Offscreen Guest: Despite “Evolution” being only the second feature length picture in the filmography of French filmmaker Lucile Hadzihalilovic (°1961, Lyon), she has worked long on an exceptional and unique cinematographic output. After studies in art history and film direction, she founded production firm Les Cinémas de la Zone with her partner, director Gaspar Noé. She did the production and editing of Noé's “Carne” (1991) and “Seul Contre Tous” (1998), whilst directing the medium-length film “La Bouche de Jean-Pierre” (1996). Hadzihalilovic has a lot of adoration for baroque horror and the distinctly European “fantastique”, finding inspiration in the works of Georges Franju, Jean Rollin or Dario Argento. This influence can be noted in her enthralling debut feature “Innocence” (2004), a masterpiece forming a nearly seamless diptych with this year's “Evolution”. In both films she creates a closed, isolated and mysterious universe: a place in the subconscious where reality intertwines with dream and nightmare.

Lucile Hadzihalilovic will personally present her films at the festival.