The UK sales outfit’s new hires include its first head of production.
UK outfit HanWay Films has bolstered its team with three key hires – the British Film Institute (BFI)’s Katie Ellen, who joins in the newly-created role of head of production, alongside Genevieve Segall as director of acquisitions and Agathe Valentin as director of sales.
Ellen will drive development of HanWay’s production, packaging and financing capacity, with responsibility for building producer and financier relationships. Ellen joined the BFI in 2011, most recently holding the position of head of distribution and commercial strategy, where she worked across the BFI...
UK outfit HanWay Films has bolstered its team with three key hires – the British Film Institute (BFI)’s Katie Ellen, who joins in the newly-created role of head of production, alongside Genevieve Segall as director of acquisitions and Agathe Valentin as director of sales.
Ellen will drive development of HanWay’s production, packaging and financing capacity, with responsibility for building producer and financier relationships. Ellen joined the BFI in 2011, most recently holding the position of head of distribution and commercial strategy, where she worked across the BFI...
- 2/16/2023
- by Mona Tabbara
- ScreenDaily
As the Venice Film Festival claws back 70% of its pre-pandemic registration numbers and lures a parade of Hollywood stars to the Lido, it seems festival director Alberto Barbera is right: Venice is well and truly back. And just in time, too. As the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences and BAFTA become more international, all eyes are increasingly on the influential Italian festival.
In taking the temperature of key European and U.S. agents, sales firms and distributors heading to Venice, Variety found that many seem to be riding the momentum whipped up by a successful Cannes. For the first time, Venice falls barely two months after Cannes, but rather than contributing to festival fatigue, the industry seems energized to carry on conversations begun on the Croisette while revving up their marketing engines for awards from the Lido.
Paris-based sales agent Totem Films has its first Venice selection with “Erasing Frank,...
In taking the temperature of key European and U.S. agents, sales firms and distributors heading to Venice, Variety found that many seem to be riding the momentum whipped up by a successful Cannes. For the first time, Venice falls barely two months after Cannes, but rather than contributing to festival fatigue, the industry seems energized to carry on conversations begun on the Croisette while revving up their marketing engines for awards from the Lido.
Paris-based sales agent Totem Films has its first Venice selection with “Erasing Frank,...
- 9/2/2021
- by Manori Ravindran
- Variety Film + TV
Paris-based Totem Films has scored a raft of international sales on Iranian directors Behtash Sanaeeha and Maryam Moghaddam’s Berlin Film Festival competition entry, “Ballad of a White Cow.”
“Ballad of a White Cow,” as sales agent Totem notes, is the story of a woman’s struggle for justice, recognition and independence in today’s Tehran. The film, which is being shopped at this week’s European Film Market (EFM), is centred on Mina (Moghaddam), a struggling single mother of a deaf daughter who is devastated to learn that her husband Babak was executed a year earlier for a crime he didn’t commit.
As she battles for a public apology from the judges who served her husband’s death sentence, a stranger, Reza, appears on her doorstep, explaining that he has come to repay a debt he owes to Babak. Mina gradually opens up to him, unaware of the...
“Ballad of a White Cow,” as sales agent Totem notes, is the story of a woman’s struggle for justice, recognition and independence in today’s Tehran. The film, which is being shopped at this week’s European Film Market (EFM), is centred on Mina (Moghaddam), a struggling single mother of a deaf daughter who is devastated to learn that her husband Babak was executed a year earlier for a crime he didn’t commit.
As she battles for a public apology from the judges who served her husband’s death sentence, a stranger, Reza, appears on her doorstep, explaining that he has come to repay a debt he owes to Babak. Mina gradually opens up to him, unaware of the...
- 3/4/2021
- by Manori Ravindran
- Variety Film + TV
Paris-based Totem Films announced Friday that it is handling sales on Iranian Behtash Sanaeeha and Maryam Moghaddam’s Berlin Film Festival competition entry, “Ballad of a White Cow.” Totem Films will bring the drama onto the market at early March’s European Film Market (EFM).
The pick-up is sure to draw attention. Launched in 2019 by Agathe Valentin, Laure Parleani and Berenice Vincent, sales and production company Totem Films made waves at the Cannes Film Market last year, scoring vast international sales on “Gagarine,” one of the Cannes Festival official selection’s biggest arthouse breakouts.
Thanks to Asghar Farhadi’s “A Separation” (2011), Jafar Panahi’s “Taxi” (2015) and Mohammad Rasoulof’s “There is No Evil” (2020), Iran has won Berlin’s top award, a Golden Bear for best feature, more times in the last decade than any other country in the world.
While those directors are established values, Sanaeeha and Moghaddam are more fast-emerging talent.
The pick-up is sure to draw attention. Launched in 2019 by Agathe Valentin, Laure Parleani and Berenice Vincent, sales and production company Totem Films made waves at the Cannes Film Market last year, scoring vast international sales on “Gagarine,” one of the Cannes Festival official selection’s biggest arthouse breakouts.
Thanks to Asghar Farhadi’s “A Separation” (2011), Jafar Panahi’s “Taxi” (2015) and Mohammad Rasoulof’s “There is No Evil” (2020), Iran has won Berlin’s top award, a Golden Bear for best feature, more times in the last decade than any other country in the world.
While those directors are established values, Sanaeeha and Moghaddam are more fast-emerging talent.
- 2/12/2021
- by John Hopewell
- Variety Film + TV
Film industry looks to festival for a timely confirmation of 2021 plans.
International industry hopes are pinned on the Cannes Film Festival taking place physically in 2021 after last year’s Covid-19 cancellation but the major questions on everyone’s lips are whether it can maintain its traditional May dates, whether it will move to a June or July slot and when a final decision will be made.
With much of Europe still under some sort of lockdown, expectations that restrictions could get even stricter in some territories and a slow roll-out of France’s vaccination programme, the festival’s existing dates...
International industry hopes are pinned on the Cannes Film Festival taking place physically in 2021 after last year’s Covid-19 cancellation but the major questions on everyone’s lips are whether it can maintain its traditional May dates, whether it will move to a June or July slot and when a final decision will be made.
With much of Europe still under some sort of lockdown, expectations that restrictions could get even stricter in some territories and a slow roll-out of France’s vaccination programme, the festival’s existing dates...
- 1/20/2021
- by Melanie Goodfellow
- ScreenDaily
Paris-based sales company Totem Films has boarded Lovisa Siren’s new film “Sagres,” a dynamic European road movie.
“Sagres,” which has just gone into production, follows two sisters and a teenage daughter who travel from Stockholm, Sweden, to the picturesque cliffs of Sagres, Portugal — located in the southwestern most part of Europe, known as “The End of the World.”
Maya, the younger sister, is a free-spirited, half-failing musician who has left her son in Portugal with her mother, while older sibling Nilo is a control freak in a sexless marriage. When the sisters’ mother phones up to say she’s sick, the pair — joined by Nilo’s rambunctious teenage daughter Laura — embarks on a road trip through Europe to reunite in Sagres, culminating in a tragicomic reunion no one expected.
“Sagres” marks Siren’s feature debut. Her 2014 film “Pussy Have the Power” picked up the Best Short Award at the Goteberg Film Festival.
“Sagres,” which has just gone into production, follows two sisters and a teenage daughter who travel from Stockholm, Sweden, to the picturesque cliffs of Sagres, Portugal — located in the southwestern most part of Europe, known as “The End of the World.”
