05/09/2006

Currently at the 63rd Venice International Film Festival with two titles in official selection, French international sales outfit Celluloïd Dreams is preparing to head for Canada where the 31st Toronto International Film Festival (September 7-16) begins next Thursday.

Celluloïd’s Head of Sales, Hengameh Panahi, who hopes to do big business at the festival, has added two features to its top class line-up: Broken English by US director Zoé Cassavetes and True North by Britain’s Asif Kapadia (winner of Best British Film at the 2001 Baftas and Best Young Director for The Warrior), produced by The Bureau and starring Michette Yeoh, Sean Bean and Michelle Krusiec.

At Toronto, Celluloïd Dreams will present promo reels of the French/Belgian/UK/German/Italian/South African co-production Goodbye Bafana [+see also:
trailer
film profile] by Denmark’s Bille August and The Real Life of Angel Deverell by François Ozon. Meanwhile, the outfit will continue with pre-sales on three other projects still in production: French/UK co-production Son of rambow by Garth Jennings, I’m Not There by Todd Haynes and Mrs Ratcliffe's Revolution by UK helmer Billie Eltringham.

Other films in the line-up include Harmony Korine’s Mister Lonely, in post-production; and Michael Haneke’s remake project Funny Games (Celluloid Dreams, X-Filme Creative Pool, Halcyion Pictures, Tartan Films, Lucky Red and Belladonna Productions), starring Naomi Watts, Tim Roth and Michael Pitts and, last but not least, Darius Khondji as DoP.

Venice titles screened out of competition and in the Horizons sidebar respectively, The Magic Flute [+see also:
trailer
film profile] by Britain’s Kenneth Branagh and Suely in the Sky [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile] by Brazil’s Karim Aïnouz (see review) have also been selected at Toronto in the Special Presentations and the Contemporary World Cinema sections.

The outfit has a further seven films in different sections of the Canadian event: French animated feature U [+see also:
trailer
film profile] by directing duo Grégoire Solotareff and Serge Elissalde, Brand Upon the Brain by Guy Maddin, Jindabyne by Australia’s Ray Lawrence, Johnnie To’s Election I & II , Jafar Panahi’s Offside and French/German co-production To Get to Heaven, You Have to Die [+see also:
trailer
film profile] by Tadjik director Djamshed Usmonov (see news).

Celluloïd Dreams will then head for Spain’s San Sebastian (September 21-30), where the outfit’s untiring sellers will seek to secure deals for its competition title My Son by French helmer Martial Fougeron (see article).

(Translated from French)