Lionel Abelanski
8 titles
Filmography
8 results

Safari
(2009)Tour organizer, Richard Dacier, bites off more than he can chew when he loses at poker to the South African mob. Coming face to face with Africa's cruellest Godfather, Mr. Charles, he is given two choices: either Charles' men kill Bako, a trusty old fellow who not only raised him but also runs his struggling safari company, or add an extra tourist to his upcoming safari and ensure the safe delivery of a locked briefcase. A simple task it seems... but not for Dacier who, as the result of a traumatic experience, has not entered the bush since he was a boy. As this hilarious safari of misfits lurches into action, it soon becomes clear that none of Dacier's guests are who they said they were, and as the briefcase drop goes disasterously wrong and the group find themselves being chased by an army of angry Mozambique rebels, the tourists’ true identities begin to emerge. As Dacier is forced to face his past, he learns a thing or two about loss, love and courage. But will he be able to save Bako?

Poltergay
(2006)When Marc and Emma move into their new house, they have no idea that in the 1970s, their basement was a gay nightclub which had been destroyed by fire and that the house itself is now haunted by the ghosts of five gay and mischievous clubbers. And now their penchant for raising the roof with renditions of Boney M's 'Rasputin' causes havoc in the household! How to put an end to these frighteners?

Didier
(1997)Jean-Pierre, a frazzled sport agent, has better things to do than to look after his friend's labrador Didier. An amazing discovery will lead him off on an amazing adventure.
Daddy Cool
(2008)A brilliant scientist tries to connect with his adolescent daughter.

Rue Mandar
(2013)Take a traditional Jewish funeral whose rituals no one can quite recall. Add a Yiddishkeit community in Paris, one of the most beautiful cities in the world, and top it off with an ensemble cast of dysfunctional siblings and spouses. What you get in the assured hands of director Idit Cébula (Two Lives Plus One), is the charmingly poignant French film Rue Mandar. For elder brother Charles (Richard Berry, 22 Bullets), sister Rosemonde (Emmanuelle Devos, The Other Son, Coco Before Chanel) and youngest sibling Emma (Sandrine Kiberlain, The Women on the 6th Floor), their widowed mother’s funeral marks the end of an era. Brought together after years of separation, they are soon squabbling about religious tradition, each other and what to do with their parents’ apartment at 13 rue Mandar. Rue Mandar reminds us that the messy, sometimes humorous and often bittersweet business of death can lead to new beginnings.

Guardians of the Formula
(2024)Amid the Cold War in 1958, two scientists, two worlds, and two ideologies faced a race for survival at the Vinca Scientific Institute near Belgrade.

The Concert
(2009)Decades in the making, the conductor of the Bolshoi orchestra-turned janitor who was fired for hiring Jewish musicians gathers them for a new concert.

Just a Gigolo
(2019)After World War I, a war hero returns to Berlin to find that there's no place for him--he has no skills other than what he learned in the army, and can only find menial, low-paying jobs. He decides to become a gigolo to lonely rich women.