Maya, the younger sister, is a free-spirited, half-failing musician who has left her son in Portugal with her mother, while older sibling Nilo is a control freak in a sexless marriage. When the sisters’ mother phones up to say she’s sick, the pair — joined by Nilo’s rambunctious teenage daughter Laura — embarks on a road trip through Europe to reunite in Sagres, culminating in a tragicomic reunion no one expected.
“Sagres” marks Siren’s feature debut. Her 2014 film “Pussy Have the Power” picked up the Best Short Award at the Goteberg Film Festival.
- 9/30/2020
- by Manori Ravindran
- Variety Film + TV
Top executives from the US and Europe gathered in Zurich.
The Zurich Summit, organised in the first weekend of the 16th Zurich Film Festival in Switzerland, brought together experts including CAA’s Roeg Sutherland, director Yann Demange, Pulse Films founder Thomas Benski, Film I Vast’s CEO Mikael Fellenius, Totem Films partner Agathe Valentin, Srg director general Gilles Marchand, Anton’s Cecile Gaget and Berlinale head Carlo Chatrian for the first in-person event of its kind during the Covid-19 pandemic.
Under the title Kick-Starting a New Era, the topics under discussion including the changing financing landscape, the rise of local-language content,...
The Zurich Summit, organised in the first weekend of the 16th Zurich Film Festival in Switzerland, brought together experts including CAA’s Roeg Sutherland, director Yann Demange, Pulse Films founder Thomas Benski, Film I Vast’s CEO Mikael Fellenius, Totem Films partner Agathe Valentin, Srg director general Gilles Marchand, Anton’s Cecile Gaget and Berlinale head Carlo Chatrian for the first in-person event of its kind during the Covid-19 pandemic.
Under the title Kick-Starting a New Era, the topics under discussion including the changing financing landscape, the rise of local-language content,...
- 9/28/2020
- by Wendy Mitchell
- ScreenDaily
Films by Milcho Manchevski, François Ozon and Thomas Vinterberg, among others, join the 32 titles already announced. Due to Covid-19 and the related restrictions, the European Film Awards Feature Film Selection 2020 was announced in two steps: 32 films were already announced in August (read news), with the six titles added today, the list is now complete. Together, the 38 films from part 1 and 2 form the Efa Feature Film Selection, the list of feature-length fiction films recommended for a nomination for the European Film Awards 2020. The films have been selected by a committee consisting of the Efa Board and invited experts such as Italy's Giorgio Gosetti (festival programmer), Germany's Kathrin Kohlstedde (festival programmer), Spain's Paz Lazaro (festival programmer), Russia's Mary Nazari (exhibitor), Lithuania's Edvinas Pukšta (festival programmer) and France's Agathe Valentin (sales agent). In the coming weeks, the over 3,800 members of the European Film Academy will...
Reform drive has hits early snag in drive for gender equality.
Two-thirds of the 184 new members of the French César Academy’s first democratically elected general assembly have signed an open letter expressing their shock at the automatic return of 18 historic members, who include controversial director Roman Polanski.
Actors Corinne Masiero, Antoine Reinartz; filmmakers Bertrand Bonello and Catherine Corsini; producers Saïd Ben Saïd, Carole Scotta and sales and distribution professionals Daniela Elster, Alexandre Mallet-Guy, Mathieu Robinet, Ariane Toscan du Plantier and Agathe Valentin were among the 120 professionals who signed the statement released on Thursday evening.
“We were stunned to discover...
Two-thirds of the 184 new members of the French César Academy’s first democratically elected general assembly have signed an open letter expressing their shock at the automatic return of 18 historic members, who include controversial director Roman Polanski.
Actors Corinne Masiero, Antoine Reinartz; filmmakers Bertrand Bonello and Catherine Corsini; producers Saïd Ben Saïd, Carole Scotta and sales and distribution professionals Daniela Elster, Alexandre Mallet-Guy, Mathieu Robinet, Ariane Toscan du Plantier and Agathe Valentin were among the 120 professionals who signed the statement released on Thursday evening.
“We were stunned to discover...
- 9/18/2020
- by Melanie Goodfellow
- ScreenDaily
What are the benefits of an online festival premiere? It’s been the question on the lips of filmmakers, sales agents, distributors and exhibitors since festivals had to stop operating as physical entities. Venice marked a return to a more traditional way of doing things, while Toronto’s hybrid dance of digital industry and physical public screenings offers a different alternative. But should filmmakers accept invitations to premiere their films at purely virtual festivals?
Now that several online festivals have taken place – Cph:Dox, Locarno and Sheffield Docfest – a consensus is emerging about the efficacy of premiering films online.
Sales agents have discovered that with the right movie, digital festivals can be as profitable as physical festivals.
Filmmakers are missing the experience of meeting audiences and the press and reporting that the consumer media is less interested in digital platforms.
For distributors, it’s a case of plus ça change...
Now that several online festivals have taken place – Cph:Dox, Locarno and Sheffield Docfest – a consensus is emerging about the efficacy of premiering films online.
Sales agents have discovered that with the right movie, digital festivals can be as profitable as physical festivals.
Filmmakers are missing the experience of meeting audiences and the press and reporting that the consumer media is less interested in digital platforms.
For distributors, it’s a case of plus ça change...
- 9/11/2020
- by Kaleem Aftab
- Variety Film + TV
Cannes 2020: Totem Films with Gagarin, Charades with Le Discours, Playtime, Wild Bunch, mk2 Films, Pathé, Luxbox and Les Films du Losange, stole particular focus at the virtual market. French international sales agents whipped out a number of announcements at the Cannes Film Festival’s Online Marché du Film (running 22 - 26 June). The main deals struck and new films now gracing line-ups are as follows... Among the very few films awarded the Cannes 73 Official Selection seal of approval and treated to a scheduled market screening, Fanny Liatard and Jérémy Trouilh’s Gagarin - which was notably acquired for the Us by Cohen Media Group and for the UK by Curzon - helped Totem Films come out on top. The team composed of Agathe Valentin, Laure...
Inaugural line-up includes first in-house production of controversial gender equality work The Female Gaze.
Paris-based company Totem Films has launched a new documentary label in a move that will see the company embark on its first in-house production with the adaptation of Franco-American writer and critic Iris Brey’s hard-hitting work The Female Gaze.
The new label bannered Totem Docs will follow the same founding editorial line as its parent company, which has achieved sales success with breakout Cannes Directors Fortnight title And Then We Danced, Luxor and Land Of Ashes since its creation in late 2018.
“We want to pursue...
Paris-based company Totem Films has launched a new documentary label in a move that will see the company embark on its first in-house production with the adaptation of Franco-American writer and critic Iris Brey’s hard-hitting work The Female Gaze.
The new label bannered Totem Docs will follow the same founding editorial line as its parent company, which has achieved sales success with breakout Cannes Directors Fortnight title And Then We Danced, Luxor and Land Of Ashes since its creation in late 2018.
“We want to pursue...
