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CANNES 2018 Market

New Europe Film Sales brings The Load to Cannes

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- Ognjen Glavonić’s debut fiction film will enjoy its world premiere in the Directors’ Fortnight, while more films represented by the Polish sales agent will have market screenings

New Europe Film Sales brings The Load to Cannes
The Load by Ognjen Glavonić

Warsaw-based international sales agent New Europe Film Sales continues to have a strong presence at all the major film festivals. After Sundance, Rotterdam and Berlin, the company headed up by Jan Naszewski will be heading to the 71st Cannes Film Festival next week (8-19 May 2018).

A regular visitor to the Croisette, New Europe Film Sales will have one world premiere for public and market audiences, Ognjen Glavonić’s (Depth Two [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile
]
) debut fiction feature, The Load [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Ognjen Glavonić
film profile
]
 (Serbia/France/Croatia/Iran/Qatar), which will be screened in the Directors’ Fortnight section. The story follows a truck driver, Vlada (Leon Lučev), whose mission is to transport a mysterious load from Kosovo to Belgrade during the NATO bombings of Yugoslavia in 1999. Vlada will have to cross unknown and unfamiliar territories as the Kosovo War is still ongoing and the country is scarred. He also knows that as soon as he finishes his job, he must return home and pay the price for his decisions. The Load is a co-production between Non-Aligned FilmsCinéma DefactoKinorama and Three Gardens Film.

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Regarding the film, Naszewski mentioned: “The Load is one of the most mature first films I have seen in recent years. It’s powerful in its message and wonderfully ascetic and cinematic in form. It’s our Winter Brothers [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Elliott Crosset Hove
interview: Hlynur Pálmason
film profile
]
 of 2018. The Fortnight is the perfect platform for the film.”

At the Film Market (8-19 May) screenings, New Europe Film Sales will bring Kuba Mikurda’s documentary Love Express. The Disappearance of Walerian Borowczyk (Poland/Estonia) along and show it for the first time; it is scheduled to premiere during the spring. This HBO co-production aims to shed light on the multifaceted artistic personality of Walerian Borowczyk, who was once considered a maverick of cutting-edge arthouse cinema, but was subsequently labelled as a maker of erotic soft-porn flicks.

Furthermore, Paweł Maślona’s debut black comedy and Polish box-office hit, Panic Attack [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Pawel Maslona
film profile
]
 (Poland), will have its market premiere via a session of private screenings. The market screenings will wrap with the Swedish animation Gordon & Paddy [+see also:
trailer
film profile
]
 by Linda Hambäck, which premiered in the Berlinale’s Generation section, and the Rotterdam- and Sundance-screened Loveling by Brazilian director Gustavo Pizzi. The Greek-Polish offbeat black comedy Pity [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Babis Makridis
film profile
]
 by Babis Makridis tops off the market slate of the company.

Finally, Grímur Hákonarson’s upcoming sophomore feature, The County [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Grímur Hákonarson
film profile
]
, has already secured distribution in some territories and continues to be one of the most sought-after titles on New Europe’s pre-sales slate, with a release planned for spring 2019.

It should be noted that the company has a new location this year, and Naszewski explains: “We decided to move our office to the Scandinavian Terrace, since one-third of our films are Scandinavian, and it’s a great, well-known location. I'm looking forward to seeing everybody there.”

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