06/06/2019 - The firm topped up its distribution slate on the Croisette and has opened a new cinema in the centre of Prague

Lux Aeterna by Gaspar Noé

The Croisette is one of the usual spots where Film Europe Media Company indulges in its regular shopping sprees (see the news). As a major distributor of European arthouse cinema in the territories of Slovakia and the Czech Republic, the company has once again topped up its catalogue with award-winning titles, a strategy it has been adhering to for several years at the “Big Three”: Berlin, Cannes and Venice. It has become part of the firm’s multi-channel distribution initiative Be2Can and even, in the words of Film Europe’s CEO, Ivan Hronec, its “distribution cloud” (see the interview). The latest arrivals include the Jury Prize-winning thriller Les Misérables [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Ladj Ly
film profile], the first feature by French newcomer Ladj Ly; the winner of the Best Director Award, Young Ahmed [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne
film profile], directed by Luc and Jean-Pierre Dardenne; the winner of the FIPRESCI Prize for Best Film in Competition, It Must Be Heaven [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Elia Suleiman
film profile] by Elia Suleiman; the Jury Special Mention laureate, Joan of Arc [+see also:
film review
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interview: Bruno Dumont
film profile] by Bruno Dumont; and the SACD Award-winning An Easy Girl [+see also:
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interview: Rebecca Zlotowski
film profile] by Rebecca Zlotowski.

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Furthermore, the company secured the latest movies by seasoned filmmakers Ken Loach (Sorry We Missed You [+see also:
film review
trailer
Q&A: Ken Loach
film profile]) and Arnaud Desplechin (Oh Mercy! [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Arnaud Desplechin
film profile]), thus complementing the filmmakers’ previous titles that are on Film Europe’s slate. The most surprising move was the acquisition of the freshest effort by auteur-provocateur Gaspar Noé, starring Charlotte Gainsbourg, the medium-length film essay Lux Aeterna (whereas Czech distributor Aerofilms handled the domestic theatrical releases of Noé’s last two films).

After expanding its distribution strategy last year (see the news), the company continues to fine-tune its operations in an ever-changing landscape. At the beginning of June, Film Europe opened a new creative film space, the EDISON Filmhub, in the centre of Prague, near Henry’s Tower (the company already operates its own cinema, Cinema Film Europe, near the heart of the Slovakian capital). According to the company’s CEO, the EDISON Filmhub will offer a “quality film map” and “a curated selection of films” that reflects the trends and topics of the modern world. The concept behind the newly opened film hub is for it to be “a theatre in a space that was never a theatre before; it is the first cinema to open as a traditional theatre but is a VoD platform at the same time,” explains Hronec. This combination of a traditional theatre and VoD is an “elegant and timely solution for our times”, concludes Film Europe’s CEO. The EDISON Filmhub will also screen movies from other distributors.