- 6/17/2020
- by 1100388¦Melanie Goodfellow¦69¦
- ScreenDaily
The French firm will notably be selling Official Selection Label title Gagarin by Fanny Liatard and Jérémy Trouilh and Stambul Garden by Germany’s Ilker Çatak. One year after its official launch on the Croisette, the international French sales agent Totem Films, steered by Agathe Valentin, Laure Parleani and Bérénice Vincent, will be negotiating on behalf of nine titles at the Cannes Film Festival’s Online Marché du Film (running 22 - 26 June). Stealing focus among these films is Gagarin, the first feature by the French duo Fanny Liatard and Jérémy Trouilh, which has been awarded the Cannes 73 Official Selection Label.Starring Alséni Bathily, Lyna Khoudri, Jamil McCraven, Finnegan Oldfield, Farida Rahouadj and also Denis Lavant, the film follows in the footsteps of 16-year-old Youri who has grown up in Gagarin, a vast red-brick housing project on the outskirts of Paris (Ivry-sur-Seine) where he dreams of becoming an astronaut. When he.
The French sales agent’s line-up encompasses 11 titles, with 3 market premieres, including the German production helmed by Israel’s Shirel Peleg, a rom-com about a culture clash. After a highly dynamic start to its business activities last year at Cannes with And Then We Danced by Levan Akin (the sales of which absolutely skyrocketed) and Land of Ashes by Sofia Quirós Ubeda, young French international sales agent Totem Films, headed up by Agathe Valentin, Laure Parleani and Bérénice Vincent (read the interview), is really hitting its stride and will be rocking up at the European Film Market at the 70th Berlinale (20 February-1 March 2020) with a jam-packed slate of 11 titles. Standing out particularly on the menu are three market premieres, with Luxor by Zeina Durra (a UK co-production that has just taken part in the World Cinema Dramatic Competition at Sundance, with British actress Andrea Riseborough in the...
Company heads to debut Unifrance Rendez-vous with French Cinema in Paris and Sundance after fruitful first year.
Paris-based sales company Totem Films is moving into co-production and has expanded its team with the hire of emerging producer Elsa Payen as part of the strategy.
Payen, who recently completed the pan-European, post-graduate Atelier Ludwigsburg-Paris course, has worked on a number of high-profile international productions over the last five years, including Ford v Ferrari, The Marvellous Mrs. Maisel, Mission: Impossible – Fallout, Sense8 and Dunkirk.
Totem’s move into production comes just over a year after sales agents Agathe Valentin, Bérénice Vincent and...
Paris-based sales company Totem Films is moving into co-production and has expanded its team with the hire of emerging producer Elsa Payen as part of the strategy.
Payen, who recently completed the pan-European, post-graduate Atelier Ludwigsburg-Paris course, has worked on a number of high-profile international productions over the last five years, including Ford v Ferrari, The Marvellous Mrs. Maisel, Mission: Impossible – Fallout, Sense8 and Dunkirk.
Totem’s move into production comes just over a year after sales agents Agathe Valentin, Bérénice Vincent and...
- 1/16/2020
- by 1100388¦Melanie Goodfellow¦0¦
- ScreenDaily
Paris-based Totem Films has come on board to handle international sales of Zeina Durra’s Sundance-bound feature Luxor, starring Andrea Riseborough and Karim Saleh starring.
CAA Media Finance will rep North American rights. As previously announced, Front Row will distribute in the Middle East and North Africa.
The film, which will premiere in Sundance’s World Dramatic Competition, follows British aid worker Hana (Riseborough) who returns to the ancient city of Luxor, Egypt, and comes across Sultan (Saleh), a talented archeologist and former lover.
Along with Durra, the film is produced by Mohamed Hefzy through his production company Film Clinic, Mamdouh Saba, and Gianluca Chakra of Front Row. Paul Webster and Front Row’s Hisham Al Ghanim are executive producing; Daniel Ziskind of Film Clinic and Ihab Ayoub are serving as associate producers.
The feature marks Durra’s second film. Her debut feature was The Imperialists Are Alive, which premiered at Sundance in 2010.
Totem,...
CAA Media Finance will rep North American rights. As previously announced, Front Row will distribute in the Middle East and North Africa.
The film, which will premiere in Sundance’s World Dramatic Competition, follows British aid worker Hana (Riseborough) who returns to the ancient city of Luxor, Egypt, and comes across Sultan (Saleh), a talented archeologist and former lover.
Along with Durra, the film is produced by Mohamed Hefzy through his production company Film Clinic, Mamdouh Saba, and Gianluca Chakra of Front Row. Paul Webster and Front Row’s Hisham Al Ghanim are executive producing; Daniel Ziskind of Film Clinic and Ihab Ayoub are serving as associate producers.
The feature marks Durra’s second film. Her debut feature was The Imperialists Are Alive, which premiered at Sundance in 2010.
Totem,...
- 12/5/2019
- by Andreas Wiseman
- Deadline Film + TV
Totem Films has acquired international sales rights to Zeina Durra’s “Luxor,” which will have its world premiere at the Sundance Film Festival in the World Cinema Dramatic Competition.
CAA is representing North American rights. The film, which stars Andrea Riseborough (“Black Mirror”) and Karim Saleh (“Transparent”), marks Durra’s follow up to her 2010 feature debut “The Imperialists Are Still Alive!,” which also premiered at Sundance.
The drama romance follows Hana, a British aid worker who returns to the ancient city of Luxor where she comes across Sultan, a talented archaeologist and former lover. As she wanders, haunted by the familiar place, she struggles to reconcile the choices of the past with the uncertainty of the present.
Along with Durra, “Luxor” is produced by Mohamed Hefzy through his production company Film Clinic, Mamdouh Saba, and Gianluca Chakra of Front Row. Paul Webster and Front Row’s Hisham Al Ghanim are...
CAA is representing North American rights. The film, which stars Andrea Riseborough (“Black Mirror”) and Karim Saleh (“Transparent”), marks Durra’s follow up to her 2010 feature debut “The Imperialists Are Still Alive!,” which also premiered at Sundance.
The drama romance follows Hana, a British aid worker who returns to the ancient city of Luxor where she comes across Sultan, a talented archaeologist and former lover. As she wanders, haunted by the familiar place, she struggles to reconcile the choices of the past with the uncertainty of the present.
Along with Durra, “Luxor” is produced by Mohamed Hefzy through his production company Film Clinic, Mamdouh Saba, and Gianluca Chakra of Front Row. Paul Webster and Front Row’s Hisham Al Ghanim are...
- 12/5/2019
- by Elsa Keslassy
- Variety Film + TV
The all-female production spans 11 episodes and a feature film.
Paris-based sales company Totem Films has acquired world rights to hard-hitting Finnish anthology series Force Of Habit exploring how women are discriminated against because of their gender in public and private life.
The multi-faceted, all-female production - spanning 11 episodes and a single feature film - is produced by Elli Toivoniemi and Sanna Kultanen at Finnish company Tuffi Films.
The dynamic Helsinki-based company is behind a string of festival hits including Finland’s 2020 Oscar submission Stupid Young Heart and the Oscar-nominated short Do I Have To Take Care Of Everything?, both by Selma Vihunen,...
Paris-based sales company Totem Films has acquired world rights to hard-hitting Finnish anthology series Force Of Habit exploring how women are discriminated against because of their gender in public and private life.
The multi-faceted, all-female production - spanning 11 episodes and a single feature film - is produced by Elli Toivoniemi and Sanna Kultanen at Finnish company Tuffi Films.
