NEWS: JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2010

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 Just before Christmas, Vincent took his wife and children to the inauguration of the newest attraction at France's Futuroscope. On Saturday, December 19th, brother-in-law Luc Besson unveiled his creation called Arthur, l'Aventure 4D, a multi-million euro attraction inspired by Besson's hit film, "Arthur et les Minimoys". Shown on a domed IMAX screen, visitors sit in simulator seats that move in coordination with what's on the screen. The day was a family affair with Luc accompanied by his wife Virginie and their three daughters, Talia, Satine and Mao. The above photo is the only one I came across of Vincent at this event but I do have some photos of his children taken at the Carnaval des Enfants, held on February 7 at the Le Meurine Hotel. The Parisian palace invited children for a special session of dance, magic and movie makeup. It was later followed by their families joining them in a scrumptious buffet improvised by their head pastry chef.  The first photo below on the left shows Iman, who will be 11 in May. I don't know who the blonde girl is. The middle photo shows seven-year-old Pablo who appears to be a bit bored. The last photo shows Christopher Thompson and Géraldine Pailhas, and perhaps only die-hard fans will recognize that name. I certainly do. She's Vincent's co-star from La Neige et le feu.

On February 11th, Vincent and Karine once again joined Luc Besson and wife Virginie for another opening, this time the premiere of the action thriller, "From Paris with Love", written and produced by Besson.

On the same day Vincent attended the "Anti Retro" New DS Car Launch Party hosted by Citroen at the Fondation Cartier.

This year's annual Rendez-Vous with French Cinema event was held January 15 through 18th in Paris. 107 French actors and directors were present to take part in interviews with 120 journalists from 30 countries with the aim of promoting French films slated for release early in the year. Three press conferences and 600 individual interviews were held over the four-day event. Vincent was among the actors, some of who took part in a photo shoot for a portrait composition that will appear in the March issue of Studio Ciné Live magazine, and will also be presented in a traveling exhibition.

It has just come to my attention, rather belatedly, that Vincent was among those interviewed in the documentary, "Somebody Told Me about.... Carla Bruni", which premiered on the Sundance Channel back in September 2009. The 80-minute film by British director George Scott is a portrait of Carla that includes interviews with France's First Lady and the President as well as several personalities who have either a personal or business relationship with her. There will be an encore showing this Saturday evening on the Sundance Channel.

As we all know, Vincent and Karine are always attentive to fashion, thus attending Paris Fashion Week Haute Couture Spring/Summer 2010 at Atelier Jean-Peal Gaultier on January 27th. They joined a list of celebrities as you can see from the photos below taken at the Elie Saab Fashion Show - that's Ines de la Fressange and Dita von Teese. You'll also notice that the couple brought along their ten-year-old daughter Iman. This was Vincent's second appearance at the show this week though the first time he was backstage. During the men's show, he shot a behind-the-scenes reportage for Paris Match magazine as he took snaps of makeup artists dabbing fake blood on the models. He told reporters that next fall he will direct his third feature film, which is based on the WWII-era book, "Alone in Berlin". Apparently it will be shot in German with Vincent joking, "My mother is German, as you can tell from the name."

The two-part TV drama, “Lo scandalo della Banca Romana” premiered on Italian television this week. On January 17 and 18, 24% of the TV audience watched the film making it the most watched program since the days of broadcasting began. It generated excitement and reopened the debate on a moral issue that goes beyond the historical period.

The drama, directed by Stefano Reali, was shot last year in numerous locations in Belgrade. Scenes were also shot in Kotor and Rome. Vincent and Guiseppe Fiorello headed the cast, which included over 50 Serbian actors. As expected, the film attracted great attention by the Italian public because it deals with one of the biggest financial and corruption affairs in Italy's modern history. In late 19th century, “Banca Romana” was one of the six central banks in Italy which had permission to print notes. At the beginning of 1889, the president of the board of ministers, Francesco Crispi, ordered an examination of bank transactions and it proved that “Banca Romana” violated all business and ethical rules - they printed overdrawn notes and, above all, the bank gave “loans” to the most influential politicians, including Crispi, as well as Prime Minister Giovanni Giolitti.

On January 12th Vincent attended the Launch Party for Glenfiddich Single Malt Rare Editions. The event was held in Paris in the rotunda of the Opera Garnier's cellar, which had never before been opened to the public. The rare whiskey editions from Dufftown, Scotland, included three bottles - 30 years, 40 years and 50 years old. I bet that stuff is quite pricey! On the left in the top row, Vincent is shown with actor Pascal Elbe and in the bottom row, he poses with  TV host/writer Beigbeder and his guest, TV host/writer Gonzague Saint Brie and actor Bruno Putzulu.

Back in October Vincent did several Canadian interviews promoting "Demain des l'aube". I recently came across an 8-minute video with Herby Moreau, who hosts an online web site featuring celebrity interviews. You can click on the photo below to access the video. There's also a short video showing Herby and Vincent at this link.

On January 11th, Vincent and his wife were spotted in the audience of the premiere of "Une petite zone de turbulences" (aka "A Spot of Bother") in Paris.