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INDUSTRY / MARKET France / USA

French sales agents spring into action at the AFM

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- Around 20 French companies are attending the last major international market of the year, which gets under way today in Santa Monica

French sales agents spring into action at the AFM
Nobody Has to Know by Bouli Lanners

Today, the curtain rises on the 40th AFM (American Film Market), which will unspool in Santa Monica until 13 November, and as is their wont, the French international sales agents (half of which will be grouped together under the UniFrance umbrella, at its dedicated area in the Loews Hotel) have a huge number of trump cards on their slates that they fully intend to play at the event. Here is an overview of the most enticing films and projects that are sure to tempt distributors from all around the world.

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Playtime will be unveiling the market premiere of The Breitner Commando [+see also:
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by Abdel Raouf Dafri, and will be selling Nobody Has to Know [+see also:
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interview: Bouli Lanners
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by Belgium’s Bouli Lanners (see the article), which is currently being shot, based on its screenplay. It will also be touting five features in post-production: Memory Box [+see also:
film review
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interview: Joana Hadjithomas, Khalil J…
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by Lebanese duo Joana Hadjithomas and Khalil Joreige, Comes Morning by Japan’s Naomi Kawase, My Donkey, My Lover and I [+see also:
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by Caroline Vignal, Playlist [+see also:
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interview: Nine Antico
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by Nine Antico and Summer of 1985 [+see also:
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by François Ozon.

Wild Bunch has announced that its line-up has been enhanced considerably by the addition of Mandibles [+see also:
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interview: Quentin Dupieux
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]
by Quentin Dupieux, The Swarm [+see also:
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interview: Just Philippot
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by Just Philippot, and Delete History [+see also:
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by Gustave Kervern and Benoît Delépine. Also of note among the firm’s slew of films are the very first images of Madame Claude [+see also:
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interview: Florence Gastaud
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]
by Sylvie Verheyde, and the upcoming Lumière! The Adventure Continues by Thierry Frémaux, The Salt of Tears [+see also:
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interview: Souheila Yacoub
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]
by Philippe Garrel and Flag Day by Sean Penn.

Kinology is setting itself apart with Annette [+see also:
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by Leos Carax (the shoot for which has just wrapped in Belgium, toplined by Marion Cotillard and Adam Driver) and a number of titles in post-production: Bergman Island [+see also:
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interview: Mia Hansen-Løve
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by Mia Hansen-Løve, A Mermaid in Paris [+see also:
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by Mathias Malzieu and How I Became a Superhero [+see also:
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by Douglas Attal.

Indie Sales, which has just added Dead & Beautiful [+see also:
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interview: David Verbeek
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by Dutch director David Verbeek (complete with a promo-reel to back it up) to its slate, will also be pinning its hopes on On a Half Clear Morning [+see also:
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interview: Bruno Dumont
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]
by Bruno Dumont and two movies in post-production: All the Dead Ones [+see also:
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by Caetano Gotardo and Marco Dutra, and Bigger Than Us [+see also:
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by Flore Vasseur, a socially engaged documentary about activism (staged by Elzevir Films together with Marion Cotillard for All You Need is Prod, among others). We should also point out the market premiere of Our Lady of the Nile [+see also:
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by Atiq Rahimi (first unveiled at Toronto) and a teaser for Calamity: a Childhood of Martha Jane Cannary [+see also:
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interview: Henri Magalon
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]
 by France’s Rémi Chayé, an animated feature currently in the making.

Bac Films will be selling The Case [+see also:
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by Bernard Stora based on a promo-reel, as well as several other titles in post-production, with the very first images of Home [+see also:
interview: Franka Potente
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]
by Germany’s Franka Potente (starring Jake McLauglin and Kathy Bates – see the article) and of the French-German animated movie Yakari, a Spectacular Journey [+see also:
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by Xavier Giacometti and Toby Genkel, plus a promo-reel for Wildland [+see also:
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interview: Jeanette Nordahl
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by Denmark’s Jeanette Nordahl (toplined by Sidse Babett Knudsen). The firm will be negotiating deals for The Man Who Sold His Skin by Tunisia’s Kaouther Ben Hania (starring Monica Bellucci) based on its screenplay, and it will show the very first images of the French-Belgian co-production Our Men [+see also:
film review
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interview: Rachel Lang
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]
by Rachel Lang.

Meanwhile, mk2 Films will be kicking off the pre-sales for The Big Hit by Emmanuel Courcol (see the article), which is currently being shot, and will be negotiating deals for the documentaries Helmut Newton: The Bad and the Beautiful [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Gero von Boehm
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]
by Germany’s Gero Von Boehm (with a brand-new promo-reel to boot), Birds of America [+see also:
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by France’s Jacques Loeuille and So Close to My Land by China’s Jia Zhangke, all in post-production.