The dynamic Helsinki-based company is behind a string of festival hits including Finland’s 2020 Oscar submission Stupid Young Heart and the Oscar-nominated short Do I Have To Take Care Of Everything?, both by Selma Vihunen,...
- 10/1/2019
- by 1100380¦Melanie Goodfellow¦0¦
- ScreenDaily
The list includes recommendations from 31 European countries; the final nominees will be announced on 9 November at the Seville European Film Festival. Update (26/09/2019): Two new films have been added to the selection, About Endlessness by Roy Andersson and An Officer and a Spy by Roman Polanski. The European Film Academy and Efa Productions have announced the titles of the 46 films in this year's Efa Feature Film Selection, the list of feature-length fiction films recommended for a nomination for the 2019 European Film Awards. Once again, the diversity of cinematic production has been highlighted, since 31 European countries are represented in the list. The selection has been made by a committee consisting of the Efa board as well as invited experts Giorgio Gosetti (Italy), Kathrin Kohlstedde (Germany), Paz Lazaro (Spain), Mary Nazari (Russia), Edvinas Pukšta (Lithuania) and Agathe Valentin (France). In the coming weeks, the over 3,600 members...
Other films on the submission short list were Celine Sciamma’s Portrait Of A Lady On Fire and Alice Winocour’s Proxima.
Ladj Ly’s explosive social drama Les Miserables, capturing the tensions in a tough Paris housing estate, will represent France as the country’s submission to the Academy Awards’s rebranded international feature film category in the 2019-20 Oscar race.
The film made waves when it premiered in Competition in Cannes this year, winning the Jury Prize (in a tie with Bacurau).
It is a first feature for Ly, who has spent most his filmmaking career capturing the...
Ladj Ly’s explosive social drama Les Miserables, capturing the tensions in a tough Paris housing estate, will represent France as the country’s submission to the Academy Awards’s rebranded international feature film category in the 2019-20 Oscar race.
The film made waves when it premiered in Competition in Cannes this year, winning the Jury Prize (in a tie with Bacurau).
It is a first feature for Ly, who has spent most his filmmaking career capturing the...
- 9/20/2019
- by Melanie Goodfellow
- ScreenDaily
Ladj Ly’s politically charged drama “Les Miserables,” which won the Jury Prize at Cannes, has been chosen by France’s Oscar committee to enter the international feature film race.
In one of the most competitive years for French movies, “Les Miserables” beat out Celine Sciamma’s “Portrait of a Lady on Fire,” the 18th-century-set romance which won best screenplay at Cannes. Also falling short was Alice Winocour’s “Proxima,” which opened at Toronto in the competitive Platform section and received an honorable mention. The film stars Eva Green as an astronaut preparing for a mission that will separate her from her young daughter.
“Les Miserables,” which was bought by Amazon for the U.S., earned stellar reviews at Cannes, including in Variety, whose review said the film “simmers with urgent anger over police brutality” and compared Ly’s work to that of Spike Lee.
The movie just had its...
In one of the most competitive years for French movies, “Les Miserables” beat out Celine Sciamma’s “Portrait of a Lady on Fire,” the 18th-century-set romance which won best screenplay at Cannes. Also falling short was Alice Winocour’s “Proxima,” which opened at Toronto in the competitive Platform section and received an honorable mention. The film stars Eva Green as an astronaut preparing for a mission that will separate her from her young daughter.
“Les Miserables,” which was bought by Amazon for the U.S., earned stellar reviews at Cannes, including in Variety, whose review said the film “simmers with urgent anger over police brutality” and compared Ly’s work to that of Spike Lee.
The movie just had its...
- 9/20/2019
- by Elsa Keslassy
- Variety Film + TV
The foreign language Oscar has a new name — Best International Feature Film — after being known as “Best Foreign Language Film” since 1956, and the ever-evolving category might be getting a new look when it comes to its contenders. Last year, 87 countries vied for nine shortlist slots (there will be 10 in 2020) and the final five Oscar nominations. While the rules for submission have morphed slightly over the years, as it stands, each country may submit one film as long as it’s not primarily in English, and notoriously, local cultural politics tend to dictate that choice.
This year, all eyes are on France, as the country has changed up its Oscar submission process in hopes of picking a winner after striking out for over two decades (and enduring three years in a row without even making it to the final five nominees). While France has nabbed more foreign-language Oscar nominations (39) than any other country,...
This year, all eyes are on France, as the country has changed up its Oscar submission process in hopes of picking a winner after striking out for over two decades (and enduring three years in a row without even making it to the final five nominees). While France has nabbed more foreign-language Oscar nominations (39) than any other country,...
- 9/18/2019
- by Kate Erbland
- Indiewire
France’s shortlist for its best international film Oscar submission includes Cannes hits Les Miserables and Portrait Of A Lady On Fire and recent Toronto premiere Proxima. The selection committee, which is overseen by the country’s National Cinema Centre, will make its final selection on Friday, September 20. There was no place for Roman Polanski’s Venice title An Officer And A Spy, perhaps less of a surprise given the Academy’s expulsion from its ranks of the six-time Oscar-winning director in 2018. France’s selection committee includes producers Rosalie Varda and Jean Bréhat, sales agents Agathe Valentin and Muriel Sauzay, directors Danièle Thompson and Pierre Salvadori, Cannes chief Thierry Frémaux, UniFrance president Serge Toubiana and Cesar president Alain Terzian. France has been one of the most successful countries in the foreign language category: more than half of their Oscar submissions have achieved nominations and nine have won the award.
Comcast...
Comcast...
- 9/17/2019
- by Andreas Wiseman
- Deadline Film + TV
Selection committee overseen by National Cinema Centre will make final selection on September 20.
Les Miserables, Portrait Of A Lady On Fire and recent Toronto world premiere Proxima are the trio of films on the shortlist to be France’s submission for the rebranded international feature film category at the Oscars.
The selection committee, which is overseen by the National Cinema Centre, will make the final selection on September 20.
For the first time, the committee includes film industry professionals alongside filmmakers and cultural institution chiefs as part of a shake-up announced in July aimed at increasing France’s chances in the Oscar race.
Les Miserables, Portrait Of A Lady On Fire and recent Toronto world premiere Proxima are the trio of films on the shortlist to be France’s submission for the rebranded international feature film category at the Oscars.
The selection committee, which is overseen by the National Cinema Centre, will make the final selection on September 20.
For the first time, the committee includes film industry professionals alongside filmmakers and cultural institution chiefs as part of a shake-up announced in July aimed at increasing France’s chances in the Oscar race.
- 9/16/2019
- by Melanie Goodfellow
- ScreenDaily
Exclusive: Music Box Films has acquired the U.S. and Canadian rights to Levan Akin’s And Then We Danced, which made its world premiere as a Directors’ Fortnight title at the Cannes Film Festival earlier this year. Music Box is planning a theatrical rollout in 2020 followed by a release on home entertainment platforms.
Set in the strict and gender conservative scene of ancient Georgian dance, And Then We Dance follows an obsessive young dancer Merab (Levan Gelbakhiani), who has been training at the National Georgian Ensemble with his partner, Mary (Ana Javakishvili), since he was a child. However, when new dancer Irakli (Bachi Valishvili) arrives what begins as a rivalry soon turns to longing as the two draw closer together.
