This came in today: I don't know if a million dollars in takings is good for an art-house movie - the article seems to infer it is ... http://mandelberger.cineuropa.org/2008/08/americas-summer-european-hits.html

"Another French film that has graced movie screens all summer is THE LAST MISTRESS, the French feminist director Catherine Breillat's erotic costume drama, adapted from Jules-Amédée Barbey d'Aurevilly's novel Une Vieille Maîtresse. Set in 19th century Paris, the hot blooded film examines the consuming 10-year affair of a dandy (Fu'ad Aït Aattou) and a Spanish-Italian courtesan and femme fatale (Asia Argento). The film has seen a reputation for its sexual content and the force of willful play between its two sensual protagonists. The film, released in the U.S. by IFC Films, is fast reaching the $1 Million mark in domestic box office receipts, before it even begins its journey to television and the dvd market."

Considering Fu'ad desire to act *, this exposure & general praise for the film & his contribution can only be positive ?

(* See Links / English / Fu'ad Speaks / "Facing up to acting for real".)

Not sure what this means ... !
"This year, IFC opened Catherine Breillat's erotic thriller "The Last Mistress" on June 27, day-and-date in theaters and via VOD on cable systems around the country. Available for $6.99 during a 90-day window, the pic has grossed $657,804 to date."

Ref: http://countercultureprodco.com/blog/?p=402

www.amazon.de is selling a version ("import") - can any German-fluent member see what sub-titles it has ?
Perhaps make a query to them ?
http://www.amazon.de/Last-Mistress-UK-Asia-Argento/dp/B0019GJ4K6/ref=sr_1_10?ie=UTF8&s=dvd&qid=1219496157&sr=1-10

DVD Zones Map:
http://www.zonefreedvd.com/codefreedvd/regionaldvdmap.html
 
Region 2 - UK, Europe, Japan, the Middle East, Egypt, South Africa, Greenland *

People in Zone 2 (and those with "zone free" DVD players)
can now order Fu'ad's film with ENGLISH SUB-TITLES:
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Last-Mistress-Asia-Argento/dp/B0019GJ4K6/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&s=dvd&qid=1219229776&sr=1-2 
It will be posted from 25 August.

****************************************************************************************************************************************

DVD Zones Map: http://www.zonefreedvd.com/codefreedvd/regionaldvdmap.html

• Region 1 - The U.S., U.S. territories and Canada
• Region 2 - UK, Europe, Japan, the Middle East, Egypt, South Africa, Greenland
• Region 3 - Taiwan, Korea, the Philippines, Indonesia, Hong Kong
• Region 4 - Mexico, South America, Central America, Australia, New Zealand, Pacific Islands, Caribbean
• Region 5 - Russia, Eastern Europe, India, most of Africa, North Korea, Mongolia
• Region 6 - China

Hi Shortyberry - if you read post 93 "BASIC INFO: What we know about Fu'ad", it has a paragraph about his birthday and possible age (Personally, I think he is probably 26 or 27 and will turn 27-28 years old on 2 November). I am really sorry there is not more info. There are LOADS of articles here. But as you say, they are about his acting work and very little else. However, there are little bits and pieces in amongst them.

In the photos section, there is an album about magazine covers. Inside are some scanned pages of articles about him - in French. Perhaps a member has these and can help ?

ANYONE out there have anything to add ? :)
Please help me here ! :)

"shortyberry21" wrote:
hey thanks for the information about the kissing photos.
So does anyone how old is Fuad. It seems that I can't find anything on only about the  movie he's in. So if anyone finds out post.

hey thanks for the information about the kissing photos. So does anyone
how old is Fuad. It seems that I can't find anything on only about the
movie he's in. So if anyone finds out post.

"shortyberry21"  wrote:
Hey so I saw some of the pics and I see that fuad was kissing his co -  star Asia.
So does anyone know if he's dating her or what was the deal with that. I thought she was dating some other guy. If anyone knows can  they post back.

