Automatische concepten

English summary

Love at First Fight (Les Combattants) is a funny, original debut film about love at first sight. A group of army recruiters sets up camp on a beach in a resort in the South of France. When the 20-year-old Arnaud is unexpectedly cajoled into a play fight with the muscular Madeleine, he just about manages to avoid a defeat while his friends look on. Now Madeleine bears him a grudge, but he feels an irresistible longing for her company. Once these opposites have got to know each other better, Arnaud follows Madeleine to a training camp for aspiring soldiers. And there something beautiful blooms between them. Yet Madeleine never loses sight of her primary aim: the world is falling apart and you can only survive with the right survival training.
The film’s humour is idiosyncratic and the budding love between the cautious Arnaud and the provocative Madeleine is unusual. The nicely filmed summer adventures remain pleasantly light-footed. The original characters, the unpredictable story and the good acting make Love at First Fight an unusual and strong debut film that both amuses and moves. The film was awarded four prizes at Cannes and three Césars (French Oscars).

Movie W is screening the short film If. before this feature film. If. is the first short film by actress/ screenplay writer/producer Shanice Kamminga and has been well received in the international film world and by the public. In 12 intense minutes we see how Evie tries to deal with the end of a love affair that could have been so fine. Form, music and story combine to create a wonderful unity. Shanice Kamminga (26) lives and works in Los Angeles and is Movie W’s guest on Saturday 20 June. She will introduce her film and after the screening will take questions from the public.

Shanice Kamminga Actor, Producer & Writer
Shanice fell in love with movies, storytelling and acting at a very young age. Growing up in a small town in the Netherlands, Hollywood wasn’t a very realistic option though. Spending most of her childhood writing and acting however, reality was never a big part in Shanice’s life anyway. While studying at the University of Amsterdam, she started to get serious about acting. She took several trips to LA to take acting classes, and booked roles in short films alongside famous Dutch actors.

Shanice soon made it her goal to find representation and move to Hollywood. After starring in the Dutch version of Glee!, the TV show Who’s in Who’s Out, Shanice finally scored an agent and moved to Los Angeles June 2013. That same year she also won a prestigious Dutch screenwriting festival with her first screenplay Crisis. She followed it up with a feature and a short film called If. The short film quickly drew the attention of an enthusiastic crew, and was produced by the end of 2013, with Shanice co-producing and starring.