Success for “Cleveland Versus Wall Street” in France
The cinematic analysis of the economic crisis triggered by American subprime mortgages has been tremendously well received in the French media and generated large audiences.
26.08.2010
The French press has absolutely embraced the French-Swiss coproduction "Cleveland Versus Wall Street": Le Monde published an overline on the front page and devoted an entire page to the film on the day it was released in the cinemas (August 17). Articles in Libération and Le Nouvel Obsérvateur covered the film on two or even three pages, while the business press declared it a phenomenon. News programmes on the major television stations - TF1 and France 2, France 3, Arte and M6 - also presented the film. Moreover, France 2 utilised the occasion to organise a debate with two renowned economists. All commentaries emphasise Jean-Stéphane Bron's intellectual honesty: using the medium of cinema, he has ventured to shed light on a matter where justice has failed, leading to the eviction of 20,000 families from their homes in the state of Ohio. The film highlights the victims of the financial machinations of the banks on Wall Street. The director, also of the film "Mais im Bundeshuus", has participated in numerous debates throughout all of France. In response to the demand in the cinemas, the distribution firm Les Films du Losange added ten more prints to the 40 it released when the film was launched. The distribution of "Cleveland Versus Wall Street" in French cinemas was subsidised with a maximum contribution of EUR 25,000 by the Federal Office of Culture and SWISS FILMS.
Geneva/Zurich, August 26, 2010