Written and directed by Akin, the film also won the Grand Prix, Best Film, and Best Actor awards at the 2019 Odesa International Film Festival and was placed on the...
Set in the strict and gender conservative scene of ancient Georgian dance, And Then We Dance follows an obsessive young dancer Merab (Levan Gelbakhiani), who has been training at the National Georgian Ensemble with his partner, Mary (Ana Javakishvili), since he was a child. However, when new dancer Irakli (Bachi Valishvili) arrives what begins as a rivalry soon turns to longing as the two draw closer together.
Written and directed by Akin, the film also won the Grand Prix, Best Film, and Best Actor awards at the 2019 Odesa International Film Festival and was placed on the...
- 8/20/2019
- by Dino-Ray Ramos
- Deadline Film + TV
It includes Berlin Golden Bear winner Synonyms and Cannes prize winners Les Miserables, Young Ahmed, Pain And Glory and Little Joe.
The 46 films recommended for nomination for the 2019 European Film Awards have been announced.
Scroll down for the full list of titles
The selection includes Berlin Golden Bear winner Synonyms and Cannes prize winners Les Miserables, Young Ahmed, Pain And Glory, Portrait Of A Lady On Fire and Little Joe.
The films were selected by a committee consisting of the Efa board and experts Giorgio Gosetti (festival programmer), Kathrin Kohlstedde (festival programmer), Paz Lazaro (festival programmer), Mary Nazari (exhibitor), Edvinas...
The 46 films recommended for nomination for the 2019 European Film Awards have been announced.
Scroll down for the full list of titles
The selection includes Berlin Golden Bear winner Synonyms and Cannes prize winners Les Miserables, Young Ahmed, Pain And Glory, Portrait Of A Lady On Fire and Little Joe.
The films were selected by a committee consisting of the Efa board and experts Giorgio Gosetti (festival programmer), Kathrin Kohlstedde (festival programmer), Paz Lazaro (festival programmer), Mary Nazari (exhibitor), Edvinas...
- 8/20/2019
- by Orlando Parfitt
- ScreenDaily
It includes Berlin Golden Bear winner Synonyms and Cannes prize winners Les Miserables, Young Ahmed, Pain And Glory and Little Joe.
The 46 films recommended for nomination for the 2019 European Film Awards have been announced.
Scroll down for the full list of titles
The selection includes Berlin Golden Bear winner Synonyms and Cannes prize winners Les Miserables, Young Ahmed, Pain And Glory, Portrait Of A Lady On Fire and Little Joe.
The films were selected by a committee consisting of the Efa board and experts Giorgio Gosetti (festival programmer), Kathrin Kohlstedde (festival programmer), Paz Lazaro (festival programmer), Mary Nazari (exhibitor), Edvinas...
The 46 films recommended for nomination for the 2019 European Film Awards have been announced.
Scroll down for the full list of titles
The selection includes Berlin Golden Bear winner Synonyms and Cannes prize winners Les Miserables, Young Ahmed, Pain And Glory, Portrait Of A Lady On Fire and Little Joe.
The films were selected by a committee consisting of the Efa board and experts Giorgio Gosetti (festival programmer), Kathrin Kohlstedde (festival programmer), Paz Lazaro (festival programmer), Mary Nazari (exhibitor), Edvinas...
- 8/20/2019
- by Orlando Parfitt
- ScreenDaily
The film is about a love affair between two male dancers in contemporary Georgia.
Swedish filmmaker Levan Akin’s Georgia-set drama And Then We Danced, which premiered in Cannes Directors’ Fortnight, has sold to key international territories including Avalon (Spain), Fine Films (Japan) and Mexico (Cinecanibal) for Paris-based Totem Films.
Set against the backdrop of Georgia’s traditional dance scene, And Then We Danced revolves around a talented young dancer who develops feelings for a male rival in an environment where gay relationships remain taboo.
The feature was one of the most favourably reviewed films in the Directors’ Fortnight selection this year.
Swedish filmmaker Levan Akin’s Georgia-set drama And Then We Danced, which premiered in Cannes Directors’ Fortnight, has sold to key international territories including Avalon (Spain), Fine Films (Japan) and Mexico (Cinecanibal) for Paris-based Totem Films.
Set against the backdrop of Georgia’s traditional dance scene, And Then We Danced revolves around a talented young dancer who develops feelings for a male rival in an environment where gay relationships remain taboo.
The feature was one of the most favourably reviewed films in the Directors’ Fortnight selection this year.
- 5/29/2019
- by Melanie Goodfellow
- ScreenDaily
Acquisition marks one of the first deals for new sales company Totem Films.
Arp Séléction has snapped up French rights to Swedish filmmaker Levan Akin’s And Then We Danced, exploring the struggles of Georgia’s Lgbt+ community through the prism of dancers at a conservative national dance company, ahead of its premiere in Directors’ Fortnight next week (May 16).
It marks one of the first deals for new French sales company Totem Films which makes its market debut this Cannes, after its launch last year by sales veterans Agathe Valentin, Bérénice Vincent and film finance expert Laure Parleani.
Arp also...
Arp Séléction has snapped up French rights to Swedish filmmaker Levan Akin’s And Then We Danced, exploring the struggles of Georgia’s Lgbt+ community through the prism of dancers at a conservative national dance company, ahead of its premiere in Directors’ Fortnight next week (May 16).
It marks one of the first deals for new French sales company Totem Films which makes its market debut this Cannes, after its launch last year by sales veterans Agathe Valentin, Bérénice Vincent and film finance expert Laure Parleani.
Arp also...
- 5/9/2019
- by Melanie Goodfellow
- ScreenDaily
Trans-Siberian Railway-set tale is Kuosmanen’s follow-up to The Happiest Day In The Life Of Olli Mäki.
New Paris-based sales company Totem Films is kicking off its slate with the acquisition of the international rights to Finnish director Juho Kuosmanen’s upcoming Trans-Siberian Railway-set drama Compartment No 6.
It is Kuosmanen’s second feature following The Happiest Day in the Life of Olli Mäki which won the main prize in Un Certain Regard at Cannes in 2016.
Totem Films was launched last October by leading sales agents Agathe Valentin and Bérénice Vincent and cinema finance expert Laure Parleani.
Set against the backdrop of 1980s Soviet Union,...
New Paris-based sales company Totem Films is kicking off its slate with the acquisition of the international rights to Finnish director Juho Kuosmanen’s upcoming Trans-Siberian Railway-set drama Compartment No 6.
It is Kuosmanen’s second feature following The Happiest Day in the Life of Olli Mäki which won the main prize in Un Certain Regard at Cannes in 2016.
Totem Films was launched last October by leading sales agents Agathe Valentin and Bérénice Vincent and cinema finance expert Laure Parleani.
Set against the backdrop of 1980s Soviet Union,...
- 3/5/2019
- by Melanie Goodfellow
- ScreenDaily
Respected sales executives and gender equality activists join forces on independent sales collective.
Top French sales agents Agathe Valentin and Bérénice Vincent are joining forces with cinema finance expert Laure Parleani to create Paris-based sales and financing company Totem Films.
The new outfit will handle around 10 titles a year spanning fiction, documentary and animation. The founders have already secured one investor and are in the process of raising more funds.
“We came together gradually through the complementary nature of our professional profiles. We were all three looking for new outlooks, new horizons and had long been dreaming of getting involved...
