SALES France
Films Distribution takes on Venice to the power of five
by Fabien Lemercier
28/08/2012 - The brand new market at the Venice Film Festival, whose 69th edition starts tomorrow, should bring good business to French international sales agency Films Distribution, whose line-up counts five titles selected for the festival’s various sections.
On the Lido, François Yon is to sell Belgian director Frédéric Fonteyne’s Tango libre [trailer, film focus] (read the interview), a film starring François Damiens and Sergi Lopez to make its world premiere on Thursday, August 30 in the Orizzonti section.
In the official selection, but out of competition, Simon Brook’s documentary The Tightrope (Brook Productions with the Italians from Cinemaundici - Ermanno Olmi and Luigi Musini) is also to make its world premiere. The film recounts the director’s two-week immersion into the secrets of acting rehearsals led by his father, famous theatre director Peter Brook.
In the line-up, three titles have also been selected for the Venice Days: Sólveig Anspach’s Queen of Montreuil [trailer, film focus], Hiam Abbass’s Inheritance [trailer, festival scope] (starring the director and Hafsia Herzi), and Italian director Stefano Mordini’s Steel (Acciao).
Films Distribution will then be off to the Toronto Film Festival (from September 6 to 16) where Marina Zenovich’s Roman Polanski: Odd Man Out will make its world premiere in the TIFF Docs programme, while Kim N’Guyen’s Berlinale winner War Witch will be screened at a Special Presentation.
At the very dynamic informal film market at the Canadian festival, Nicolas Brigaud-Robert, François Yon, and Sébastien Beffa will also work on selling the many other titles in their line-up, notably Barbara Albert's The Dead and the Living, an Austrian-German-Polish co-production to compete at the 60th San Sebastian Film Festival (from September 21 to 29).
Next up from Films Distribution will be the following films: Pascale Ferran’s Bird People (in post-production), Bertrand Bonello‘s film project Saint Laurent, Brigitte Rouän’s A Greek Type of Problem (read more), Emmanuel Naccache's Franco-Israeli comedy Kidon (to star Tomer Sisley), Panos Koutras’ Greek-French-Belgian co-production Xenia, Eytan Fox’ Franco-Israeli feature Bananas, as well as Benjamin Rocher and Thierry Poiraud’s Goal of the Dead.
(Translated from French)
