email print share on Facebook share on Twitter share on LinkedIn share on reddit pin on Pinterest

MARKET France

Coco avant Chanel sets sights on US studio

by 

Anne Fontaine’s project Coco avant Chanel (“Coco Before Chanel”) - set to star Audrey Tautou (see news) and begin shooting in October – is attracting a lot of attention.

At Berlin, the film’s international sales agent Films Distribution received enough offers from worldwide distributors to cover the €15m budget, on the strength of a simple treatment and the reputation of the leading actress and UK screenwriter Christopher Hampton (Mary Reilly and Stephen Frears’ Dangerous Liaisons).

(The article continues below - Commercial information)

Meanwhile, the producers Haut et Court and Ciné @ have decided to opt for a block negotiation with a US major studios who will handle international distribution. A secret deal is currently being negotiated that would enable the film to be made on an even more generous budget.

Films Distribution also cast the net wide at the Berlin film market with Lemon Tree [+see also:
trailer
film profile
]
by Israeli director Eran Riklis, co-produced by French company Mact Productions and German companies Heimatfilm and Riva Filmproduktion. The feature was sold to Spain, Italy, Greece, Benelux, Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Turkey, Canada, Brazil, Argentina, Colombia, Mexico and Korea.

Successful deals were also struck with Laurent de Bartillat’s The Vanishing Point [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile
]
, sales for which have been steadily mounting since the film’s premiere at the RomeFilmFest (see special report). Positive word-of-mouth amongst buyers led to the film being bought in Berlin for Spain, Greece, Russia and Mexico. A sales agreement for Benelux is also about to be signed.

Robert Guédiguian’s Lady Jane [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile
]
found buyers for Spain (Golem), Austria (Stadtkino), Greece, Benelux and Brazil.

Among the titles in post-production, Films Distribution got business underway for Philippe Garrel’s La frontière de l’aube (“The Border of Dawn”, bought for Italy, Canada and Switzerland).

Sales for Vincent Garenq’s Baby Love also got off to a good start. Produced by Nord-Ouest Production and starring Pascal Elbé and Lambert Wilson, this comedy about homosexuality and the desire for parenthood has already been bought for Italy, Brazil and Switzerland.

Sales will continue at Cannes, where Films Distribution will offer some impressive titles: Rithy Panh’s Un barrage contre le Pacifique (“A Dam Against the Pacific”) starring Isabelle Huppert and Gaspard Ulliel (see news); Bertrand Bonello’s De la guerre (“Of War”, see news); Hany Tamba’s Melodrama Habibi (see news); Eric Forestier’s La troisième partie du monde (“The Third Part of the World”, see news); Salope (“Bitch”, formerly known as L’occupation) by directorial duo Pierre Trividic and Patrick Mario Bernard (see news); and Jean-Claude Brisseau’s A l’aventure.

Other titles include Belgian films Elève libre (“Free Pupil”) by Joachim Lafosse and Eldorado by Bouli Lanners (see news) which will both aim for the same success as Nic Balthazar’s Ben X [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Nic Balthazar
interview: Peter Bouckaert
film profile
]
- sold by Films Distribution to 35 territories.

(The article continues below - Commercial information)

(Translated from French)

Did you enjoy reading this article? Please subscribe to our newsletter to receive more stories like this directly in your inbox.

Privacy Policy