Our pics of them kissing are from the photocall at Cannes in May 2007.

In the article http://twitchfilm.net/site/view/sfiff51-the-last-mistressopening-night-qa-with-catherine-breillat/ (second last paragraph) it talks about how jealous they were of each other (This article is in LINKS / ENGLISH / CATHERINE BREILLAT ON FU'AD / TWITCH)

In www.odetoazia.com. it says

I don't know anything about it other than this.
But I guess when you have done naked sex scenes with someone, and got on OK, as they seem to,  it would be pretty easy to kiss for the cameras ?

Here in my city, there is a free newspaper they hand out to train commuters. Last night, over someone's shoulder, I saw these same series of Asia-Fu'ad pics illustrating an article about "how to kiss" . I almost fell over. Catherine Breillat said (in the article above -last paragraph) that he needed teaching on how to kiss for the film and now he's being used as an example of accomplishment on the opposite side of the earth ! It was a frame or two past this one: http://uk.ph.groups.yahoo.com/group/FuadAitAattou/photos/view/a287?b=35

Anyone else know anything ?

Hey so I saw some of the pics and I see that fuad was kissing his co
star Asia. So does anyone know if he's dating her or what was the deal
with that. I thought she was dating some other guy. If anyone knows can
the post back.

so here is a sample pic of young Mick Jagger !
http://tiny.cc/4P1Yb 
They are / were  looking for someone to play the young Mick Jagger in a 
biographical film - look no further ?
http://www.gigwise.com/news.asp?contentid=38534
http://www.abc.net.au/dig/stories/s2089105.htm

Many thanks to Dolorespiers for this !
See

• Links >
• 1. TELEVISION APPEARANCES >
• Interviews with Fu'ad >
• Cannes 07 - Cafe setting, outdoors - in French 
   
  Unhappily for us whose french is poor / non-existant, it's in French (as always ! Although we know he speaks "good" English).
  Can any of the bilingual members help us ?

zoha.tanvir  wrote: I do not know if you have seen these already, but two new clips of the
last mistress on apple.ca, with subtitles in english both including Fu'ad.
This is the link to the page containing both clips. http://www.apple.com/trailers/independent/thelastmistress/

EXCELLENT - thank you so much for the tip !(I just love how different people find different things  !)

They are now in LINKS / See his film / Trailers / With Fu'ad / Second Trailer

I do not know if you have seen these already, but two new clips of the
last mistress on apple.ca, with subtitles in english both including Fu'ad.

This is the link to the page containing both clips.

http://www.apple.com/trailers/independent/thelastmistress/

To pierredgg for the comodo catalogue !

Aren't we lucky !!!!!?

(See "Files")

Hyo Allen <thetreeapprentice@...> wrote:
Hi everyone,
I'm a new member here and I'm glad that such a group exists for all things Fu'ad. I just happened to see something in a magazine about his film role and that's how I got interested. The pics and links here are great but just out of curiosity, are there any links to Fu'ad speaking English? or perhaps any reference to it? Thanks.
Casey

Hi Casey ! 

I am sorry to report there is no footage of Fu'ad speaking English here.

However, if you go to LINKS / English / Fu'ad speaks you will find an interview with him called "Facing up to acting for real" (The Age, Melbourne) . The journalist said he spoke "good" English and did not rule out going to an English-speaking country to get acting roles.  B :)

"zoha.tanvir" wrote: There are five clips from the film "The Last Mistress" on Allocine.com, under the title of the film.
The clips are in french without subtitles but they are clips none the less!

Hi ! Thank you :)

Yes - these clips are in "Links" under "See his film Une Vieille Maitresse"
I will take this opportunity to remind members that there are many trailers and clips and unique mixes there,
including the ones you mentioned. They can be found under "Clips with Fu'ad" and "Clips without Fua'd".

