The Wild Bunch giant to the power of 15

by Fabien Lemercier

08/05/2012 - On its tenth anniversary, French international sales agency Wild Bunch has shattered its record for films selected at the Cannes Film Festival. After 11 selected films in 2009, the meter has now climbed to 15 for the film festival’s 65th edition (from May 16 to 27). This all predicts a very busy Film Market for Vincent Maraval’s team.

Wild Bunch’s line-up includes three contenders for the Palme d’Or: Beyond the Hills [trailer, film focus] by Romanian director Cristian Mungiu, The Angel’s Share [trailer, film focus] by English director Ken Loach, and Holy Motors [trailer, film focus] (photo) by French director Leos Carax. And it has an impressive cohort of seven films at the Certain Regard: Confession of a Child of the Century [trailer] by Sylvie Verheyde (with Charlotte Gainsbourg and Peter Doherty - read more), Renoir [trailer] by his fellow-countryman Gilles Bourdos (news), White Elephant [trailer] by Argentinian director Pablo Trapero (read more - with Ricardo Darín, Jérémie Renier, and Martina Gusman in the cast), 11/25 The Day Mishima Chose His Own Fate by Japonese director Koji Wakamatsu, Mystery by Chinese director Lou Ye, Horses of God by Nabil Ayouch (a co-production between France, Morocco, and Belgium), and the ensemble film 7 Days in Havana [trailer] (with segments directed by Laurent Cantet, Elia Suleiman, Benicio del Toro, Pablo Trapero, and Gaspard Noé).

Add to that the special screening of Journal de France [trailer] by the duo Raymond Depardon - Claudine Nougaret, the midnight screening of Maniac [trailer] by Franck Khalfoun, and Final Cut by Hungarian filmmaker György Pálfi (read more) in the Cannes Classics programme, and the grand total of films from Wild Bunch’s line-up in the official selection climbs to 13.

With films all over the festival, the international sales agency will also sell Granny’s Funeral [trailer] by French director Bruno Podalydès, a film to be unveiled at the Directors’ Fortnight and Broken [trailer] by British filmmaker Rufus Norris, the opening film at the Critics’ Week (to feature performances by Tim Roth, Cillian Murphy, and Rory Kinnear).

All these titles on show are bound to mean very good business at the Film Market (even if many of them have already benefitted from very good pre-sales), even before the rest of a colossal line-up (read more).

(Translated from French)