Year: 2019
Length: 109 minutes
Language: Bosnian, Franch, English
Film Category: Narrative Feature

Cast & Credits

Director: Guillaume de Fontenay

Screenwriter: Guillaume de Fontenay, Guillaume Vigneault, Jean Barbe 

Producer: Marc Stanimirović, Jean-Yves Robin, Pascal Bascaron, Nicole Robert

Co-Producer: Amra Baksic Camo, Tim Belda, Serge de Poucques, Frédéric Fiore, Sylvain Goldberg, Cédric Iland, Nadia Khamlichi, Adrian Politowski 

Cinematographer: Pierre Aïm

Editor: Mathilde van de Moortel

Production Design: Sanda Popovac, Patric Valverde

Sound design: Paul Lucien Col, Sylvain Bellemare

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Cast: Niels Schneider, Vincent Rottiers,Ella Rumpf, Clément Métayer, Arieh Worthalter, Elisa Lasowski, Luc Van Grunderbeeck, Martin Swabey, Diego Martín, Adnan Omerovic,Marc Irons, Izudin Bajrovic, Davor Golubovic, Mario Knezovic, Adi Dedovic,Lukas De Wolf, Jérémie Petrus, Toussaint Colombani, Emir Pasanovic, Ludovic Naar, Alban Ukaj, Aldin Tucic, Mirsad Ibisevic, Dragomir Krizik, Zoran Stanisic,     Lazar Dragojevic, Dina Musanovic, Mirsad Gajevic, Andjela Ilic, Haris Kumsic, Zlatko Grozdanovic, Clovis Trévillard, Mathias Herr,     Damir Drazic, Armis Masic, Mehmed Maskovic.

Film Synopsis:

1992, war is raging in what will become Ex-Yugoslavia. Paul is covering the siege of Sarajevo. Flamboyant dandy, loudmouth, adrenaline junkie, provocative cigar-smoker, Paul Marchand is the war correspondent archetype. Racing through Sniper’s Alley in his white Ford, the Frenchman relentlessly tells the apathetic western world about the ongoing massacre. In an urban war zone where everything that moves is a target, Paul tries to live, love, and inform. How much can he endure before he starts taking up arms? 

Director's Biography

Guillaume de Fontenay (born March 6, 1969) is a Canadian film director and screenwriter from Montreal, Quebec. He is most noted for his feature film debut Sympathy for the Devil (Sympathie pour le diable), which received three Canadian Screen Award nominations at the 8th Canadian Screen Awards in 2020.

Prior to releasing Sympathy for the Devil, de Fontenay worked primarily in theatre and advertising, and directed the short film Le Retour triptyque in 2012. He first signed on to direct Sympathy for the Devil in the mid-2000s after reading war correspondent Paul Marchand's book, but the film was delayed by various production complications, including Marchand's death in 2009, and was not completed or released until 2019.

At the Canadian Screen Awards, de Fontenay was nominated alongside Guillaume Vigneault and Jean Barbe for Best Adapted Screenplay, and the film was also nominated for the John Dunning Best First Feature Award. Vigneault, Barbe and de Fontenay also received a Prix Iris nomination for Best Screenplay at the 22nd Quebec Cinema Awards, where de Fontenay was also a nominee for Best Director.