Others include

• the original official trailer made for the original French & Australian cinema release
• the new official trailer made for the UK & USA cinema release (see the top one in "official trailers" - its SO clear !)
• 2 unique mixes made by YouTube members
• Various bits & pieces from websites

There are also

• supposed downloads of the entire film (don't know if they work) 
• Where to buy DVD
  • the French-only version (currently, all that is possible)
  • buy / rent the film when it finally comes out on DVD with English & other SUBTITLES
• TV interviews and Advertisements with Fu'ad
  

There are also a LOT of Articles in "Links" under "English" - and I have more too (time-poor !), which I trickle in when I have time.
They include

• interviews with or comments by Fu'ad 
• some interviews with Catherine Breillat (Producer of the film) where she talks about him as an actor during the making of the the film: quite revealing.

Don't forget to look in "ALBUMS" for hundreds & hundreds of PHOTOS.
Some members will know Fu'ad only from the film and others only from his modelling.
Some "film-fans" may not know - and be surprised to learn - that Fu'ad is a famous haute couture model who works across Europe & beyond (see "Links / Modelling Agencies") - something he did to 'pay the bills' while auditioning for acting roles. In the process, he has become very successful, but says in one interview (the journalist said he spoke 'good' English) that he thinks his success as a model will work against him re acting.

As the collection becomes larger and larger, it has become necessary to "break down" the folders into smaller ones.

For example, one photo album had > 300 photos in it and this has been broken down into 6 (by topic / theme) to make it much easier to browse & find things. 

So if you see a list of yellow folders - be sure to click on them to see what is inside !

Please keep adding anything you find (or send it to me and I will put it in).
We are all, I am sure, very grateful for the contributions several people have made to create this collection.

There are five clips from the film "The Last Mistress" on
Allocine.com, under the title of the film. The clips are in french
without subtitles but they are clips none the less!

http://youtube.com/watch?v=GG5f6Jx8h5c  Its in Links under the Film stuff too.
ENJOY !
How about some comments ?

I laughed out loud ! I adore that scene with the slouching grandmother !

F looks divine - as usual !

Please welcome to Casey (the treeapprentice) !

Welcome to new member Rasheed (throb_jdj).

Fuadrocks: A big welcome to new member Lara ! Looking forward to seeing your pictures ! Hope you enjoy the ones here too.
Everyone - what languages do we speak ?
I am Australian; so English is what I do best - I also speak fair Turkish (lived there) and can follow some French (used to be pretty good a LONG time ago, but never used it).
Can anyone else speak other languages ? It would be great if so, because I can't follow everything I see searching on the web.
I would love to hear feedback re the site - I have no idea how it meets / does not meet your expectations.

Which parts interest you and which do not ?

How are the photos ?

How often do you visit ?
Please write - I feel a bit lonely here !
Remember - any information at all is welcome. 
Love BRON :)

Lara: Hello there, Well I speak German, Italian, English, and French. In case I find anything new I'll let you guys know / see.

niamh_rus: I speak English and French a little and my native is Russian.
Photos are very, very beautiful!

I'm from Russia and there is little information about Fu'ad. But I can add some links which give different info)))

Fuadrocks: Welcome to new members Bela and Sara.

Odetoazia: I speak: English, French, Portuguese and Spanish. And I can understand Italian. I just don't write in Italian anymore.

Fuadrocks: Please welcome a new member: Mariana, the webmistress of www.odetoazia.com - an official site dedicated to Fu'ad's "Une Vieille Maitresse" co-star Asia Agento's.

Our little group has now been linked to that site. As mentioned before, there are lots of movie pics there - some I had not seen before - and some include Fu'ad.

Mariana has sent us some wonderful modelling shots of Fu'ad which we do not have.
They are everything you would expect from Fu'ad. (I love how relaxed he can look.)
Welcome, and thank you, Mariana !

Odetoazia: First of all, thanks for welcoming me to this community. :)

Like Bron said, you'll probably be getting quite a bunch of new modelling pictures later today.
I translated Catherine Breillat's thoughts on Fu'ad from the French Press Kit. I've also added a couple of observations. I hope that you'll enjoy the pics and the text!