Top French sales agents Agathe Valentin and Bérénice Vincent are joining forces with cinema finance expert Laure Parleani to create Paris-based sales and financing company Totem Films.
The new outfit will handle around 10 titles a year spanning fiction, documentary and animation. The founders have already secured one investor and are in the process of raising more funds.
“We came together gradually through the complementary nature of our professional profiles. We were all three looking for new outlooks, new horizons and had long been dreaming of getting involved...
- 10/9/2018
- by Melanie Goodfellow
- ScreenDaily
Strand Releasing has acquired all North American rights to Camille Vidal-Naquet’s feature debut
“Sauvage” which world premiered at Cannes’s Critics Week.
Felix Maritaud, who stars in the film as a 22-year old gay male prostitute in free fall, won the best actor prize at Critics’ Week. Maritaud previously starred in Robin Campillo’s Cannes’s Grand Jury prize-winning “(Bpm) Beats Per Minute).”
Besides exploring the world of male prostitution, “Sauvage” also tells the story of an unrequited love between Maritaud and a fellow hustler.
“We’re thrilled to be working again with Pyramide and to have this amazing discovery by a first time feature filmmaker is a revelation. Both director and actor make this such an stunning film that best reflects the kinds of films that we strive to acquire and bring to American audiences,” said Strand Releasing’s topper Marcus Hu who negotiated the deal along with...
“Sauvage” which world premiered at Cannes’s Critics Week.
Felix Maritaud, who stars in the film as a 22-year old gay male prostitute in free fall, won the best actor prize at Critics’ Week. Maritaud previously starred in Robin Campillo’s Cannes’s Grand Jury prize-winning “(Bpm) Beats Per Minute).”
Besides exploring the world of male prostitution, “Sauvage” also tells the story of an unrequited love between Maritaud and a fellow hustler.
“We’re thrilled to be working again with Pyramide and to have this amazing discovery by a first time feature filmmaker is a revelation. Both director and actor make this such an stunning film that best reflects the kinds of films that we strive to acquire and bring to American audiences,” said Strand Releasing’s topper Marcus Hu who negotiated the deal along with...
- 5/18/2018
- by Elsa Keslassy
- Variety Film + TV
Red carpet protest highlighted fact only 82 women have been honoured in Official Selection over 71 editions of festival.
Cate Blanchett and Agnes Varda led 82 female industry figures in a silent ascent of the red carpet at the Cannes Film Festival on Saturday protesting the lack of female representation at the event over its 71 editions.
Moving, historic, 82 women from all countries and professions in cinema have just made the red carpet entrance for Les Filles Du Soleil (Girls Of The Sun) by Eva Husson. #Cannes2018 #Competition pic.twitter.com/0YY9SNbRqg
— Festival de Cannes (@Festival_Cannes) May 12, 2018
Other stars joining the protest...
Cate Blanchett and Agnes Varda led 82 female industry figures in a silent ascent of the red carpet at the Cannes Film Festival on Saturday protesting the lack of female representation at the event over its 71 editions.
Moving, historic, 82 women from all countries and professions in cinema have just made the red carpet entrance for Les Filles Du Soleil (Girls Of The Sun) by Eva Husson. #Cannes2018 #Competition pic.twitter.com/0YY9SNbRqg
— Festival de Cannes (@Festival_Cannes) May 12, 2018
Other stars joining the protest...
- 5/12/2018
- by Melanie Goodfellow
- ScreenDaily
Signatories to the initiative, called Collectif 5050x2020, include Léa Seydoux, Lily-Rose Depp.
Some 300 professionals from across the French cinema world have signed up to a new movement called the Collectif 5050x2020 demanding more gender equality and diversity in the country’s film industry.
The aim of the initiative, launched on the eve of the country’s prestigious César film awards this evening, is to put in place concrete steps to bring about equality across the business, says film sales executive Bérénice Vincent, co-founder and spokesperson for the collective.
The initiative is among a raft of gender equality campaigns to have...
Some 300 professionals from across the French cinema world have signed up to a new movement called the Collectif 5050x2020 demanding more gender equality and diversity in the country’s film industry.
The aim of the initiative, launched on the eve of the country’s prestigious César film awards this evening, is to put in place concrete steps to bring about equality across the business, says film sales executive Bérénice Vincent, co-founder and spokesperson for the collective.
The initiative is among a raft of gender equality campaigns to have...
- 3/2/2018
- by Melanie Goodfellow
- ScreenDaily
Exclusive: Well-received Directors’ Fortnight doc charts Afghan actor-director.
Vertigo Releasing has picked up Sonia Kronlund’s Cannes Directors’ Fortnight title The Prince of Nothingwood from Pyramide International.
The well-received feature follows Salim Shaheen, the most popular and prolific actor-director-producer in Afghanistan, as he shoots his 111th film. Movie buff Shaheen and his troupe of eccentric actors have been making ‘z’ movies tirelessly in a country at war.
The deal was concluded between Ed Caffrey from Vertigo and Agathe Valentin of Pyramide. Vertigo is planning to release in late 2017.
Producers are Laurent Lavolé, Maud Huynh and Mélanie Andernach.
French radio journalist...
Vertigo Releasing has picked up Sonia Kronlund’s Cannes Directors’ Fortnight title The Prince of Nothingwood from Pyramide International.
The well-received feature follows Salim Shaheen, the most popular and prolific actor-director-producer in Afghanistan, as he shoots his 111th film. Movie buff Shaheen and his troupe of eccentric actors have been making ‘z’ movies tirelessly in a country at war.
The deal was concluded between Ed Caffrey from Vertigo and Agathe Valentin of Pyramide. Vertigo is planning to release in late 2017.
Producers are Laurent Lavolé, Maud Huynh and Mélanie Andernach.
French radio journalist...
- 6/21/2017
- by andreas.wiseman@screendaily.com (Andreas Wiseman)
- ScreenDaily
Exclusive: Frédéric Mermoud’s latest stars Emmanuelle Devos.
Film Movement has picked up North American rights to Frédéric Mermoud’s French psychological thriller Moka starring Emmanuelle Devos.
Moka centres on a grieving woman who pursues a couple whom she suspects killed her son in a hit-and-run accident.
Her investigation leads her to the car’s owner, a beauty salon proprietor played by Nathalie Baye, and becomes more tortuous than she could have imagined.
The story is based on a 2006 novel by Tatiana de Rosnay and premiered in Locarno last year.
Film Movement plans an exclusive engagement at New York City’s Film Forum in June followed by digital and home video release.
Company president Michael Rosenberg, in Berlin scouring for acquisitions, negotiated the deal with Agathe Valentin of Pyramide International.
Film Movement has picked up North American rights to Frédéric Mermoud’s French psychological thriller Moka starring Emmanuelle Devos.
Moka centres on a grieving woman who pursues a couple whom she suspects killed her son in a hit-and-run accident.
Her investigation leads her to the car’s owner, a beauty salon proprietor played by Nathalie Baye, and becomes more tortuous than she could have imagined.
The story is based on a 2006 novel by Tatiana de Rosnay and premiered in Locarno last year.
Film Movement plans an exclusive engagement at New York City’s Film Forum in June followed by digital and home video release.
Company president Michael Rosenberg, in Berlin scouring for acquisitions, negotiated the deal with Agathe Valentin of Pyramide International.
