14/02/2013 - Gloria, In the Name of, The Nun, Camille Claudel 1915 and many other titles give French companies a reason to smile

A positive provisional balance-sheet for French international sales companies entering the last lap of the European Film Market which will end tomorrow in Berlin. Non-exhaustive survey of the deals announced so far.

Funny Balloons won the jackpot with the Berlinale’s favourite, the Spanish co-production Gloria [+see also:
trailer
film profile] by Chilean director Sebastián Lelio, acquired amongst others for the United States, France (Ad Vitam), the United Kingdom (Network Releasing), German-speaking Europe (Alamode Film), Spain (Vertigo), the ex-Yugoslavian territories, Benelux (Wild Bunch), Switzerland (Filmcoopi), Greece and Brazil.  

Commendable sales too for Memento Films International with another competitor: the Polish feature film In the Name of [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Malgorzata Szumowska
interview: Mateusz Kosciukiewicz
film profile]. Malgorzata Szumowska’s film was notably purchased for the United States (Film Movement), Spain (Abordar), Germany (Salzgeber), Benelux (Wild Bunch), Turkey and Israel. Memento has also been very active with Under the Rainbow [+see also:
trailer
film profile] by French director Agnès Jaoui, screened at the Market and sold amongst others for Scandinavia (NonStop), Poland (Kino Swiat), Benelux (Victory), Portugal (Midas Filmes), Austria (Filmladen), Switzerland (Filmcoopi), Turkey and even South Korea.

A good reception was also scored in competition by The Nun [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Guillaume Nicloux
film profile] by French director Guillaume Nicloux, which Le Pacte notably sold for the United Kingdom (Metrodome), Germany (Camino), Benelux (O’Brother), Switzerland (Frenetic), Bulgaria (Bulgaria Film Vision), CIS (Maywin), Canada, Brazil, Colombia,  Peru, Venezuela and Singapore. Jean Labadie’s company (interview) also announced the arrival of three new titles in post-production in its line-up: Lulu in the Nude by Solveig Anspach (article) with Karin Viard and Bouli Lanners), Henri by Yolande Moreau (news) et The Dune by Yossi Aviram (article).

The Market in Berlin was also marked by the very intense competition between the two projects about the life of the famous fashion-designer Yves Saint-Laurent. In the case of Films Distribution, which is pre-selling Saint-Laurent by Bertrand Bonello (with Gaspard Ulliel, Jérémie Renier and Léa Seydoux- Mandarin Cinéma production), it was announced that all the main territories were locked up, while SND, which is handling the sales of Yves Saint-Laurent by Jalil Lespert (casting Pierre Niney, Guillaume Gallienne and Moritz Bleibtreu - WY Productions) revealed that it has signed for the United Kingdom, Scandinavia, Poland, the Czech Republic, Switzerland, Portugal, Turkey, Russia, the Middle East, Canada and Australia.  

StudioCanal has reported many pre-sales for Our Kind Of Traitor byJustin Kurzel, based on the eponymous novel by John Le Carré, which should be interpreted by Ewan McGregor, Ralph Fiennes and Mads Mikkelsen. Pre-purchased for Spain, Canada, Poland, Russia and Switzerland, the film will be distributed directly by StudioCanal in France, the United Kingdom, Germany and Australia. The French company also announced yesterday the arrival in its dense line-up (already including Inside Llewyn Davis by the Coen brothers, Two Faces of January by Hossein Amini, Serena by Susanne Bier, The House of Magic by Ben Stassen, etc) of the animated film projects French Riviera (Les Armateurs production) and Le Monde Truqué [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Christian Desmares and Fran…
film profile] (news).

Other French sales companies have not missed out, in particular Gaumont, which has done extremely well with the satirical comedy Vive la France [+see also:
trailer
film profile] by Michaël Youn, but also Reel Suspects, which is looking forward to excellent prospects with the German title in the Panorama Lose Your Head [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile] by duo Stefan Westerwelle - Patrick Schuckmann. Also worth noting, Kinology has added Un homme à part by François Dupeyron to its line-up (to be filmed soon with Grégory Gadebois, Céline Salette, Jean-Pierre Darroussin and Sophie Quinton – an Alfama production). Urban Distribution International has also chalked up some good results, especially with the documentary Viramundo by Pierre-Yves Borgeaud.

Finally, Wild Bunch did a lot of business with its competitor from Berlin Camille Claudel 1915 [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Bruno Dumont
film profile] by Bruno Dumont and its extra-long line-up including Miss Julie by Liv Ullmann (article) with Jessica Chastain, Colin Farrell and Samantha Morton, White Bird in a Blizzard by Gregg Araki, Like Father, Like Son by Hirokazu Kore-eda, the 3D project Wolf Totem by Jean-Jacques Annaud and The Last Days by Spanish directors Alex and David Pastor. These titles join amongst others Once Upon a Forest by Luc Jacquet, Blue Is the Warmest Color (news) by Abdellatif Kechiche, Jimmy P. by Arnaud Desplechin, Bastards by Claire Denis, Just 17 by François Ozon, Open Windows by Nacho Vigalondo and finally A Nine-Minute Interval (provisional title) by Romanian director Corneliu Porumboiu.

(Translated from French)