Fu'ad Ait Aattou in Catherine's Breillat's words

"I was having lunch with my assistant and my set designer. At the end of the meal, Fu'ad came towards me. I immediately knew that, if he knew how to act, he'd be Ryno. For the first time, I found that dazzling beauty, feminine without being effeminate, that I've always searched. That was an absolute crush, the kind of crush that I've dreamt about since always."

"He didn't pass his first auditions. Despite his beauty, he didn't give enough. We don't forgive people who are beautiful! Exceptionally, I asked him to audition once again and that time he was astonishing.
It was his birthday, November 2nd, the day that Barbey d'Aurevilly (obs: the author who wrote Une Vieille Maîtresse) was born!"

"For his character, I wanted a clarity of heart. I didn't want a Merteuil (obs: character from The Dangerous Liasons). It was a true love and passion story where everyone is pure of heart. It's life that's like Merteuil! With Fu'ad, as with all the actors that I discovered, I have the impression to work on what I call "nascent
oxygen". They have the purity and the energy of the crystals that have just been discovered. They are devoted to the film. They are my colours."

Fuadrocks: A big welcome to new members Trancelot (? name),  Peter (Kraigga) and Crystal (clj0627)  

Kraigga: Fu'ad Ait Aattou by Greg Kadel

http://www.gregkadelstudios.com/men/sets/corvaggio/middle.html
here's the full collection by Greg Kadel. I hope one didn't post this before

Fuadrocks: Thanks heaps ! And welcome to the group ! We have some but not all of these and they are possibly better quality. I will make sure we have your "full set" in the collection.

http://european-films.net/images/stories/cannes07/garrel.jpg
Apprently this man was going to play Ryno in the film – before Catherine found Fu'ad
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0437526/board/nest/48505028

See "LINKS" for clips and places to buy

Fuadrocks: http://go2.u6e.de/dp1rdt

This is the only copy I have found - from amazon.fr
Does anyone have it ? Seen it ?

I am wondering about the quality of the  English Sub-titles.

I saw some free downloads of the movie http://go2.u6e.de/unegle - probably illegal ? One said something about the sub-titles being much better....

Examples: http://www.watch-movies.net/movies/une_vieille_maitresse/ -
seems to be the entire movie with Asian subtitles ?

Odetoazia: I have the French DVD and even though it's a really awesome release, with plenty of extras, there are no English subtitles!!!

There's a Chinese DVD being sold on Ebay that "contains English subtitles". I mean they use English words, but they don't really make any sense. It seems like they translated some words with a very bad online translator. And it doesn't have all the cool extras that the French DVD has. I know this is unfair, but I don't recommend spending your money on the Chinese release/bootleg -- whatever that is - because the English is very bad and doesn't always make sense.

Fuadrocks: just read that the English distributor of this film is "Artificial Eye" (2008) http://www.realmovienews.com/movies/9482
I am not clear if this is about cinemas or DVDs

Fuadrocks: Thank you so much for that information, Mariana. Before your reply arrived, I waited a bit and thinking no information was coming / available, I ordered it from amazon.fr
Then I read your welcome reply afterwards. Sure enough, just as you said - no subtitles at all; except French ones for deaf people (and a useful adjunct to viewers whose French is so-so).

LOVE the appendices ! Everyone, there is a special section where Catherine Breillat talks exclusively about each principle actor - and that of course includes a section that is dedicated to Fu'ad.

LOADS of "behind the scenes" footage of them filming. The scenes of him recovering after the duel - it shows them bandaging him up while standing and also Catherine Breillat coaching him from in bed: she seems to adore him.
There are pics of some of this in the Photos section (see Ryno & La Vellini folder) from Mariana's site  www.odetoazia.com (if you want to see LOADS on Asia Agento in this film - get over there fast !). He seems to wear modest underpants most of the time, bless him. As most would in a crowded room !