- 2/11/2017
- by jeremykay67@gmail.com (Jeremy Kay)
- ScreenDaily
Exclusive: Kino Lorber has acquired the Sundance premiere.
Kino Lorber has acquired all North American rights from Pyramide International to John Trengove’s Panorama selection The Wound.
The drama premiered in Sundance last month and received its European premiere here on Saturday night (Feb 11).
The Wound takes place in the South African province of Eastern Cape, as a lonely factory worker takes time off his job to assist during an annual Xhosa circumcision initiation into manhood.
When he ends up caring for a young initiate, he confides about his closet homosexuality. Openly gay South African singer Nakhane Touré stars and Trengove, Thando Mgqolozana and Malusi Bengu wrote the screenplay.
Kino Lorber plans a summer theatrical release after key festival playdates, followed by VoD and home media roll-out in the fourth quarter.
“The Wound is cinema that transcends national borders and asks quintessential and urgent questions about human nature, sexuality and our most foundational assumptions,” said [link=co...
Kino Lorber has acquired all North American rights from Pyramide International to John Trengove’s Panorama selection The Wound.
The drama premiered in Sundance last month and received its European premiere here on Saturday night (Feb 11).
The Wound takes place in the South African province of Eastern Cape, as a lonely factory worker takes time off his job to assist during an annual Xhosa circumcision initiation into manhood.
When he ends up caring for a young initiate, he confides about his closet homosexuality. Openly gay South African singer Nakhane Touré stars and Trengove, Thando Mgqolozana and Malusi Bengu wrote the screenplay.
Kino Lorber plans a summer theatrical release after key festival playdates, followed by VoD and home media roll-out in the fourth quarter.
“The Wound is cinema that transcends national borders and asks quintessential and urgent questions about human nature, sexuality and our most foundational assumptions,” said [link=co...
- 2/11/2017
- by jeremykay67@gmail.com (Jeremy Kay)
- ScreenDaily
Exclusive: Post-Egyptian revolution drama set in police van opened Un Certain Regard.
Paris-based Pyramide International has locked down sales on Egyptian director Mohamed Diab’s post-revolution drama Clash, which opened Un Certain Regard this year.
The film has sold to Scandinavia (Scanbox), Spain (Golem), Switzerland (Cineworx), Portugal (Midas Filmes), Benelux (Amstelfilm), Colombia (Cine Colombia), Greece (Weird Wave), Taiwan (Swallow Wings), ex-Yugoslavia (2I), Brazil (Imovision) and China VOD (Lemon Tree).
There is also understood to be a deal for Turkey in the works, as well as strong interest from Poland and Australia.
Pyramide Distribution will release the film in France on September 14.
“Opening Un Certain Regard was a great launch pad for the film and buyers have responded with enthusiasm to Mohamed’s fresh, young vision of post-revolutionary Egypt’s splintered society,” said Pyramide sales chief Agathe Valentin.
Set during violent demonstrations in Cairo at the end of Muslim Brotherhood-backed President Mohamed Morsi’s reign in 2013, the film follows...
Paris-based Pyramide International has locked down sales on Egyptian director Mohamed Diab’s post-revolution drama Clash, which opened Un Certain Regard this year.
The film has sold to Scandinavia (Scanbox), Spain (Golem), Switzerland (Cineworx), Portugal (Midas Filmes), Benelux (Amstelfilm), Colombia (Cine Colombia), Greece (Weird Wave), Taiwan (Swallow Wings), ex-Yugoslavia (2I), Brazil (Imovision) and China VOD (Lemon Tree).
There is also understood to be a deal for Turkey in the works, as well as strong interest from Poland and Australia.
Pyramide Distribution will release the film in France on September 14.
“Opening Un Certain Regard was a great launch pad for the film and buyers have responded with enthusiasm to Mohamed’s fresh, young vision of post-revolutionary Egypt’s splintered society,” said Pyramide sales chief Agathe Valentin.
Set during violent demonstrations in Cairo at the end of Muslim Brotherhood-backed President Mohamed Morsi’s reign in 2013, the film follows...
- 5/18/2016
- ScreenDaily
Argentine miniseries from the director of Wakolda screening at Toronto.
Pyramide International has picked up sales on Argentine Lucia Puenzo’s eco-thriller miniseries Cromo ahead of its world premiere in Toronto International Film Festival’s new TV strand Primetime tomorrow (Sept 11).
“We signed it last week after seeing the episodes which will be shown at Toronto. We thought it looked fabulous,” Pyramide chief Eric Lagesse told ScreenDaily.
Episodes one, two and eight will premiere in Tiff’s new Primetime section aimed at cutting-edge projects blurring the boundaries between film and TV.
It is the first time the Paris-based auteur film specialist Pyramide has handled sales on a TV series.
“The wall between cinema and TV is no longer as impermeable as it was in the past,” said Lagesse. “There is still a strong cinematic quality to the look and feel of the series.
“You can tell that it’s made by people with a cinema background who are...
Pyramide International has picked up sales on Argentine Lucia Puenzo’s eco-thriller miniseries Cromo ahead of its world premiere in Toronto International Film Festival’s new TV strand Primetime tomorrow (Sept 11).
“We signed it last week after seeing the episodes which will be shown at Toronto. We thought it looked fabulous,” Pyramide chief Eric Lagesse told ScreenDaily.
Episodes one, two and eight will premiere in Tiff’s new Primetime section aimed at cutting-edge projects blurring the boundaries between film and TV.
It is the first time the Paris-based auteur film specialist Pyramide has handled sales on a TV series.
“The wall between cinema and TV is no longer as impermeable as it was in the past,” said Lagesse. “There is still a strong cinematic quality to the look and feel of the series.
“You can tell that it’s made by people with a cinema background who are...
- 9/10/2015
- ScreenDaily
Sales veteran to debut in new role at Venice Film Festival.
Agathe Valentin has been appointed head of sales at Pyramide International, the sales arm of Paris-based auteur film production and distribution house Pyramide Films.
Valentin arrives from Les Films du Losange where she spent eight years rising to the position of head of sales and handling prestige auteur titles such as Michael Haneke’s Oscar-winning Amour and Stranger By The Lake.
“After eight years at Films du Losange, I felt ready for a new adventure and a fresh challenge,” Valentin told ScreenDaily.
She will make her first outing in her new role at the Venice Film Festival (Sept 2-12) with two festival titles: Early Winter and Montanha.
Australian Michael Rowe’s Early Winter, starring Paul Doucet as a security guard fighting to keep his marriage afloat opposite Suzanne Clement as his wife, will premiere internationally in Venice Days.
It marks an English-language debut for Rowe whose...
Agathe Valentin has been appointed head of sales at Pyramide International, the sales arm of Paris-based auteur film production and distribution house Pyramide Films.
Valentin arrives from Les Films du Losange where she spent eight years rising to the position of head of sales and handling prestige auteur titles such as Michael Haneke’s Oscar-winning Amour and Stranger By The Lake.
“After eight years at Films du Losange, I felt ready for a new adventure and a fresh challenge,” Valentin told ScreenDaily.
She will make her first outing in her new role at the Venice Film Festival (Sept 2-12) with two festival titles: Early Winter and Montanha.
Australian Michael Rowe’s Early Winter, starring Paul Doucet as a security guard fighting to keep his marriage afloat opposite Suzanne Clement as his wife, will premiere internationally in Venice Days.
