Genre: Drama
Cast: Isabelle Huppert, Gaspard Ulliel, Astrid Berger-Frisbey
Release date: 20th November 2009
Production country: France
Directed by: Rithy Panh
Film duration: 115 minutes
Production year: 2008
Distributor: Axiom Films (www.axiomfilms.co.uk)


Widely praised following its world premiere as a Special Presentation at the Toronto International Film Festival, director Rithy Panh's (RICE PEOPLE) celebrated period epic set in the rich landscape of French colonial Indochine is a highly successful adaptation of Marguerite Duras' acclaimed and semi-autobiographical novel "Un Barrage Contre le Pacifique", featuring a leading performance by BAFTA Award Winner and recipient of the European Film Academy's 2009 Achievement in World Cinema, Isabelle Huppert.

Deceived into investing all of her savings in worthless, regularly flooded farmland, incapable of supporting crops and perilously close to the ocean, THE SEA WALL tells the compelling story of one mother's fight to protect her family - Joseph (Gaspard Ulliel, HANNIBAL RISING, A VERY LONG ENGAGEMENT) and Suzanne (Astrid Berges-Frisbey) from destitution at the hands of a corrupt administration.

Battling both the colonial bureaucrats and nature itself, she enlists the help of the local villagers, putting into place an elaborate scheme: building a dam against the sea to secure the future of both her family and the local community.


Opening on 20th November 2009 at the following sites:
Cine Lumiere, South Kensington
Apollo Piccadilly, West End
Curzon Renoir, Brunswick Centre