SBS steams towards Cannes with Frankie and Bacurau in tow
- The French company has produced and is now selling Ira Sachs’ film, as well as that by Kleber Mendonça Filho and Juliano Dornelles, with both works in the running for the Palme d’Or
2019 is moving along nicely for SBS Films, the French firm steered by Saïd Ben Saïd (who is supported on the production side of things by the Swiss national Michel Merkt). Following on from the Golden Bear taken home from Berlin by Nadav Lapid’s Synonyms [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Nadav Lapid
film profile], two other feature films produced and sold worldwide by SBS, and set to hit the Marché du Film, will now be battling it out for the Palme d’Or at the 72nd Cannes Film Festival (running 14 to 25 May).
The first is Frankie [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Ira Sachs
film profile] by the American filmmaker Ira Sachs (most notably the director of Forty Shades of Blue, Keep the Lights On, Love Is Strange and Brooklyn Village), a majority French production led by SBS and featuring a rather lovely, multinational cast comprising Isabelle Huppert, Brendan Gleeson, Marisa Tomei, Jérémie Renier, Pascal Greggory, Ariyon Bakare, Vinette Robinson and Greg Kinnear. Written by the filmmaker himself alongside Mauricio Zacharias, the story centres around a famous French actress who learns she only has a few months left to live and decides to spend her final holiday with her family in Sintra, Portugal. Co-produced by Portuguese outfit O Som e a Fúria and Belgian firm Beluga Tree, the film will be distributed in France by SBS on 28 August.
The second Palme d’Or contender featuring in the SBS line-up is Bacurau [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Kleber Mendonça Filho, Juli…
film profile] by the Brazilian duo composed of Kleber Mendonça Filho (discovered through his work, Neighbouring Sounds, and whose movie Aquarius [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile] also appeared under the SBS banner when competing in Cannes in 2016) and Juliano Dornelles. Written by its two directors, the story unfolds in a near-future world… The village of Bacurau in the Brazilian sub-region of Sertão is mourning its matriarch, Carmelita, who has passed away at the age of 94. A few days later, the inhabitants notice that Bacurau has disappeared off the map … Starring Barbara Colen, Sonia Braga and Udo Kier, this full-length film was co-produced by Arte France Cinéma and by the Brazilian organisations CinemaScópio and Globo Filmes. It will be released in French cinemas on 25 September, courtesy of SBS.
(Translated from French)
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