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BERLINALE 2018 Market / France

Memento Films International plots a course for the EFM

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- Some great deals are in sight for the French international sales agent at Berlin, with Malgorzata Szumowska’s Mug being showcased in the race for the Golden Bear

Memento Films International plots a course for the EFM
Mug by Malgorzata Szumowska

On eight separate occasions in the last ten years, French company Memento Films International’s line-up has included at least one title selected in competition at Berlin. Now it fully intends to make the most of the European Film Market at the 68th edition of the German festival (15-25 February), as it is on a hot streak after the remarkable success of Call Me by Your Name [+see also:
film review
trailer
Q&A: Luca Guadagnino
film profile
]
 by Italy’s Luca Guadagnino (nominated for four Oscars, including Best Picture, and sold worldwide by Memento).

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Memento will also be pinning its hopes on Mug [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Małgorzata Szumowska
film profile
]
 by Poland’s Malgorzata Szumowska in this year’s race for the Golden Bear. It is the fourth movie in a row by the filmmaker to be sold by the French firm, after Elles [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Malgorzata Sumowska
film profile
]
 (Berlinale Panorama in 2012), In the Name Of [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Malgorzata Szumowska
interview: Mateusz Kosciukiewicz
film profile
]
 (in competition at Berlin in 2013) and Body [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Malgorzata Szumowska
interview: Malgorzata Szumowska
film profile
]
 (Silver Bear for Best Director in 2015). As a reminder, Szumowska previously helmed Happy Man (nominated for the European Film Awards – European Discovery of the Year in 2000), Strangers [+see also:
trailer
film profile
]
 (which took part in the Sundance Film Festival and the Berlinale Panorama in 2005) and 33 Scenes from Life [+see also:
trailer
film profile
]
 (Jury Prize at Locarno in 2008). 

Written by the director together with Michal Englert (who is also serving as DoP on the film), the story of Mug hinges on the character of Jacek (played by Mateusz Kościukiewicz), a laid-back misfit of a young man from small-town Poland who works on a building site where the world’s biggest statue of Jesus is being built – but one day, he has a serious accident… Production duties were handled by Jacek Drosio for Nowhere

At Berlin, the team managed by Emilie Georges and headed up by head of sales Tanja Meissner will also be selling The Apparition [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Xavier Giannoli
film profile
]
 by Xavier Giannoli (toplined by Vincent Lindon), which will be screened at the market, and will continue pre-selling three eagerly awaited titles currently in post-production: Claire Darling [+see also:
trailer
film profile
]
 by Julie BertuccelliThe Wild Pear Tree [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile
]
 by Turkey’s Nuri Bilge Ceylan, winner of the Palme d’Or in 2014, and Everybody Knows by Iran’s Ashgar Farhadi (see the article – starring Javier BardemRicardo Darin and Penélope Cruz). Of course, more announcements can be expected.

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(Translated from French)

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