The world premiere of Lucas Belvaux’s 38 Témoins (38 Witnesses, France), starring Yvan Attal, Sophie Quinton and Nicole Garcia will open the 41st International Film Festival Rotterdam on January 25, 2012; the festival will close on February 4 with the screening of Daniel Nettheim’s The Hunter (Australia) starring Willem Dafoe, Frances O’Connor and Sam Neill.

In 38 Témoins, Louise (Sophie Quinton) returns home to discover that while she was away on business in China her street was the scene of a crime. There were no witnesses. Apparently everybody was asleep. Pierre, Louise’s husband (Yvan Attal) was at work. Apparently.

The Hunter is a powerful psychological drama that tells the story of Martin (Willem Dafoe) a mercenary sent from Europe by a mysterious bio-tech company to the Tasmanian wilderness on a hunt for the last Tasmanian tiger. Next to Willem Dafoe (Spiderman, The English Patient, Platoon), The Hunter stars Frances O’Connor (Blessed, A.I. Artificial Intelligence, Mansfield Park) and Sam Neill (Jurassic Park, The Piano) in the principal roles. The Hunter is based on the novel of the same name written by Julia Leigh.