Annual Top Films Lists

Top 100 Most Anticipated Foreign Films of 2015: #81. Alice Winocour’s Close Protection

Published on January 5, 2015

Close Protection

Director: Alice Winocour // Writer: Alice Winocour

Premiering her 2012 debut Augustine at Cannes Critics’ Week, which went on to be nominated for Best Debut at the Cesars, Alice Winocour makes a surprising jump from period piece to thriller with her second film, Close Protection (originally titled Maryland). Starring notable names like Schoenaerts and Diane Kruger will surely position a healthy international interest. The story revolves around a former soldier suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder, who finds himself tasked with protecting the wife and child of a rich Lebanese businessman while he is away.

Cast: Matthias Schoenaerts, Diane Kruger

Producers: Dharamsala’s Isabelle Madelaine (Illégal) and Darius Films’ Emilie Tisné (Augustine).

U.S. Distributor: Rights Available

Release Date: While Winocour may very well tempt Cannes again, this sounds like genre fare that might have more luck straying into a less competitive realm. With filming set for December, we’ll see if this gets unveiled there or at a later fest. Toronto would appear to be a strong contender for world premiere dibs.

Nicholas Bell

Los Angeles based Nicholas Bell is IONCINEMA.com's Chief Film Critic and covers film festivals such as Sundance, Berlin, Cannes and TIFF. He is part of the critic groups on Rotten Tomatoes, The Los Angeles Film Critics Association (LAFCA), the Online Film Critics Society (OFCS) and GALECA. His top 3 for 2021: France (Bruno Dumont), Passing (Rebecca Hall) and Nightmare Alley (Guillermo Del Toro). He was a jury member at the 2019 Cleveland International Film Festival.