by Natalie Portman and Scarlett Johansson.
Joel Coen and Ethan Coen, popularly known as the Coen Brothers, are American film directors, producers, screenwriters, and editors. Their films span many genres and styles, which they frequently subvert or parody. Their most acclaimed works include Raising Arizona (1987), Miller's Crossing (1990), Fargo (1996), The Big Lebowski (1998), O Brother, Where Art Thou? (2000), No Country for Old Men (2007), Burn After Reading (2008), A Serious Man (2009), True Grit (2010), Inside Llewyn Davis (2013), and The Ballad of Buster Scruggs (2018).
Natalie Portman is an Israeli-born American actress. With an extensive career in film since her teenage years, she has starred in various blockbusters and independent films, for which she has received multiple accolades, including an Academy Award and two Golden Globe Awards.
An anthology film is a subgenre of films consisting of several different short films, often tied together by only a single theme, premise, or brief interlocking event. Sometimes each one is directed by a different director. These differ from "revue films" such as Paramount on Parade (1930)—which were common in Hollywood in the early sound film era to show off their stars and related vaudeville-style acts—composite films, and compilation films.
William Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet is a 1996 American romantic crime tragedy film directed, co-produced, and co-written by Baz Luhrmann, co-produced by Gabriella Martinelli, and co-written by Craig Pearce. It is an adaptation and modernization of William Shakespeare's tragedy Romeo and Juliet. The film stars Leonardo DiCaprio and Claire Danes in the title roles of two teenagers who fall in love, despite their being members of feuding families. Brian Dennehy, John Leguizamo, Harold Perrineau, Pete Postlethwaite, Paul Sorvino and Diane Venora also star in supporting roles.
Tom Tykwer is a German film director, producer, screenwriter, and composer. He is best known internationally for directing the thriller films Run Lola Run (1998), Heaven (2002), Perfume: The Story of a Murderer (2006), and The International (2009). He collaborated with The Wachowskis as co-director for the science fiction film Cloud Atlas (2012) and the Netflix series Sense8 (2015–2018). Tykwer is also well known as the co-creator of the internationally acclaimed German television series Babylon Berlin.
Paris, je t'aime is a 2006 anthology film starring an ensemble cast of actors of various nationalities. The two-hour film consists of eighteen short films set in different arrondissements (districts). The 22 directors include Gurinder Chadha, Sylvain Chomet, Joel and Ethan Coen, Isabel Coixet, Gérard Depardieu, Wes Craven, Alfonso Cuarón, Nobuhiro Suwa, Alexander Payne, Tom Tykwer, Walter Salles, Yolande Moreau, and Gus Van Sant.
A composite film is a feature film whose screenplay is composed of two or more distinct stories. More generally, composite structure refers to an aesthetic principle in which the narrative structure relies on contiguity and linking rather than linearity. In a composite text or film, individual pieces are complete within themselves, yet they form a whole work that is greater than the sum of its individual parts.
Benjamin Millepied is a French dancer and choreographer, who has lived and worked in the United States after joining the New York City Ballet in 1995, where he became a soloist in 1998 and a principal in 2002. He has also created choreography for the company, and choreographed pieces for other major companies. He retired from NYCB in 2011.
New York, I Love You is a 2008 American romantic comedy-drama anthology film consisting of eleven short films, each by a different director. The shorts all relate in some way to the subject of love, and are set among the five boroughs of New York City. The film is a sequel of sorts to the 2006 film Paris, je t'aime, which had the same structure, and is the second installment in the Cities of Love franchise, created and produced by Emmanuel Benbihy. Unlike Paris, je t'aime, the shorts of New York, I Love You all have a unifying thread, of a videographer who films the other characters.
Daniela Thomas is a Brazilian film director, screenwriter and editor.
Chad Troutwine is an American film and television producer and education technology entrepreneur.
Primum Entertainment Group is a media company involved in the production and distribution of filmed entertainment properties and live events in Latin America. Based in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Primum was founded in December 2008.
Rio, I Love You is a 2014 Brazilian anthology film starring an ensemble cast of actors of various nationalities. It's the third film in the Cities of Love franchise, created and produced by Emmanuel Benbihy.
