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INDUSTRY / MARKET France

Cinema For Change crowns In a Better World as its champion

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- Émilie Frèche’s feature-debut project has won an award at the first edition of the co-production market dedicated to films that aspire to make a positive impact on the world

Cinema For Change crowns In a Better World as its champion
Director Émilie Frèche, whose feature-debut project In a Better World scooped the Commune Image Award at the Cinema For Change market

Organised on 6 and 7 April as an integral part of the tenth edition of the Le Temps Presse Festival, the first iteration of the Cinema For Change European co-production market, dedicated to films that aspire to make a positive impact on the world, gathered together 267 professionals (producers, distributors, broadcasters, sales agents and investors) online and handed out awards to three of the 15 projects in its showcase.

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The Commune Image Award was bestowed upon In a Better World, which will be the feature-length directorial debut by France’s Émilie Frèche (who has turned heads as a screenwriter, particularly with her nomination for the Lumières Award in 2017 for Heaven Will Wait [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile
]
). Having originally kicked off last October before it was forced to suddenly grind to a halt because of a COVID-19 cluster, the shoot has picked up and is currently going ahead, with a cast including Benjamin Lavernhe (nominated for the César Award for Best Supporting Actor in 2021 and 2020 for My Donkey, My Lover & I [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile
]
and Love at Second Sight [+see also:
trailer
film profile
]
; set to grace screens soon in Délicieux [+see also:
trailer
film profile
]
and The Speech [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile
]
), Julia Piaton (nominated for the César Award for Most Promising Actress in 2021 for Love Affair(s) [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Emmanuel Mouret
film profile
]
), Bruno Todeschini, Hakim Jemili and Brigitte Roüan.

In the story, written by the director herself, David takes Gabrielle and her children climbing in the mountains for the first time. They have a magical day, but on the way back down to Briançon, their car hits a young migrant who is being pursued by the police. David instinctively hides him in his boot. Moved by this child’s fate, he decides to help him at any cost. Gabrielle, on the other hand, has another fight on her hands: her ex-husband has found out about her relationship with David and is taking her to court to regain custody of the children. Caught up in this double reality, will David and Gabrielle manage to carry on loving each other? How can they reconcile their personal commitments with their commitment to society? What sacrifices are we able to make to remain true to our values?

Produced by Laetitia Galitzine for Chapka Films (which has just enjoyed tremendous success with My Donkey, My Lover & I), In a Better World is being co-produced by Echo Studio. The feature, which has been pre-purchased by Canal+ and Ciné+, will be distributed in France by Tandem Films and will be sold overseas by Other Angle Pictures.

Also worth noting are two documentary projects that ended up on the winners’ list of this first edition of Cinema For Change: The Future Now by Switzerland’s Frédéric Choffat (produced by Joëlle Bertossa for Close-up Films) and The Zimov Hypothesis by Russia’s Denis Sneguirev (staged by Caroline Roussel for French outfit Arturo Mio, with several co-producers on board, including fellow French firm 13 Productions, Belgium’s Take Five and Russia’s Ethnofund).

Here is the full list of winners:

Commune Image Award
In a Better World – Émilie Frèche (France)

CNC Award
The Future Now - Frédéric Choffat (Switzerland)

Cannes Doc Award
The Zimov Hypothesis - Denis Sneguirev (France/Russia/Belgium/USA)

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(Translated from French)

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