08/05/2008

Cineuropa has so far presented the Film Market line-ups for Wild Bunch, Pathé, Gaumont, EuropaCorp, Pyramide, Les Films du Losange, The Coproduction Office and Memento (see interview with Emilie Georges) ahead of the announcement of the slate for Films Distribution and Celluloid Dreams. The market – which kicks off next Wednesday as part of the 61st Cannes Film Festival – will host numerous other French international sales companies. Here we offer an overview.

At Cannes, UGC will start sales for André Téchiné’s La fille du RER (“The Girl on the RER”) starring Catherine Deneuve, Michel Blanc and Emilie Dequenne; Barbet Schroeder’s new film Inju (currently in post-production) and his forthcoming title (A Very Simple Crime). The line-up also includes the following projects: Tony Gatlif’s Freedom and James Huth’s Lucky Luke (starring Jean Dujardin).

TF1 International will be hoping for success with Jean-Stéphane Sauvaire’s Johnny Mad Dog [+see also:
trailer
film profile], which will screen in the Un Certain Regard section. They will also present a promotional reel for Spike Lee’s Miracle at St Anna as well as get pre-sales underway for Laurent Tuel’s Premier cercle (“First Circle”, starring Jean Reno, Gaspard Ulliel and Sami Bouajila) and Claude Chabrol’s Bellamy (starring Gérard Depardieu, Clovis Cornillac and Jacques Gamblin).

With a Critics’ Week special screening for Rumba [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Charles Gillibert
interview: Dominique Abel and Fiona Go…
film profile] and Chinese feature 24 City selected in official competition, MK2 have some impressive titles on their slate. Other films include Gilles Béhat’s thriller Diamant 13 (“Diamond 13”, starring Gérard Depardieu and Asia Argento) and the international market premiere of La véritable histoire du chat botté (“The True Story of Puss in Boots”) by Jérôme Deschamps and Pascal Herold.

Armed with a well-stocked line-up that includes Laetitia Colombani’s Mes stars et moi (“My Stars and I”), Studio Canal will start pre-sales for Danièle Thompson’s Le code a changé (“Change of Code”) and Robert Guédiguian’s L’armée du crime (“Army of Crime”).

Rezo – who have a South American film in the Directors’ Fortnight (Acne) and a debut Russian feature in Critics’ Week – will present the international premiere of Diastème’s Le bruit des gens autour (“The Sound of People Around”) and Marion Lainé’s Un Cœur simple (“A Simple Heart”) at the film market. Titles in post-production include Karim Dridi’s Khamsa. Other projects worth watching out for are Stéphane Brizé’s Mademoiselle Chambon (starring Italian actor Pierfrancesco Favino) and the harrowingPrey by Antoine Blossier.

Le Pacte will start sales for Amat Escalante’s Los Bastardos (selected in the Un Certain Regard section); François Ozon’s Ricky, which has just entered post-production; and Christophe Honoré’s La belle personne, produced for Arte and starring Louis Garrel.

Coach 14 will be hoping for success with Argentinean/French/German co-production Blood Appears (in the Critics’ Week) and Galantuomini (“Gentlemen”) by Italian director Edoardo Winspeare (in post-production). The company have also joined forces with Orly Films to start sales on Alain Resnais’ Les herbes folles (“Wild Reeds”); Francis Huster’s Un homme et son chien (“A Man and His Dog”, starring Jean-Paul Belmondo); and Claude Miller’s Je suis heureux que ma mère soit vivante (“I’m Glad that My Mother is Alive”).

Roissy Films will present promotional reels for Martin Provost’s Séraphine and François Rotger’s Story of Jen, as well as footage from Agnès Varda’s Plages d’Agnès (“Agnès’ Beaches”).

SND will unveil the market premiere of Graham Guit’s Hello Goodbye (starring Gérard Depardieu and Fanny Ardant) and a promotional reel for Maïwenn’s Le bal des actrices (“The Actresses’ Ball”, starring Charlotte Rampling and Karin Viard).

Bac Films’ line-up includes the market premiere of Icelandic/French co-production Back Soon by Solveig Anspach; Horatiu Malaele’s Romanian film Silent Wedding (in post-production); French animated film (Les Lascars, “The Rascals”); and German animated feature (Jasper). The latter two titles are currently in production, as is Jean-Christophe Klotz’s Les zones turquoises (“The Turquoise Zones”) and Hannelore Caye’s Commis d’office (“Court Appointed Lawyer”).

Finally, the Cannes Film Market will also be attended by Wide Management and Funny Balloons. Elle Driver will be there to sell, among other titles, Four Nights With Anna [+see also:
trailer
film profile] by Jerzy Skolimowski; UMedia will present Rabah Ameur-Zaïmeche’s Dernier Maquis (“Last Maquis”); and Capricci Films will start work on Albert Serra’s Le chant des oiseaux (“Birdsong”). The latter three titles will screen in the Director’s Fortnight.

(Translated from French)