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BERLINALE 2017 Market / France

Thomas Lilti's The Freshmen for Le Pacte

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- At the EFM, pre-sales will kick off for the new film by the director of Hippocrates and Irreplaceable, which is set to shoot in the spring

Thomas Lilti's The Freshmen for Le Pacte
Director Thomas Lilti

It’s all systems go for French international sales agent Le Pacte, managed by Jean Labadie, as it gears up for the European Film Market at the 67th Berlin Film Festival (9-19 February 2017). The team headed by Camille Neel will be in attendance to launch pre-sales for The Freshmen [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile
]
, the fourth feature by Thomas Lilti, a filmmaker who proved his worth with Hippocrates [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Thomas Lilti
film profile
]
(a surprise hit in the Cannes Critics’ Week in 2014 – 950,000 admissions in French theatres and seven nominations for the César Awards in 2015, including in the categories of Best Film, Best Director and Best Screenplay) and Irrepaceable [+see also:
trailer
film profile
]
(1.5 million admissions in France last year and a nomination for the César Award for Best Actor in 2017), showing off his knack for crafting popular works that focus on intelligent societal issues that are also applicable in other countries. 

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The Freshmen, which will begin shooting in the spring, will star Vincent Lacoste (a rising star in French cinema since his Lumières Award for Best New Actor in 2010 for The French Kissers [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile
]
, which also earned him a nomination for the César Award in the same category; nominated for the César Award for Best Actor in 2015 for the aforementioned Hippocrates; nominated recently for the 2017 César Award for Best Supporting Actor for In Bed with Victoria [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Justine Triet
film profile
]
as well as being popular last year in Saint Amour [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile
]
) and William Lebghil (who rose to prominence in the series Soda and turned heads in such films as Love at First Fight [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Thomas Cailley
film profile
]
). The story follows Antoine, who is about to start his first year of medical school... for the third time. Meanwhile, Benjamin, fresh out of high school, will have his first stab at it. He soon realises that it’s not exactly a walk in the park. In a fiercely competitive environment, with nights dedicated to hard studying, rather than hard partying, the two freshers will have to adapt and find a middle ground between despair for the present and hope for the future. The feature, which should be ready at the end of the year, will be produced by Agnès Vallée and Emmanuel Barraux for 31 Juin Films, who have been partners of Thomas Lilti’s since Hippocrates.

At the Berlin-based market, Le Pacte will screen This Is Our Land [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Lucas Belvaux
film profile
]
by Lucas Belvaux (which has just been world-premiered at Rotterdam and will be out in France on 22 February), Mr & Mrs Adelman [+see also:
trailer
film profile
]
by Nicolas Bedos (released in France on 8 March), Open at Night [+see also:
trailer
film profile
]
by and starring Edouard Baer (also starring Audrey Tautou; on the cinema listings in France since 11 January), The Poisoning Angel [+see also:
trailer
film profile
]
by Stéphanie Pillonca (in theatres since 18 January) and Orphan [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Arnaud des Pallières
film profile
]
by Arnaud des Pallières (popular at Toronto and in competition at San Sebastián – released in France on 29 March), while continuing negotiations for the other titles on its line-up, particularly A Kid [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Philippe Lioret
film profile
]
by Philippe Lioret (which earned Pierre Deladonchamps nominations for the 2017 César Award and Lumières Award for Best Actor).

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(Translated from French)

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