03/05/2017 - Pre-sales will kick off on the Croisette for the upcoming film by Agnès Jaoui, as well as those by Catherine Corsini and Cédric Kahn

Actress-director Agnès Jaoui (© Eddy Brière)

Some tantalising new films have been added to the international sales slate of French company Le Pacte, managed by Jean Labadie, for the Film Market of the 70th Cannes Film Festival (17-28 May). There, the team headed up by Camille Neel will be kicking off pre-sales for Place publique [+see also:
trailer
film profile], the fifth feature by Agnès Jaoui. Jaoui co-penned the movie with her regular writing partner Jean-Pierre Bacri, with whom she will also share top billing in the film, as usual. The duo already has The Taste of Others (3.8 million admissions in France in 2000, nominated for the Oscar for Best Foreign-language Film, winner of four César Awards, including Best Film and Best Screenplay) and Look at Me [+see also:
trailer
film profile] (Best Screenplay Award at the Cannes Film Festival in 2004) under its belt. The new film, which will begin shooting this summer, is being produced by SBS Films. Interestingly, Agnès Jaoui is currently gracing screens in Fifty Springtimes [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile] by Blandine Lenoir, and she will sit on the Cannes competition jury.

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The plot of Place publique revolves around Castro, who was once a very famous TV host, but as he grows old, his popularity is dwindling. Today, his driver Manu takes him to the housewarming party of his longtime friend and producer Nathalie, who has just moved into a beautiful home in the outskirts of Paris. Hélène, Nathalie's sister and Castro's ex-wife, is also among the guests. When they were young, they shared the same idealistic political views, but success turned Castro to realism (or cynicism, depending on how you choose to see it...), while Hélène stayed true to her ideals. Their daughter Nina, who has written a book loosely based on her parents, joins the party as well. It's a lovely afternoon. The audience ratings for Castro's show continue to fall inexorably. Hélène is hopelessly trying to help an Afghan refugee by getting her into the media spotlight. Meanwhile, the party is in full swing, and everyone is dancing on a volcano. 

At Cannes, Le Pacte will also get started with the pre-sales for An Impossible Love [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile] by Catherine Corsini (staged by Chaz Productions, starring Virginie Efira and Niels Schneider, an adaptation of the Christine Angot novel), the shoot for which will get under way on 1 June, and for The Prayer [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Cédric Kahn
film profile] by Cédric Kahn.

The firm’s line-up also includes The Freshman by Thomas Lilti (see the news –starring Vincent Lacoste and William Lebghil), which is currently in production, plus a couple of features in post-production: (Girl)Friend [+see also:
trailer
film profile] by Victor Saint-Macary (see the news) and Monos [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile] by Alejandro Landes (a co-production between Colombia, France, Germany, the Netherlands, Uruguay and Argentina). Lastly, a market premiere is on the cards for Crash Test Aglaé [+see also:
trailer
film profile] by Eric Gravel.

(Translated from French)