I wish I could capture stills from the DVD - there is a beautiful bit where Fu'ad seems to be posing for a picture OR having light readings taken. He is in the "Algerian" house, wearing an indigo shirt and a turban (Algeria -  very convincing - you see its a pile of sand in France !) and gazing in that blank-model way towards the viewer. Very nice picture. I will look into what is involved. I am a member of another yahoo group and its boss does it all the time. Anyway, the boss of the other club said that a few years ago when he purchased, the equipment was very expensive ... we will see.

There is very little about Fu'ad on the web: mostly just snippets in articles about the movie.
If anyone finds anything, can they please post it here in reply to this post, so it is grouped please ?

Fu'ad is an Arabic name meaning "heart".
He states he is from "Northern" France.
In 2007, he was about 26 (-ish)
He was cast for the role of Ryno de Marigny on his 25th birthday and said he had given himself until then to get into proper acting.
He was first a model. He wants to be an actor - wants more roles.
He speaks good English, so is not locked into French film.

He has been described as Corsican and half-Corsican.

http://go2.u6e.de/m9cesn <http://go2.u6e.de/m9cesn> states he is "Flemish".
HE has stated he is from "Northern France".
One article states he is / was a barber. However, his surname is also a place in Morocco - a berber location - and one article desribes him as Moroccan. Catherine Breillat said "His people are from the desert". Perhaps they mean "Berber", not "Barber".

(Odetoazia): Apparently, according to French mag Cinélive, Fuad was born in France, but his origins are half Berber (from Morocco) and half Corsican. I don't know if he's originally from Northern France, but I read that he was living in Lille, which is in Northern France, when he got the role of Ryno de Marigny. You can read more about the Berber people and
Corsica at the following links:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Berber_people and
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Corsica Hope that helps.

It appears Fu'ad's birthday is 2 November. In another interview, he said he had given himself until he was 25 to enter acting (aside from his 3 years of drama school) and he confirms he was cast on his 25th birthday.  http://www.theage.com.au/news/entertainment/facing-up-to-acting-for-real/2007/11/14/1194766763908.html (great interview). If the casting was in 2005 or 6 (film released in 2007), I guess that means he was born in 1980 or 1 ?

He models for many agencies all over the EU as far as Israel (see "links") and has done a lot of work (see "photos")

He came to Paris as a teenager to go to 2 acting schools (see "links") but despite many auditions, did not get work as an actor and turned to modelling, in which he became successful. He gave himself until the age of 25 to become a working actor and was cast in his first role on his 25th birthday - "Une Vieille Maitresse" (see "Links" and "photos")

Getting the movie role meant he was able to move out of a single room with no hot water !

TRANSLATION - please see "links" for many free sites.

Free, fast, approximate translations (just cut-and-paste).

Better than nothing !

Hello everyone. I did not receive any objections, so I cleaned out old messages.

Now I will copy & paste groupings of information from old posts into new, fewer condensed posts.

And we can start again.

It might take a little time ... BRON :)

(Translators available in "Links")

Its a long story, but I would like to remove my name from the messages as it is showing up on search engines.
I didn't realise it would.

It has not happened before with memberships of other yahoo groups and I am a bit shocked actually.
Its not OK with me to be named internationally on the internet this way.

I have already deleted a few of my posts with my full name but it has not fixed the problem.

Also it is getting quite cluttered with just notices that photos and links have been downloaded.

These are very useful at first, but quickly become unnecessary.

I wonder how many people read them anyway: do you visit the site to look at the photos / use the links ? I have no idea.

So this is why I want to have a general "clean up" of the messages.

PLEASE TELL ME YOUR OPINION NOW.

If I do not hear from you in a week (by Saturday 10 May), I will understand it is not a problem and I will start to delete most posts.

Any useful information in posts, like urls, I will put in "links" etc.

Anything useful that should not be lost that I cannot put in links,I will cut and paste into one - few posts.

Then we can start again.

Is that OK ?

Looking forward to hearing from you now.

B :)