It marks an English-language debut for Rowe whose...
- 8/26/2015
- ScreenDaily
Exclusive: Drama starring Isabelle Huppert due to shoot this June.
Les Films du Losange has taken on sales of Mia Hansen-Løve’s Things to Come (L’Avenir), starring Isabelle Huppert as a woman embarking on a new life after her husband leaves her for another woman.
“We’ll kick off sales at Cannes on the back of the script. The film is due to shoot in Paris in June,” said Les Films du Losange head of sales Agathe Valentin.
Huppert stars as Nathalie, a settled philosophy teacher who has been married for years to Heinz, with whom she has two grown-up children. They stay together out of habit and common intellectual pursuits – he also teaches philosophy — rather than for love.
But one day Heinz announces he has fallen for another woman and moves out. At the same time, Nathalie’s possessive, time-consuming mother passes away. As the summer holidays loom, Nathalie is staring...
Les Films du Losange has taken on sales of Mia Hansen-Løve’s Things to Come (L’Avenir), starring Isabelle Huppert as a woman embarking on a new life after her husband leaves her for another woman.
“We’ll kick off sales at Cannes on the back of the script. The film is due to shoot in Paris in June,” said Les Films du Losange head of sales Agathe Valentin.
Huppert stars as Nathalie, a settled philosophy teacher who has been married for years to Heinz, with whom she has two grown-up children. They stay together out of habit and common intellectual pursuits – he also teaches philosophy — rather than for love.
But one day Heinz announces he has fallen for another woman and moves out. At the same time, Nathalie’s possessive, time-consuming mother passes away. As the summer holidays loom, Nathalie is staring...
- 5/6/2015
- ScreenDaily
Kino Lorber has acquired U.S. and Canadian rights to 1001 Grams, the new film by acclaimed Norwegian writer-producer-director Bent Hamer that is Norway’s submission for this year’s Foreign Language Oscar race. A first-quarter 2015 theatrical release is planned with digital coming in the summer.
The pic, which world premiered in the Masters section at Toronto, centers on a recently divorced scientist (Ane Dahl Torp) who is content with her life of precision, hard work and solitude and is forced to take her ill father’s place at an International Bureau of Weights and Measures seminar in Paris. On her journey from Norway to France, she is forced to question her priorities, figure out a new balance between life and work and open up to a new world of possibilities while also remaining true to herself.
“Bent uses his unique brand of observational humor to transform the rigor of scientific pursuit into emotional self-revelation,...
The pic, which world premiered in the Masters section at Toronto, centers on a recently divorced scientist (Ane Dahl Torp) who is content with her life of precision, hard work and solitude and is forced to take her ill father’s place at an International Bureau of Weights and Measures seminar in Paris. On her journey from Norway to France, she is forced to question her priorities, figure out a new balance between life and work and open up to a new world of possibilities while also remaining true to herself.
“Bent uses his unique brand of observational humor to transform the rigor of scientific pursuit into emotional self-revelation,...
- 11/6/2014
- by Patrick Hipes
- Deadline
Distributor Film Movement has secured all North American rights to African drama Grigris, which played in Competition at Cannes.
The fifth feature film from director Mahamat-Saleh Haroun, who also directed Film Movement’s A Screaming Man, received the Vulcan Award for technical achievement at the Cannes Film Festival in May.
The film, a French-Chad co-production, tells the eponymous story of a 25-year-old Chadian who dreams of being a dancer despite his paralyzed leg and the demands of his family weighing on him.
Review: Grigris
Grigris will have a New York theatrical opening in the first quarter of 2014, with a limited national roll-out to follow.
The acquisition of was negotiated by Film Movement president Adley Gartenstein and vp of acquisitions and distribution Rebeca Conget, and Agathe Valentin, head of international sales at Les Films du Losange.
Conget said: “It is an honour to be the distributor now of two films by Haroun-Saleh, who with each...
The fifth feature film from director Mahamat-Saleh Haroun, who also directed Film Movement’s A Screaming Man, received the Vulcan Award for technical achievement at the Cannes Film Festival in May.
The film, a French-Chad co-production, tells the eponymous story of a 25-year-old Chadian who dreams of being a dancer despite his paralyzed leg and the demands of his family weighing on him.
Review: Grigris
Grigris will have a New York theatrical opening in the first quarter of 2014, with a limited national roll-out to follow.
The acquisition of was negotiated by Film Movement president Adley Gartenstein and vp of acquisitions and distribution Rebeca Conget, and Agathe Valentin, head of international sales at Les Films du Losange.
Conget said: “It is an honour to be the distributor now of two films by Haroun-Saleh, who with each...
- 7/2/2013
- by michael.rosser@screendaily.com (Michael Rosser)
- ScreenDaily
Strand Releasing has acquired all North American rights to Alain Guiraudie’s "Stranger By the Lake," which premiered at the Cannes Film Festival in Un Certain Regard. Written and directed by Guiraudie, this sexy, and explicit drama has been one of the festival's buzz titles. Set against the backdrop of a beach where men cruise for sex, young Franck (Pierre Deladonchamps) finds himself attracted to Michel (Christophe Paou), who may be a killer. Jon Gerrans from Strand negotitated the deal with Films du Losange’s head of sales, Agathe Valentin.“We’re thrilled to be able to work with Mr. Guiraudie’s acclaimed film, which has garnered a lot of positive reaction with audiences at the official screenings," said Gerrans. "It’s a true and original hyrbrid.” Strand Releasing is currently releasing the Ulrich Seidl "Paradise" Trilogy as well as last year’s Cannes entries, Sergei Loznitsa’s "In the Fog,...
- 5/22/2013
- by Dana Harris
- Indiewire
North American rights to Alain Guiraudie's Stranger at the Lake (L’Inconnu du lac) have been picked up by Los Angeles-based Strand Releasing. The psychological thriller, which premiered in the Un Certain Regard section of the fest, stars Pierre Deladonchamps as Frank, a young man who find himself attracted to a man (Christophe Paou) who may be a killer. Photos: Cannes Competition Lineup Features 'Behind the Candelabra,' 'Only God Forgives,' 'Nebraska' Films du Losange’s head of sales, Agathe Valentin, and Jon Gerrans from Strand Releasing brokered the deal in Cannes. In THR's review of the film, critic Jordan
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- 5/22/2013
- by Rebecca Ford
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Zeitgeist Films has acquired the French, gay, Jewish comedy "Let My People Go!," directed by newcomer Mikael Buch and starring Pedro Almodovar veteran Carmen Maura. The company nabbed the film at the Berlin Film Market from Les Films du Losange. According to a press release from Zeitgeist, "Let My People Go!" features an international cast and is a "Jewish family drama and French bedroom farce" that "follows the travails and daydreams of the lovelorn Reuben, a French-Jewish gay mailman living in fairytale Finland with his gorgeous Nordic boyfriend. But just before Passover, a series of mishaps and a lovers’ quarrel exiles the heartbroken Reuben back to Paris and his zany family." Nancy Gerstman and Emily Russo, who are responsible for the film's acquisition from Agathe Valentin at Les Films du Losange, said the film is "so much fun to watch, you forget what terrific acting is involved and what a smart screenplay it.
- 6/28/2012
- by Srimathi Sridhar
- Indiewire
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