Le Pacte will be organising a screening of Citizens of the World by Italy’s Gianni di Gregorio (see the article), the doc Phil Tippet – Mad Dreams and Monsters by Gilles Penso and Alexandre Poncet, and its Venice-awarded Madre [+see also:
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interview: Rodrigo Sorogoyen
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by Spaniard Rodrigo Sorogoyen, while also unveiling a promo-reel for Mama Weed [+see also:
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by Jean-Paul Salomé (see the article – in post-production, toplined by Isabelle Huppert).

Charades will have particularly high hopes for Suicide Tourist [+see also:
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interview: Jonas Alexander Arnby
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by Denmark’s Jonas Alexander Arnby and will be pre-selling other titles such as Hunted [+see also:
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by France’s Vincent Paronnaud and the US-UK production Mughal Mowgli [+see also:
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interview: Bassam Tariq
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]
by Bassam Tariq.

SND M6 will be showing off the very first images of De Gaulle [+see also:
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by Gabriel Le Bomin, Appearances [+see also:
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by Marc Fitoussi, the comedy A Friendly Tale [+see also:
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by Daniel Cohen (starring Bérénice Bejo, Vincent Cassel, François Damiens and Florence Foresti) and the chilling Kandisha [+see also:
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by Julien Maury and Alexandre Bustillo, but will also unsheathe a promo-reel for Poly [+see also:
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]
by Nicolas Vanier.

The recently founded Pulsar Content will be pinning its hopes on the projects I’m Going to Kill You by Denmark’s Nicolas Winding Refn, The Deep House [+see also:
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by French duo Julien Maury and Alexandre Bustillo, and Resurrected by Russia’s Egor Baranov, while also touting the completed movies Simon’s Got a Gift [+see also:
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]
by Léo Karmann and the documentary Aznavour by Charles [+see also:
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by Marc Di Domenico.

WTFilms will be pre-selling the rural-set fantasy flick Teddy [+see also:
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by Ludovic and Zoran Boukherma, currently in post-production, as well as lining up a slew of market premieres, including Anderson Falls by Julien Seri.

TF1 Studio will be presenting the market premiere of Into the Labyrinth [+see also:
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by Italy’s Donato Carrisi and will be pre-selling a number of titles in post-production: Way Down (see the article) by Spanish fright master Jaume Balagueró and the spy comedy The Lion [+see also:
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by Ludovic Colbeau-Justin.

Gaumont, which will be showing off #iamhere [+see also:
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by Éric Lartigau, Queens of the Field [+see also:
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by Mohamed Hamidi, Three Days and a Life [+see also:
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by Nicolas Boukhrief and the premiere of the South Korean film The Beast, also has From Africa With Love [+see also:
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by Nicolas Bedos up its sleeve, the shoot for which is about to get under way, with a cast including Jean Dujardin and Pierre Niney. Also standing proud on the line-up are the titles Bye Bye Morons [+see also:
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by Albert Dupontel (see the article), Rogue City by Oliver Marchal and the comedy Family Swap [+see also:
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by Jean-Patrick Benes, all presently in post-production.

StudioCanal will be rocking up in Santa Monica with a jam-packed slate, which includes screenings of the animated movie SamSam [+see also:
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by Tanguy de Kermel, Perfect Nanny [+see also:
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by Lucie Borleteau and My Stupid Dog [+see also:
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by Yvan Attal. Standing out among the titles in post-production are Night Shift by Anne Fontaine (see the article), the horror flick 32 Malasaña Street [+see also:
trailer
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]
by Spaniard Albert Pintó (which will go on general release in Spain on 17 January 2020), The Lost Prince by Michel Hazanavicus (see the article), Gunpowder Milkshake by Navot Papushado, The Secret Garden by Marc Munden (toplined by Colin Firth) and The Electrical Life of Louis Wain [+see also:
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]
by Will Sharpe (starring Benedict Cumberbatch). And that’s not to mention The Wolf and the Lion by Gilles de Maistre, which is currently being shot.

Orange Studio will unveil the market premiere of the horror movie Achoura by Talal Selhami and has just announced that Last Film Show by Pan Nalin, an Indian-Hungarian-French film currently being shot, has been added to its line-up.

Several other French international sales agents are also at the AFM, champing at the bit to unleash the contents of their slates, such as Memento Films International, Pathé International, Elle Driver, Other Angle Pictures (with, among others, the market premiere of Docteur ? by Tristan Séguéla – see the article) and Wide (with the premiere of the thriller Blast by Vanya Peirani-Vignes).

(The article continues below - Commercial information)

(Translated from French)

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