Steered by Fionnuala Jamison, mk2 Films’ international sales team is gearing up for some intense action at the European Film Market (unfolding online from 10 to 17 February, as part of the 72nd Berlinale), where it’s notably set to wager on two films in competition.

Battling it out for the Golden Bear of 2022, The Passengers of the Night [+leggi anche:
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intervista: Mikhaël Hers
scheda film] by Mikhaël Hers is set to enjoy its world premiere on Sunday 13 February. It’s the French filmmaker’s 4th feature after Memory Lane [+leggi anche:
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scheda film] (screened in Locarno’s Cinéastes du Présent line-up in 2010), This Summer Feeling [+leggi anche:
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intervista: Mikhaël Hers
scheda film] (gracing Rotterdam’s Big Screen competition in 2016) and Amanda [+leggi anche:
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intervista: Mikhaël Hers
scheda film] (seen in Venice’s Orizzonti line-up in 2018), boasting a cast including Charlotte Gainsbourg, Noée Abita, Quito Rayon-Richter and Emmanuelle Béart, and transporting us to Paris in 1981. The winds of change are blowing on election night and the French take to the streets, elated. But Élisabeth (Charlotte Gainsbourg) doesn’t share in their optimism. Her marriage is coming to an end and she’s now faced with the task of supporting her family. She’s distraught, and her father and teenage children are worried her tears won’t ever dry up. Could listening to her emotions help her fill the blank pages of her future? What if she were to write a letter on a whim to the host of her favourite radio programme? Or invite a homeless girl into her home? What would happen if she made the sorts of gestures that actually change lives? Produced by Nord-Ouest Films in co-production with Arte France Cinéma, The Passengers of the Night will be released in French cinemas on 4 May, courtesy of Pyramide Distribution.

Another ace in competition set to be sold by mk2 films is Alcarràs [+leggi anche:
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intervista: Carla Simón
intervista: Carla Simón
intervista: Giovanni Pompili
scheda film] by Spanish director Carla Simón (read our interview with the filmmaker, dating back to when the film’s project won the Eurimages Award in Berlin), which is scheduled to enjoy its world premiere on Tuesday 15 February. The story of this second movie from the director who previously gave us Summer 1993 [+leggi anche:
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intervista: Carla Simón
scheda film] (awarded the Best First Film prize at the 2017 Berlinale) revolves around the Solé family who, for as long as they can remember, have spent each and every summer picking peaches in their orchard in Alcarràs, a small village in the Spanish region of Catalonia. But this year’s harvest might prove to be their last: they’re at risk of being evicted. New plans for the land, which involve cutting down their peach trees and replacing them with solar panels, cause a rift within this extended yet close-knit family. They’re facing an uncertain future for the very first time and they risk losing far more than their orchard… Alcarràs is produced by Spanish firms Elastica Films, Avalon Productora Cinematográfica (who are also managing Spanish distribution) and Vilaüt Film, in co-production with Italy’s Kino Produzioni.

The EFM will also see mk2 Films well-armed in post-production titles too, thanks to Corsage [+leggi anche:
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intervista: Marie Kreutzer
intervista: Marie Kreutzer
scheda film] by Austria’s Marie Kreutzer (starring Vicky Krieps in the lead role), Dalva [+leggi anche:
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intervista: Emmanuelle Nicot
intervista: Emmanuelle Nicot, Julie Es…
scheda film] by Belgium’s Emmanuelle Nicot, Blaze by Australia’s Kathryn Barton, and four highly attractive French films: Serge Bozon’s musical Don Juan [+leggi anche:
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intervista: Serge Bozon
scheda film], Mother And Son [+leggi anche:
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intervista: Léonor Serraille
scheda film] by Léonor Serraille, Sons of Ramses [+leggi anche:
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intervista: Clément Cogitore
scheda film] by Clément Cogitore and For My Country [+leggi anche:
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intervista: Rachid Hami
scheda film] by Rachid Hami.

And that’s without forgetting Sophie Barthès’ French-Belgian feature in pre-production The Pod Generation [+leggi anche:
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scheda film] (starring Emilia Clarke and Chiwetel Ejiofor) as well as four animated titles also gracing the line-up: in production Mars Express [+leggi anche:
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intervista: Jérémie Périn
scheda film] by French director Jérémie Périn, and in pre-production The Inventor by Jim Capobianco, Outfoxed! by Paul Bolger and A Winter’s Journey by Alex Alfrecht.