Launched in February at Berlin, and following the consolidation of MPM and Premium Films’ sales activities, the Parisian outfit MPM Premium, headed up by Ricardo Monastier, will be bringing along a good asset to the Film Market at the 71^st Cannes Film Festival (from 8 to 19 May) with the African feature film Rafiki [+leggi anche:
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intervista: Wanuri Kahiu
scheda film] by the Kenyan director Wanuri Kahiu, which will be making its world premiere in Official Selection in the competitive Un Certain Regard section.

Written by the director (and also her debut feature film), starring Jenna Bass, and based on a short story by Monica Arac de Nyeko, the plot focuses on Kena (Samantha Mugatsia) and Ziki (Sheila Munyiva) who both aspire to much more than just answering the question "do good Kenyan girls become good Kenyan wives?" Despite the political rivalry between their families, the girls stand strong and remain close friends, supporting each other in the pursuit of their dreams in a conservative society. When love blossoms between them, the two girls will be forced to choose between happiness and safety.

Rafiki was produced by Steven Markowitz for the South African company Big World Cinema, in co-production with the Kenyan outfit Afrobubblegum, the French outfit MPM Film, the Dutch company Rinkel Film, the German outfit Razor Film Produktion, the Norwegian company Ape&Bjørn and the Lebanese company Schortcut Films, as well as with support from the ACP-EU Support Program, the CNC’s international cinema fund, the World Cinema Fund, the Netherlands Film Fund/Hubert Bals Fund, and the Sørfond Fund.

MPM Premium will also be selling Complicity by the Japanese director Kei Chikaura at the Film Market, as well as Look at Me [+leggi anche:
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scheda film] by Nejib Belkadhi – both of which are in post-production. The outfit will also be pursuing sales for Permanent Green Light [+leggi anche:
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scheda film] by Zac Farley and the American writer Denis Cooper (in competition at Rotterdam), the Brazilian feature film Liquid Truth by Carolina Jabor and Fatima [+leggi anche:
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scheda film] by the Portuguese director João Canijo.