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Fox Searchlight To Release Bernardo Bertolucci's NC-17-Rated THE DREAMERS in February 2004

Release marks the first time in its history that Fox Searchlight has released an NC-17-rated film and the first time an MPAA signatory company has done so in more than six years.

Top to bottom: Louis Garrel, Eva Green and Michael Pitt in THE DREAMERS. Photo by Brandy Eve Allen

HOLLYWOOD, CA (January 12, 2004) - Fox Searchlight Pictures will release the uncut version of Academy Award® winner Bernardo Bertolucci's THE DREAMERS in February 2004, reviving the dormant NC-17 rating. This bold move marks the first time in its history that Fox Searchlight has released an NC-17-rated film and the first time an MPAA signatory company has done so in more than six years.

"THE DREAMERS provocatively explores human sexuality in a frank way," said Fox Searchlight Pictures President Peter Rice. "By releasing the film as Bernardo originally intended we are following in the footsteps of classic films like MIDNIGHT COWBOY and LAST TANGO IN PARIS. Like THE DREAMERS, those masterpieces would not have been improved by cutting them to an R rating. We believe that NC-17 is the appropriate rating for THE DREAMERS given that this is not a film for children under 17; it is an audacious and original film for intelligent critics and discerning adult audiences."

Said Director Bernardo Bertolucci, "THE DREAMERS is finally making it to the U.S. in its uncut version. I'm relieved - in so many ways - that the distributor has had the vision to release my original film. After all, an orgasm is better than a bomb."

It's been 30 years since Bertolucci's intensely erotic LAST TANGO IN PARIS ignited audiences. His films have frequently caused controversy but have stood the test of time and are now regarded as classics.

THE DREAMERS will be unveiled in North America at the Sundance Film Festival on January 20. The film, which is nominated for a Goya for Best European Film, screened to critical acclaim at the 2003 Venice Film Festival and London Film Festival. It will open in Los Angeles and New York on February 6 and in select cities nationwide beginning February 13.

Set against the turbulent political backdrop of France in the spring of 1968 when the voice of youth was reverberating around Europe, THE DREAMERS is a story of self-discovery as three students test each other to see just how far they will go. Left alone while their parents are on holiday, Isabelle (Eva Green) and her brother Theo (Louis Garrel) invite Matthew (Michael Pitt), a young American student, to stay at their apartment. Here they make their own rules as they experiment with their emotions and sexuality while playing a series of increasingly demanding mind games.

Director Bernardo Bertolucci on the set of THE DREAMERS. Photo by Severine Brigeot

THE DREAMERS marks Bertolucci's third film shot in Paris, following THE CONFORMIST and the Oscar-nominated LAST TANGO IN PARIS. The screenplay, adapted for the screen from his original novel, is by English author and film critic Gilbert Adair. It strikes a personal chord for both Bertolucci and Adair, for, although their paths never crossed, they were both living in Paris at the end of the 60s, experiencing the events against which the film is set. Their love of cinema took them to the birthplace of the Nouvelle Vague (New Wave), immersing them in a strong international cinema culture. "There was something magic in the 60s," Bertolucci recalls, "in that we were … well, let's use the word 'dreaming'. We were fusing cinema, politics, music, jazz, rock 'n roll, sex, philosophy."

The film stars Michael Pitt, recently seen in the award-winning HEDWIG AND THE ANGRY INCH, (and with Sandra Bullock in MURDER BY NUMBERS), Eva Green, who will next be seen in Ridley Scott's KINGDOM OF HEAVEN, and Louis Garrel, who previously appeared in Yolande Zauberman's LA GUERRE A PARIS. The film was produced by Jeremy Thomas (BROTHER, SEXY BEAST) who teamed with Bertolucci on THE LAST EMPEROR, which swept the 1987 Academy Awards garnering nine Oscars® including Best Director and Best Picture, THE SHELTERING SKY and LITTLE BUDDHA.

Fox Searchlight is a filmmaker-oriented company that focuses on distinctive films helmed by world-class auteurs and exciting newcomers. It has its own marketing and distribution operations, and its films are distributed internationally by Twentieth Century Fox. Fox Searchlight Pictures is a unit of Fox Filmed Entertainment, a unit of Fox Entertainment Group.

Source: Fox Searchlight Press Release