08/02/2023 - The company sells huge lineup, with The Plough and Suzume in competition, Ken Loach, Maïwenn, Hirokazu Kore-Eda, Valérie Donzelli, Gabriel Abrantes in post-production, Ladj Ly in production, and more

It still doesn’t have a new name (since the French international sales company lead by Vincent Maraval and Brahim Chioua has definitely become independent from its former parent company), but Wild Bunch International (of which CAA owns 20%) will continue its journey with the same explosive vigour at the European Film Market of the 73rd Berlinale (from 16 to 26 February).

The line-up includes two contenders for the Golden Bear: Makoto Shinkai's Japanese animated film Suzume and French director Philippe Garrel's The Plough [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile]. With his 28th feature film, Garrel will return to the Berlin competition for the second time, after The Salt of Tears [+see also:
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interview: Souheila Yacoub
film profile] in 2020. His new opus, shot in colour, features his three children Louis Garrel, Esther Garrel and Lena Garrel, supported by Damien Mongin and Francine Bergé. Written by the director with the late Jean-Claude Carrière, Arlette Langmann and Caroline Deruas Peano, the script plunges into the heart of a family of puppeteers: the siblings Louis, Martha and Lena; their father, who runs the troupe; and the grandmother, who makes the dolls. Together they form a company and put on puppet shows. One day, after a performance, the father dies of a stroke, leaving his children alone... The production was handled by Rectangle Productions with co-production by Arte France Cinéma, Tournon Films, as well as the Swiss company Close Up Films and RTS.

The line-up includes another Berlinale showcase title: Heroic [+see also:
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trailer
film profile] by Mexico's David Zonana, which will be screened at Panorama after having its world premiere in the Sundance Film Festival's World Cinema Dramatic Competition.

Among the titles in post-production are three films by Cannes regulars: Japan's Hirokazu Kore-Eda's Monster (sales shared with Gaga), The Old Oak [+see also:
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film profile] by England's Ken Loach and Jeanne Du Barry [+see also:
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film profile] by France's Maïwenn.

In keeping with its editorial line of blending established talent with up-and-coming youngsters, WBI will also be pre-selling Salem [+see also:
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film profile] by Jean-Bernard Marlin, who came to prominence with Shéhérazade [+see also:
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film profile] (Cannes Critics' Week 2018 and three Césars in 2019, including Best First Film). The script written by the director focuses on 14-year-old Djibril, a member of the Grasshoppers gang who leads a dangerous existence in a Marseille slum with his girlfriend Camilla, who is pregnant and a member of the rival Locusts gang. When Djibril is manipulated into the murder of Mahad, a young Locust, war breaks out. Djibril is haunted by Mahad's dying curse and begins to communicate with the spirit world. Convinced that the world apocalypse is imminent, he embarks on a crazy plan to flee with Camilla and their unborn child (the only person who can save them all from Mahad's curse). But the law catches up with him. Now, after 12 years in prison and some time in a security psychiatric unit, Djibril is ready to do anything to find his daughter and convince her to fulfil her prophecy... Produced by Bruno Nahon for Unité, Salem (which is in post-production) was co-produced (as a delegate) by Vatos Locos Productions and by France 2 Cinéma. Pre-purchased by Netflix and France Télévisions, the feature film has also received support from the advance on receipts and CVS aid from the CNC, the PACA region and the Soficas Cofinova, Sofitvciné and La Banque Postale Image. Its distribution in France will be handled by Ad Vitam.

Pre-sales are also starting for the English-language psychological thriller Amelia’s Children by Portugal's Gabriel Abrantes (Diamantino [+see also:
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interview: Gabriel Abrantes, Daniel Sc…
film profile], Grand Prix at the 2018 Cannes Critics' Week). Produced by Artificial Humors, the film in post-production sees Edward's search for his biological family lead him and his girlfriend to a beautiful villa in the mountains of northern Portugal. He is excited to meet his long-lost mother and twin brother. He is finally going to find out who he is and where he comes from. But nothing is what it seems, and Edward will soon learn that he is bound to them by a monstrous secret…

The extensive post-production section also includes Valérie Donzelli's Just the Two of Us [+see also:
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interview: Valérie Donzelli
film profile], Kim Chapiron's The Young Imam [+see also:
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film profile], Jean-Gabriel Leynaud's documentary Of Mud And Blood about coltan mining in the DRC, and the first features Vincent Must Die [+see also:
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interview: Stéphan Castang
film profile] by Stéphan Castang, Some Rain Must Fall [+see also:
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film profile] by Chinese Qiu Yang and The Teacher [+see also:
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film profile] by British-Palestinian filmmaker Farah Nabulsi.

All this without forgetting the production of Ladj Ly's Les Indésirables [+see also:
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interview: Ladj Ly and Giordano Gederl…
film profile], starring Anta Diaw, Alexis Manenti, Jeanne Balibar, Steve Tientcheu and Aristote Luyindula. Written by the director and Giordano Gederlini, the script focuses on Pierre, a young idealistic doctor. After the sudden death of the town's mayor, he is appointed to replace him. He intends to continue the policy of his predecessor, who dreamt of rehabilitating this working-class neighbourhood. But Haby, a young French woman of Malian origin who lives in one of the dilapidated towers, refuses to see her family expelled from the neighbourhood where she grew up... A feature film produced by SRAB Films.

(Translated from French)