29/04/2019 - Shining bright on the French sales agent’s slate is the feature debut by Mounia Meddour, which will be world-premiered in Un Certain Regard

Having enjoyed a regular presence on the line-ups of the major festivals over the last few years (Félicité [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Alain Gomis
film profile], Beauty and the Dogs [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Kaouther Ben Hania
film profile], A Wedding [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Stephan Streker
film profile], To the Four Winds [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile], Manta Ray [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile] and Her Job [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Nikos Labôt
film profile], to name but a few), the international sales department of Paris-based company Jour2Fête (headed up by Sarah Chazelle and Etienne Ollagnier) will be rocking up at the Marché du Film (15-25 May, unspooling as an integral part of the 72^nd Cannes Film Festival) with a real trump card spearheading its slate: Papicha [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Mounia Meddour
film profile] (which will be unveiled in the Official Selection, on the Un Certain Regard programme).

The cast of the feature debut by filmmaker of Algerian descent Mounia Meddour (who turned heads in 2012 with the short film Edwige) includes Lyna Khoudri, Shirine Boutella, Amira Hilda Douaouda, Zahra Doumandji, Yasin Houicha, Nadia Kaci and Meryem Medjkane. The story, written by the director herself, unfolds in Algeria in the 1990s. Nedjma, an 18-year-old student passionate about fashion design, refuses to let the tragic events of the Algerian Civil War stop her from having a normal life and going out at night with her friend Wassila. As the social climate becomes more conservative, she rejects the new bans introduced by the radicals, and decides to fight for her freedom and independence by putting on a fashion show. Production duties were handled by France, via Xavier Gens and Grégoire Gensollen for The Ink Connection and by Patrick André for High Sea Production, with Algeria’s Tayda Films, Belgium’s Scope Pictures and Qatar co-producing. 

At the Marché du Film, Jour2Fête will also be pinning its hopes on the socially engaged documentary A Place in the Sun [+see also:
trailer
film profile] by Gilles Perret and François Ruffin (César Award for Best Documentary in 2017 for Merci Patron ! [+see also:
trailer
film profile] and now an MP), a road movie that takes an in-depth look at the Gilets Jaunes (aka yellow vests) social movement, which has racked up 130,000 admissions since its release in French theatres on 3 April.

At Cannes, the Jour2Fête sales team managed by Samuel Blanc will also be pre-selling three titles in post-production, especially Echo (see the news), the third feature by Iceland’s Rúnar Rúnarsson, following Volcano [+see also:
trailer
film profile] (Cannes Directors’ Fortnight in 2011) and Sparrows [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Atli Óskar Fjalarsson
interview: Rúnar Rúnarsson
film profile] (which won an award at San Sebastián in 2015), a film that is likely to figure prominently on the line-ups of the forthcoming major festivals.

Also featuring on the firm’s slate is A Son by Tunisia’s Mehdi Bersaoui, a title in post-production that stars Sami Bouajila and Najla Ben Abdallah. In summer 2011, during a holiday to Southern Tunisia, Fares, Meriem and their ten-year-old son Aziz are ambushed by an armed group. Aziz is injured in the attack and taken to a rudimentary hospital nearby. As the race to provide him with a new liver begins, long-buried truths begin to resurface, jeopardising the family's chances of finding a donor in time. Currently in post-production, the feature was produced by Marc Irmer for Paris-based outfit Dolce Vita Films and Habib Attia for Tunisian company Cinetelefilms.

Lastly, one of the most prominent titles in post-production on Jour2Fête’s slate is the Belgian-French-Canadian production Pompei [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Anna Falguères and John Shank
film profile] by John Shank and Anna Falguères.

(Translated from French)