Memento to take Cantet, Shortland, Jaoui, and Farhadi to Toronto

by Fabien Lemercier

31/08/2012 - The agency's line-up features Foxfire and Lore at the Special Presentations, images from Under The Rainbow, and Asghar Farhadi’s new French project

With several major assets in its line-up, Parisian outfit Memento Films International is preparing itself for the Toronto Film Festival (from September 6 to 16) and its unmissable informal film market. Laurent Cantet’s much-awaited Foxfire (read more) will make its world premiere on September 10 at a Special Presentation at the Canadian festival. This new film (and the first to be shot in English) by the director who won the Cannes Palme d’Or in 2008 will then compete at the 60th San Sebastian Film Festival (from September 21 to 29) where the filmmaker was president of the jury in 2009.

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Another title from the MFI line-up will also be screened at a Special Presentation in Toronto: Cate Shortland’s Lore [+see also:
trailer
interview: Saskia Rosendahl
film profile], a German-Austrian-British film that recently won the Audience Award at the Locarno Film Festival.

The team directed by Emilie Georges and headed by Tanja Meissner will also unveil a promo reel for Agnès Jaoui’s Under The Rainbow (news). And pre-sales are to start soon for a new film by Iranian director Asghar Farhadi (photo) who recently won the Oscar for Best Film in a Foreign Language for A Separation. The filmmaker is to start shooting his first feature outside his native country this October in Paris. The film is to star Bérénice Bejo (2012 Cesar for Best Actress for The Artist [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Michel Hazanavicius
film profile]) and Tahar Rahim (2010 Cesar for Best Actor in A Prophet [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Jacques Audiard
interview: Jacques Audiard and Tahar R…
film profile], currently in cinemas in Our Children [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Joachim Lafosse
film profile] and now shooting Grand Central). This film, for which Memento Films is the executive producer, is also co-produced by France 3 Cinéma and the Italians from Bim Distribuzione. It has benefited from pre-acquisitions by Canal+ and Ciné+, as well as an advance on receipts from the National Film and Moving Image Centre (CNC). The film is set to be ready in spring 2013.

In Canada, Memento will continue sales for Franco-Senegalese co-production La pirogue [+see also:
trailer
film profile] by Moussa Touré (discovered at Un Certain Regard in Cannes) and France-Belgium-Luxembourg co-production Bad Seeds [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile] by Safy Nebbou (read the review) among other titles. American titles We Are What We Are by Jim Mickle (a remake of Mexican horror film Somos Lo Que Hay, currently in post-production), Me @ The Zoo by Chris Moukarbel and Valerie Veatch, and Compliance by Craig Zobel (revealed at the last Sundance and Locarno film festivals) also stand out in its line-up.