'38 Witnesses' to spread out Rotterdam

The city -- Lucas Belvaux's crime drama "38 temoins" (38 Witnesses) will open the Rotterdam Film Festival on Jan. 25, taking its world bow along the way. With different novel by Didier Decoin, pic involves Louise (Sophie Quinton), who returns home following a business travel to uncover her street was the scene of the crime. Initially there seem to be no witnesses, but with time she discovers that 38 people heard or saw something which evening, including her husband Pierre (Yvan Attal). Pic may be the eighth feature in the Belgian helmer, who works mainly from France. It marks his second collaboration with Attal following the kidnap drama "Rapt" last year. World sales are addressed by Films Distribution, with Diaphana set to distribute in Gaul. Rotterdam shuts on February. 4 with "The Hunter," a mental drama from Australia that opened this season in the Toronto Film Fest. It stars Willem Dafoe like a mercenary, sent with a shadowy biotech company to search the final Tasmanian tiger. Daniel Nettheim directs, working from the novel by "Sleeping Beauty" helmer Julia Leigh. Contact the range newsroom at news@variety.com