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BERLINALE 2017 Market / France

Jour2Fête joins the big league

by 

- The French distributor is also making a name for itself in the field of international sales, and its slate includes the Bear hopeful Felicity and Beauty and the Dogs

Jour2Fête joins the big league
Felicity by Alain Gomis

Founded in 2006 by Sarah Chazelle and Etienne Ollagnier, Jour2Fête has forged an excellent reputation over the years thanks to its editorial policy and its distribution work in France, with films such as A Royal Affair [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Mikkel Boe Følsgaard
interview: Nikolaj Arcel
film profile
]
, Victoria [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Sebastian Schipper
film profile
]
, The Milk of Sorrow [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile
]
, Jerichow [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Christian Petzold
film profile
]
, Yella [+see also:
trailer
film profile
]
, Miele [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Valeria Golino
interview: Valeria Golino
film profile
]
and Amour fou [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile
]
, not to mention documentaries, with titles like More Than Honey [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Markus Imhoof
film profile
]
and the phenomenally successful recent movie Merci patron! [+see also:
trailer
film profile
]
by François Ruffin (which took almost 520,000 admissions in France last year and earned itself a nomination in its respective category for the 2017 César Awards). However, the Paris-based company has added another string to its bow by branching out into international sales, a sector it started exploring discreetly in 2012. Since then, it has gradually been developing this side of the business, and this year, it is heading to the European Film Market of the 67th Berlinale (9-19 February 2017) to present a very solid line-up that for the first time includes a contender for the Golden Bear, with Felicity [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Alain Gomis
film profile
]
by Alain Gomis (whose previous opus, Tey [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile
]
, also unveiled in competition at Berlin, was distributed in France by Jour2Fête), which will have its world premiere on Saturday 11 February and is set to go on general release in France on 29 March, again courtesy of Jour2Fête. 

(The article continues below - Commercial information)

The international sales team managed by Samuel Blanc will be at the EFM to pre-sell Beauty and the Dogs [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Kaouther Ben Hania
film profile
]
, the third feature by Kaouther Ben Hania, after Challat of Tunis [+see also:
trailer
interview: Kaouther Ben Hania
film profile
]
(revealed in the ACID programme at the 2014 Cannes Film Festival) and the documentary Zaineb Hates the Snow [+see also:
trailer
film profile
]
(popular out of competition at Locarno last year and an award winner at the Cinemed Festival in Montpellier). Currently in post-production, the film, which is due to be ready in the spring, took part in the Fabrique des Cinémas du Monde at Cannes in 2015 and was supported by the Hubert Bals Fund, among other backers. The story revolves around Mariam, an attractive Tunisian student who had everything planned out: she was going to enjoy an evening of dancing. But it all came crashing down... Despite the trauma she went through, she is determined to press charges. But what can she do when her only chance depends entirely on her attacker?

Also standing out among the titles being pre-sold is the documentary Wiz Kids: Making School a Better Place by Antoine Fromental, which follows an alternative programme set up by the headteacher at a “difficult” school in the inner suburbs of Paris, who experimented with organising two classes of intensive drama lessons and some rugby coaching sessions.

Another title on the slate is a feature debut in post-production, Superlovers [+see also:
trailer
film profile
]
by Guilhem Amesland (see the article – starring Vincent Macaigne, Philippe Rebbot, Hafzia Herzi and Suzanne Clément), plus there will be market screenings of A Wedding [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Stephan Streker
film profile
]
by Belgium’s Stephan Streker (selected at Toronto, Best Actress and Best Actor Awards at Angoulême, and Audience Award at Namur – released in France on 22 February via Jour2Fête and in Belgium on 8 March) and Corniche Kennedy [+see also:
trailer
interview: Dominique Cabrera
film profile
]
by Dominique Cabrera (showing on French screens since 18 January).

(The article continues below - Commercial information)

(Translated from French)

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