Terraferma spearheads Elle Driver’s line-up

by Fabien Lemercier

18/07/2011 - With ten days to go before the unveiling of the 2011 selection for the 68th Venice International Film Festival (August 31-September 10), Paris-based international seller Elle Driver is getting ready for a trip to the Lido. One of the titles spearheading the company’s line-up, Italian director Emanuele Crialese’s Terraferma [trailer, film focus], is indeed expected to screen at the Venice Mostra, no doubt in competition. This is the third feature by the director who won the Critics’ Week Grand Prize at Cannes 2002 for Grazia’s Island [trailer] and the Silver Lion at Venice 2006 for Golden Door [trailer, film focus].

Terraferma was produced by Cattleya for a €7.85m budget. It was 10% co-produced by France through Babe Films and France 2 Cinéma (which invested €200,000). Pre-bought by Canal+ and Ciné+, the feature was also backed by the National Film and Moving Image Centre (CNC) as part of its elective funding for foreign language films.

Headed by Adeline Fontan Tessaur and Eva Diederix, Elle Driver also has in its line-up Benoît Jacquot’s Farewell, My Queen, which has just finished shooting (see news); and in pre-production Tudor Giurgiu’s Of Snails and Men, which has just received backing from Eurimages and will be produced by Romania (Libra Film) and France (Agat Films).

Highlights among their upcoming titles also include Leslye Headland’s US production The Bachelorette (starring Kirsten Dunst); and Marcos Bernstein’s Brazilian film My Sweet Orange Tree. Among the company’s completed films are Eran Riklis’s Israeli/German/French co-production Playoff [trailer] and Roschdy Zem’s Omar Killed Me [trailer].

(Translated from French)