Black Swan is a 2010 American psychological horror film directed by Darren Aronofsky. The screenplay was written by Mark Heyman, John McLaughlin, and Andres Heinz, based on an original story by Heinz. The film stars Natalie Portman, Vincent Cassel, Mila Kunis, Barbara Hershey, and Winona Ryder. The plot revolves around a production of Tchaikovsky's Swan Lake ballet by the New York City Ballet company. The production requires a ballerina to play the innocent and fragile White Swan, for which the committed dancer Nina (Portman) is a perfect fit, as well as the dark and sensual Black Swan, which are qualities better embodied by the new rival Lily (Kunis). Nina is overwhelmed by a feeling of immense pressure when she finds herself competing for the part, causing her to lose her tenuous grip on reality and descend into madness.
Natalie Portman is an actress and filmmaker with dual Israeli and American citizenship. She made her film debut in Luc Besson's action thriller Léon: The Professional, which starred her as the young protégée of a hitman. She followed this by appearing in Michael Mann's crime thriller Heat (1995), Ted Demme's romantic comedy Beautiful Girls (1996), and Tim Burton's science fiction comedy Mars Attacks! (1996). Three years later, her supporting role as the precocious, responsible daughter of a narcissistic mother played by Susan Sarandon in the drama Anywhere but Here earned Portman her first Golden Globe Award nomination. In the same year, Portman played Padmé Amidala in the first of the Star Wars prequel trilogyStar Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace which brought her international recognition. She reprised the role in its sequels Star Wars: Episode II – Attack of the Clones (2002), and Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith (2005).
Tbilisi, I Love You is a 2014 anthology film starring an ensemble cast of actors of various nationalities and part of Emmanuel Benbihy’s Cities Of Love franchise that started with Paris, je t'aime and New York, I Love You.
Gilles Caussade is a French film financier and producer. His credits include the films "The City of Lost Children", "Arizona Dream", and "Amélie". Caussade worked with Emmanuel Benbihy to create "Paris, je t'aime" and served as executive producer for the film. He is now part of the Cities of Love global film project and along with Svetlana Novak is leading the production team for the Marseille, je t'aime edition of the film.
Svetlana Novak is a Paris-based film producer. Her credits include the films Delicatessen, The City of Lost Children, and Amélie. She has an extensive working relationship with the Serbian director Emir Kusturica having worked on Black Cat, White Cat, Underground, and Arizona Dream. Novak served two years as the producer for the Rentrée du Cinéma project, an initiative to make cinema more accessible to audiences by drastically reducing ticket prices. She is now part of the international Cities of Love project. Along with Gilles Caussade, she is leading the production team for the Marseille, je t'aime edition of the film.
Jackie is a 2016 biographical drama film directed by Pablo Larraín and written by Noah Oppenheim. The film stars Natalie Portman as Jackie Kennedy. Peter Sarsgaard, Greta Gerwig, Billy Crudup, and John Hurt also star; it was Hurt's final film released before his death in January 2017. The film follows Jackie Kennedy in the days when she was First Lady in the White House and her life immediately following the assassination of her husband, United States President John F. Kennedy, in 1963. It is partly based on Theodore H. White's Life magazine interview with the widow at Hyannis Port, Massachusetts, in November 1963.
Nika Agiashvili is a Georgian-American writer and director. In 2009, Nika wrote, produced and directed his first feature film, 'The Harsh Life of Veronica Lambert.' His next project, 'A Green Story' starred Ed O'Ross, George Finn, Billy Zane, Annabella Sciorra, Shannon Elizabeth and Malcolm McDowell. A Green Story was theatrically released worldwide in 2013. In 2014, Nika wrote, directed and produced Tbilisi, I Love You as part of Emmanuel Benbihy's 'Cities of Love' franchise that started with Paris, je t'aime and New York, I Love You. In 2018, Agiashvili wrote and executive produced Daughter of the Wolf starring two time Academy Award Winner Richard Dreyfuss, Gina Carano and Brendan Fehr. The film was released worldwide in 2019 and received three Canadian Screen Award nominations at the 8th Canadian Screen Awards in 2020, for Best TV Movie, Best Supporting Actor in a Television Drama Series or Program (Fehr) and Best Direction in a Television Drama Series or Program (Hackl).
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