15/02/2022 - BERLINALE 2022: Coproduction Office is selling Jessica Hausner’s new project starring Mia Wasikowska, while Pathé International is touting Matteo Garrone’s latest opus, to give just two examples

Actress Mia Wasikowska (© Martin Kraft) and director Jessica Hausner (© Fluxvisuals)

Primarily busy with the ten Golden Bear contenders (whose winner is set to be announced at the end of the afternoon tomorrow) gracing their line-ups (The Passengers of the Night [+see also:
film review
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interview: Mikhaël Hers
film profile] by Mikhaël Hers and Alcarràs [+see also:
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trailer
interview: Carla Simón
interview: Carla Simón
interview: Giovanni Pompili
film profile] by Carla Simón for mk2 Films, The Line [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Ursula Meier
film profile] by Ursula Meier for Memento International, Both Sides of the Blade [+see also:
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trailer
film profile] by Claire Denis and Before, Now & Then by Kamila Andini for Wild Bunch International, Peter von Kant [+see also:
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trailer
film profile] by François Ozon and Everything Will Be Ok [+see also:
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interview: Rithy Panh
film profile] by Rithy Panh for Playtime, Rimini [+see also:
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interview: Ulrich Seidl
film profile] by Ulrich Seidl for Coproduction Office, One Year, One Night [+see also:
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trailer
interview: Isaki Lacuesta
film profile] by Isaki Lacuesta for StudioCanal, and Un été comme ça by Denis Côté for Shellac), French international sales agents have also made the most of the spotlight offered by the (online) European Film Market - unfolding within the 72nd Berlinale - to announce some tantalising new titles.

Coproduction Office created a buzz, kicking off pre-sales on Club Zero [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Jessica Hausner
film profile] by Austria’s Jessica Hausner and revealing its protagonist to be Australian star Mia Wasikowska (as a teacher in an elitist establishment who forges bonds with five pupils which take a dangerous turn). Filming on Hausner’s second English-language film after Little Joe [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Jessica Hausner
film profile] (in competition in Cannes 2019, where it earned its lead the Best Actress award) is due to commence in July. For the record, the director has been selected for Cannes, within the Un Certain Regard section, an additional three times and has competed once in Venice in 2009. Club Zero is produced by Austria’s Coop99, Germany’s Essential Filmproduktion, Coproduction Office UK and French firm Parisienne de Production, with the backing of Eurimages, Arte France Cinéma and ZDF/Arte (as part of the Grand Accord agreement), as well as ORF, BBC Film, the Austrian Film Institute, the Vienna Film Fund, FISA (Film Industry Support Austria) and Medienboard Berlin-Brandenburg.

Coproduction Office has likewise launched pre-sales on Ulrich Seidl’s Sparta [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile], which is already in post-production and is the sequel to current Berlin competitor Rimini.

Another major name in the world of European arthouse cinema is set to join Pathé International’s line-up, namely Italian director Matteo Garrone and his movie Io Capitano [+see also:
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trailer
film profile], which is due to start shooting in March. Selected to compete in Cannes four times (notably winning the Grand Prize in 2008 by way of Gomorrah [+see also:
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interview: Domenico Procacci
interview: Jean Labadie
interview: Matteo Garrone
film profile] and a Best Actor award for Dogman [+see also:
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trailer
interview: Matteo Garrone
film profile] in 2018) and once in Berlin (in 2004), the filmmaker is steering production on his new opus via his company Archimede and with the support of RAI Cinema and Belgian-Luxembourg outfit Tarantula.

mk2 Films, meanwhile, has kicked off pre-sales on two new promising titles in post-production (read our news): Nezouh [+see also:
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trailer
film profile] by the French director of Syrian origin Soudade Kaadan (the filmmaker’s second feature after The Day I Lost My Shadow [+see also:
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trailer
interview: Soudade Kaadan
film profile],  scooping Venice’s Film of the Future Lion in 2018), which was developed in Cannes’ Cinéfondation Workshop in 2019 and produced by British firm Berkeley Media Group alongside Zajal Productions and Parisian outfit Ex Nihilo; and Love Life [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Kōji Fukada
film profile] by Japan’s Kôji Fukada (who nabbed the Jury Prize within Cannes’ Un Certain Regard section in 2016 for Harmonium [+see also:
trailer
film profile] and the 2020 Official Selection label for Fidèles), which is co-produced by Paris outfit Comme des Cinémas.

Last but not least, Elle Driver is staking its bets on La Maternal [+see also:
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trailer
interview: Pilar Palomero
film profile], which is currently in post-production, and the second feature by Spain’s Pilar Palomero, who stormed her way onto the film scene with Schoolgirls [+see also:
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trailer
interview: Pilar Palomero
film profile] (unveiled in the Berlinale’s Generation programme in 2020, bagging itself four Goyas in 2021, including the title of Best Film, to name just a few).

(Translated from French)