When the French-German international sales outfit Wild Bunch whips out announcements, they rarely go unnoticed, and this is once again the case just days ahead of the European Film Market, to be held at the Berlin Film Festival (running 20 February – 1 March), where the team led by Vincent Maraval and overseen by Eva Diederix will be making their presence felt with an armada of titles to turn to good account.

Standing tall up front are two French films, both in the running for 2020’s Golden Bear. The Salt of Tears [+lee también:
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entrevista: Souheila Yacoub
ficha de la película] will see Philippe Garrel (71 years old) participating in the Berlin competition for the very first time after battling it out six times for the Venetian Golden Lion and competing once for the Cannes Palme d’Or. Starring Logann Antuofermo, Oulaya Amamra, André Wilms, Louise Chevillotte and Souheila Yacoub, Garrel’s latest opus was produced by Rectangle and co-produced by Arte France Cinéma alongside Swiss firm Close Up. It will be released in French cinemas by Ad Vitam on 8 April.

Delete History [+lee también:
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ficha de la película], meanwhile, marks the return of the duo composed of Benoît Delépine and Gustave Kervern to the Berlinale competition, ten years on from Mammuth [+lee también:
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entrevista: Gustave Kervern, Beno…
ficha de la película]. Starring Blanche Gardin, Denis Podalydès and Corinne Masiero, this work by Les Films du Worso and No Money Productions was co-produced by France 3 Cinéma, Pictanovo and Belgian group Scope Pictures. Ad Vitam will likewise helm distribution in France for this picture, which is scheduled for 22 April.

The EFM will also see Wild Bunch kick off pre-sales on Caravaggio’s Shadow by Italy’s Michele Placido (Romanzo Criminale [+lee también:
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entrevista: Michele Placido
ficha de la película]), with filming set to commence in the spring, featuring Riccardo Scamarcio, Louis Garrel and Isabelle Huppert in the cast. Produced by Roman firm Goldenart alongside Parisian group Mact, the film will plunge audiences into Italy circa 1610. At this point in time, Caravaggio is one of the greatest painters alive, but he’s also a rebel when it comes to the laws of a church tasked with deciding which religious subjects are fit for depiction. Upon discovering that the artist uses prostitutes, thieves and vagabonds in his work, Pope Paul V orders the Vatican’s secret services to look into the matter so as to decide whether or not to grant the painter the clemency he requests after being sentenced to death for the murder of a love rival. The inquisitor, known as The Shadow, opens an investigation which will lead him to uncover the conflicting vices and virtues of an artist whose life or death lies in the hands of the former…

Likewise gracing the Wild Bunch film slate is the animated film The Summit Of The Gods [+lee también:
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ficha de la película] by Patrick Imbert (produced by Julianne Films, Folivari and Mélusine Productions – due to be released in early 2021), a work based upon Jirô Taniguchi’s manga series.

In terms of new films in post-production, three first films coming courtesy of female directors are particularly eye-catching: Hatching [+lee también:
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entrevista: Hanna Bergholm
ficha de la película] by Finland’s Hanna Bergholm (a production steered by her compatriots at Silva Mysterium alongside Norwegian group Evil Doghouse and Sweden’s TMV, with the notable support of Eurimages), Beginning [+lee también:
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entrevista: Dea Kulumbegashvili
ficha de la película] by Georgian director Dea Kulumbegashvili (who captured much attention with her short films Invisible Spaces, in competition in Cannes in 2014, and Léthé, which graced the Directors’ Fortnight in 2016) and Unclenching The Fists [+lee también:
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ficha de la película] by Russia’s Kira Kovalenko. In addition to these, we find Animals [+lee también:
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entrevista: Nabil Ben Yadir
ficha de la película] by Belgian filmmaker Nabil Ben Yadir, Taste by Vietnam’s Le Bao (a production helmed by Singapour and involving, among others, French firms Deuxième Ligne Films and Petit Films, as well as German group Senator), Harami by Indian filmmaker Shyam Madiraju and Shake Your Cares Away directed by Tom Shoval (well received in the Berlinale’s Panorama section in 2013 with Youth [+lee también:
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ficha de la película]) and starring Bérénice Bejo who plays a lead role in this production steered by Israeli group Green Productions, alongside Germany (One Two Films), Russia (New People Film Company) and France (Les Compagnons Du Cinéma and Wild Bunch).

Other feature films in post-production include DNA [+lee también:
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ficha de la película], directed by and starring Maïwenn (Poliss [+lee también:
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entrevista: Maïwenn
ficha de la película], My King [+lee también:
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ficha de la película]), who’s surrounded on screen by the likes of Louis Garrel, Fanny Ardant and Marine Vacth. Produced by Why Not, the film begins in the summertime, in the deserted streets of Paris. Neige is a regular visitor at her beloved Algerian grandfather’s retirement home. After all, Emir is the one who brought her up and protected her from her toxic parents. Neige is surrounded by extended family members - brothers, a sister, an aunt, her mother - and relations between them are difficult, riddled with resentment and bitterness. Emir’s death will heighten these family tensions and unleash a deeply-rooted identity crisis for protagonist Neige…

The market will also see Wild Bunch soldiering on with sales on previously announced works in post-production: Flag Day by Sean Penn, Mainstream by Gia Coppola, Mandibles [+lee también:
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entrevista: Quentin Dupieux
ficha de la película] by Quentin Dupieux, Les années 10 by Thierry de Peretti (article), Madame Claude [+lee también:
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entrevista: Florence Gastaud
ficha de la película] by Sylvie Verheyde, French Tech [+lee también:
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ficha de la película] by Bruno Podalydès, as well as four debut features in the form of The Swarm [+lee también:
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entrevista: Just Philippot
ficha de la película] by Just Philippot, The Third War [+lee también:
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entrevista: Giovanni Aloi
ficha de la película] by Italy’s Giovanni Aloï, Ibrahim [+lee también:
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ficha de la película] by Samir Guesmi and A Brighter Tomorrow [+lee también:
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entrevista: Souheila Yacoub
ficha de la película] by Yassine Qnia.

Equally worthy of a mention are For Better and For Worse [+lee también:
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entrevista: Stéphane Brizé
ficha de la película] by Stéphane Brizé, on which filming has just wrapped, The Crusade, currently in pre-production and directed by and starring Louis Garrel, and Titane [+lee también:
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entrevista: Julia Ducournau, Vincent L…
ficha de la película] by Julia Ducournau, not to mention Ari Folman’s animated film currently in production Where Is Anne Frank [+lee también:
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entrevista: Ari Folman
ficha de la película], and Thierry Frémaux’s documentary Lumière! The Adventure Continues.

Last but not least, new entity Wild Bunch International have just announced the opening of pre-sales on Franck Khalfoun’s thriller O2, in which Noomi Rapace will play a starring role.