NEWS:  August/September 2016

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There's a new French trailer online for SEUL DANS BERLIN. You can view it at this link. I was reading some of Vincent's translated Russian interviews. When he was in Rostov-on-don in August, he was asked  about his photography and if he had a strong passion for the deification of another person. He responded that he idolized the star of his film, Emma Thompson, and planned to create a one-woman show called "Emma" in his hometown of Lausanne, Switzerland. I like that idea. In the same interview, he spoke about growing up reading Russian literature and poetry and how it enlightened him on the mysterious Russian soul. He pointed out that he enjoyed visiting Alexander Pushkin's estate in the village of Mikhailovskoe and was greatly influenced by Stanislavsky's books on acting when he was 15 years old. Prior to that, he had thought about sculpting, molding and painting.

Guess what! After all these years, I finally came across this Oh la! magazine cover announcing Vincent's marriage. The beautiful ceremony happened almost 18 years ago.

It's Paris Fashion Week and here are some comments from Sophie Schulte-Hillen, contributing editor at Vogue.com: "Fashion Week front rows are reliably stuffed with celebrity offspring vying for a breakout solo moment in the spotlight, but at Chloé this morning, one fresh-faced beauty had the international crowd wondering: Who’s that girl? Meet 17-year-old Iman Perez, a Next Management model and Gaultier muse with a barely-above-the-radar 8,000-plus Instagram following who just happens to be the daughter of Cyrano de Bergerac heartthrob Vincent Perez and Franco-Senegalese actress Karine Silla - and can count French national treasures like Gérard Depardieu and Luc Besson among the members of her extended family. But that’s quite beside the point: All glossy curls, bee-stung lips, and luminous skin, complete with a sunny smattering of freckles, Perez’s supernaturally good looks positively stole the show - and left us convinced that it’s only a matter of time until she makes waves stateside."

On Friday, Vincent and his wife were guests of François-Henri Pinault, who was hosting a party to celebrate the inauguration of the new headquarters of Kering in the former Laennec hospital in Paris. If you recognize a female face, that would be actress Salma Hayek, wife of Pinault.

As reported earlier, Germany will release the Perez-directed film, ALONE IN BERLIN, on November 17, 2016, and will feature it under the novel's original title - "Jeder stirbt für sich allein", which translates to "Every Man Dies Alone". Written in 1947 by Hans Fallada, the story was first adapted in 1962 as a teleplay for West German television.  Eight years later, a TV mini-series was broadcast in East Germany. In 1976, a feature film was released in West Germany and in 2004 it was aired as a TV mini-series in the Czech Republic. The novel remained untranslated in English until 2009 when it was rediscovered by Melville House Publishing and released in the US under the title "Every Man Dies Alone" in a translation by Michael Hofmann. Melville House licensed it to Penguin Books in the UK, who used the title "Alone in Berlin", following the French translation in 1967, "Seul dans Berlin". After reading the novel, Vincent was interested in doing his own version and sought out the film rights. There's an English interview by Kino Magazine of Vincent with his cast discussing the film at this link. It took place during the Berlin Film Festival premiere in February.

Here's a new photo taken last year on location in Germany.

As some of you know, Vincent's own family had lived through the horrors of war. His grandfather was shot by fascists in Spain, his great uncle had been killed in a gas chamber, and another uncle died fighting on the Russian front. Vincent's ancestral roots were traced in France's TV series - "Retour aux sources" (Back to Basics) in 2010. It can be viewed via VIMEO at this link. Even if you don't understand French, it's a must-see documentary featuring interviews with several of his family members in Switzerland and Spain. On September 2 RTS (Radio Television Suisse) featured a show with host Pierre Philippe Cadert interviewing Vincent about "Retour aux sources".

August is holiday time in Paris and the Perez family left the city for a vacation on the Greek island of Antiparos. They were joined by Karine's sister Virginie and her family as well. Here are a couple photos - the second one shows Vincent's daughter Iman with her cousin Sateen Besson. You can't complain about the weather!

Hopefully it was a restful time for Vincent. Flying back from Greece to Paris, he then boarded a plane to Moscow and after a night in the airport, he took the first flight to Rostov-on-don to attend the 2nd International Motivational Film Festival "Bridge of Arts". [See photo gallery] On August 25, he participated as an honored guest at a press conference and the festival's opening ceremony. The photo below shows him with executive film producer Alain Depardieu, Gerard's brother, who headed up the short film jury. Alain referred to Vincent as a friend but he's actually more closely related as the uncle of Vincent's stepdaughter Roxane.

The next day Vincent flew to St. Petersburg and visited the Vaganova Academy of Russian Ballet to take photographs for an upcoming project.