20/11/2003 - French companies did excellent business at the Milan market. Those who were extremely satisfied include Celluloid Dreams, Gémini Films, StudioCanal and Wild Bunch. Next stop Berlin and Cannes

A week after coming back from MIFED in Milan, French film sales companies have been delighted with their new balance sheets. The businesses that have had a successful market include Celluloid Dreams, Gémini Films, StudioCanal and Wild Bunch, who have told Cineuropa about their new sales.

For Celluloid Dreams the largest amount of interest was for an Italian film. According to Tanja Meissner from the company’s international sales team: “Good Morning, Night [+see also:
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interview: Marco Bellocchio, director …
film profile] by Marco Bellocchio was sold throughout Europe (Sweden, Britain, Poland, Russia, Belgium and the Netherlands) and negotiations are already underway for sales to Germany and Spain”. There was also a positive reaction for the latest film by Jacques Rivette, The Story of Marie and Julien, starring Emmanuelle Béart. For 5 x 2 [+see also:
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film profile], the new film by François Ozon has already being sold to its usual distributors around the world, while Celluloid Dreams has announced that Feux rouges by Cédric Kahn, starring Carole Bouquet and Jean-Pierre Darroussin will be up for sale at the next Berlinale. Finally MIFED provided a promising environment for sales of the Belgium candidate for the 2004 Oscars, Sea of Silence by Stijn Coninx.

The director of purchasing and sales at Gémini Films, Laurent Baudens, said MIFED has produced some good results: “we’re very happy, first of all for having completed the sales of films we’ve already presented ( That Day by Raoul Ruiz, A Talking Picture by Manoel de Oliveira and It’s Easier for a Camel… [+see also:
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film profile] by Valeria Bruni Tedeschi). There have been sales confirmed for Eastern Europe and in Scandinavia, with Bruni Tedeschi’s film sold to Folkets Bio . In addition, there were also good results for pre-sales deals with Switzerland and Italy needed to stabilise the budget for the film by Christophe Honoré, Ma mère, starring Isabelle Huppert. We’ve also been stressing the potential of Tomorrow We Move by Chantal Akerman with Sylvie Testud and Olivier Gourmet”.

StudioCanal also had a good response at the market, selling the film by Alain Chabat RRRrrrr !!! to Spain, Italy, Portugal, Canada, Russia and Korea, countries also bought the film by Olivier Dahan, Crimson Rivers 2 which will also be released in Scandinavia (Nordisk Film Biografdistribution) and in Turkey. Another StudioCanal hit that generated a lot of interest at MIFED was the animation La prophétie des grenouilles, sold to the Italians from Esse&Bi, as well as to Iceland and Hong-Kong, added to the sales to Germany clinched at Cannes. The new film by the couple Jaoui-Bacri, Comme une Image [+see also:
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film profile] has continued selling well, even arriving as far as Japan.

The company Wild Bunch also did good business with its interesting portfolio: it sold Janis and John to Canada, the Italian company Esse&Bi, Portugal and Japan. There was also success for Happy End by Amos Kollek starring Audrey Tautou, and the Finnish hit Young Dogs as well as for the new film by Gilles Bourdos, Inquiétudes, which was sold to Canada, Latin America and in Scandinavia. The new work by Emir Kusturica, Life is a miracle is still in post production and sales will start when it is completed, probably at the next Cannes festival.

(Translated from French)