Kissing Paris (2008, 90 mins, HDV/Digital)
An Australian woman is haunted by her mother's past love-life in Paris, and decides to visit the magical city.
Shot in Paris by just Kannava and actress/co-producer Natalie Vella for only $20,000 (including plane flights), it is an exquisite and often-jazzy exploration of love and romance. Vella's performance is fresh and raw, as she veers from one emotion to the other, grappling wih the meaning of love and life.
(note by Bill Mousoulis)
"Kissing Paris is the result of the magic and grace of the cities of Paris and Melbourne. A friend has commented that Kissing Paris is my love letter to Paris. Marc Chagall said, 'My art needs Paris just as a tree needs water and I believe that in my paintings I have always remained true to my art.' I strive to remain truthful to the art of filmmaking."
- Anna Kannava
"This is a very beautiful and unhurried minimalist production tracing a romantic story – or two – between Melbourne and Paris. Lovers of Paris will see it anew through writer-director Anna Kannava's distinctive vision – even the Eiffel Tower montage overcomes cliché - but who would have imagined Melbourne's Flinders Street Station as a romantic icon?"
– Frances Bonner (Brisbane International Film Festival, 2008)
"Kissing Paris is really beautiful. The story is so achingly romantic, but nicely undercut by the daughter's experiences, that whole play on the holiday romance, and that Aussie accent amidst it all."
– Anne Demy-Geroe (Artistic Director, Brisbane International Film Festival 2008)
"The film has an immediacy, freshness and documentary flavour to it that is wonderful. Kannava sees the Seine, grand old buildings and the cafes with a distinctive eye and the film swims in many playful French songs. Editor of the film, Natalya Beloborodova has taken the raw footage and created jazzy montages producing a satisfying film overall."
– Bill Mousoulis (Neos Kosmos Newspaper)
"In Anna Kannava's lovely, ultra-low-budget digital Australian feature,
Kissing Paris, we see a humorous version of the phenomenon of sudden
tears: from the spectacle of the central character, Claire (Natalie Vella),
alone in a small Parisian chamber, far from her male partner, making purring
sounds down the telephone to get the attention of her cat back home, the
film cuts to her still on the bed, but now sobbing helplessly."
– Adrian Martin, FIPRESCI notes.
KISSING PARIS website
KISSING PARIS blog, by Natalie Vella
KISSING PARIS special page
KISSING PARIS Facebook page
Natalie Vella writes about Anna Kannava
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