Very good business for Films Distribution

by Fabien Lemercier

26/05/2006 - With the 2006 market considered a good one in terms of overall sales, French company Films Distribution has once again done very well.

The surprise in its line-up was The Page Turner [trailer, film focus] (La Tourneuse de pages) by Denis Dercourt (Un Certain Regard, see article). The French feature has been sold to the UK (Artificial Eye), US (Tartan), Italy (Mikado), Benelux (Lumière), Switzerland (Agora Films), Greece (Filmtrade), Scandinavia, Japan, Australia, Korea, Canada, Mexico, Colombia, Chile and Singapore, with negotiations well underway for Germany. In France, the film will be distributed by its producer, Diaphana.

Meanwhile, Flanders [trailer], by Bruno Dumont,a controversial title in official competition (see review) has already found distributors in Denmark (Ost For Paradis), Sweden (Folkets Bio), Switzerland (Agora Films), Poland (Gaby), China, Russia, Thailand and Brazil.

Belgian director Lucas Belvaux’s The Weakest Is Always Right [trailer] (in competition, see news), has been sold to the UK (Metro Tartan), Brazil, Austria (Filmladen), Switzerland (Agora Films) and France (Diaphana).

Sales on Days of Glory [trailer, film focus] by Rachid Bouchareb (see article), the third title from Films Distribution to be selected in official competition at Cannes this year, have only begun. The film has, however, found distributors in several territories, including Spain (Notro Films), Denmark (Ost For Paradis), Sweden (Folkets Bio), Brazil, China and Turkey. Mars Distribution will release the film in France and Belga Film in Belgium.

These successful sales for the French company do not, however, reflect the mixed impressions of the festival’s Film Market. According to Didar Domehri, head of international sales at Films Distribution, "The professionals feel that they haven’t found that one standout film, except the "sleeper" The Page Turner, which several territories fought to buy. According to buyers, competition was quite weak and no film stood out from the selections."

(Translated from French)