The fourth feature by Belgian director and actor Bouli Lanners, THE FIRST THE LAST (LES PREMIERS LES DERNIERS) is selected in the prestigious Panorama section of the 66th Berlin International Film Festival, which takes place from 11 to 21 February 2016. This selection marks the filmmaker’s return to Berlin, where he presented his debut feature ULTRANOVA in 2005.
 
Bouli Lanners has been fixture of the international festival circuit since presenting his short film TRAVELLINCKX in 1999. Two years later, his short MUNO was selected for the Directors’ Fortnight at Cannes. In 2005, his feature debut ULTRANOVA won an award in Berlin. His second feature film ELDORADO collected three prizes at the Cannes Film Festival in 2008, where it was screened in the Directors’ Fortnight. In 2011, his third feature THE GIANTS was selected to close the Directors’ Fortnight at Cannes, where it also won two prizes.
 
Produced by Versus Production (Belgium) and ADCB Films (France), THE FIRST THE LAST will have its international premiere at Berlin, in the presence of Bouli Lanners. International sales are handled by Wild Bunch.
 
The film unfolds on an endless windswept plain, where two bounty hunters, the inseparable Cochise and Gilou, are searching for a stolen phone containing sensitive material. They cross paths with Esther and Willy, a couple on the run. And what if this turns out to be the end of the world? In this small forgotten town where everyone finally ends up, will they rediscover the best in human nature? Or are these men, perhaps the last on earth, not that different from the first?
 
THE FIRST THE LAST stars Bouli Lanners, Albert Dupontel, Suzanne Clément, Michael Lonsdale, David Murgia, Aurore Broutin, Philippe Rebbot, Serge Riaboukine, Lionel Abelanski and Virgile Bramly, with a special appearance by Max Von Sydow.
 
The music is composed by Pascal Humbert (of the band Detroit, among others) while the cinematography is by Jean-Paul De Zaeytijd.