Veteran French director Bertrand Tavernier (A Sunday in the Country, D’Artagnan’s Daughter, The Princess of Montpensier) shifts gears for a sparkling and savvy comedy of political manners in Quai d’Orsay.

New graduate Arthur (Raphaël Personnaz) is hired as a speechwriter for French foreign minister Alexandre Taillard de Worms (a superb Thierry Lhermitte). As Arthur learns how to handle his unpredictable boss and, under the supervision of Chief of Staff Claude (Neils Arestrup), shield him from daily disasters, the threat of an international war looms, raising the stakes even higher.

This adaptation of Abel Lanzac’s comic is a madcap take on the French political scene in the vein of Armando Iannucci’s In the Loop, and moves at a blistering pace.

Winner – Best Screenplay, San Sebastian International Film Festival 2013
A snappy, sharp-witted, graphic novel-inspired satire on the doings at the French Foreign Ministry. – Hollywood Reporter

Director: Bertrand Tavernier, France, 2013, Running Time:113mins, Cert: CLUB

Presented with the support of the French Embassy and the Institut Français.