A regular presence at the best festival showcases, French sales company Memento International (lead by Émilie Georges) will not deviate from its good habits at the Marché du Film (May 17-25) of the 75th Cannes Film Festival, with four titles on the Croisette, including a contender for the 2002 Palme d'Or: Boy From Heaven [+leggi anche:
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intervista: Tarik Saleh
scheda film] by the Egyptian-born Swede Tarik Saleh. Starring Tawfeek Barhom and Fares Fares, the film centres on Adam, the son of a fisherman who is offered the great privilege of studying at Al-Azhar University in Cairo, the epicentre of Sunni Islamic power. Shortly after his arrival in Cairo, the Grand Imam, the university's most senior religious leader, dies suddenly. Adam becomes a pawn in a ruthless power struggle between Egypt's religious and political elite... The production was helmed by Sweden's Atmo with co-production by France's Memento Production and Arte France Cinéma, Finland's Bufo and Denmark's Final Cut for Real.

Mathieu Delaunay and Alexandre Moreau's team will be selling two other features in the Official Selection: the French-Belgian co-production The Night of the 12th [+leggi anche:
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intervista: Dominik Moll
scheda film] by French director Dominik Moll (read the news), which will be unveiled at Cannes Prèmiere, and Sick Of Myself [+leggi anche:
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intervista: Kristine Kujath Thorp
intervista: Kristoffer Borgli
scheda film] by Norwegian director Kristoffer Borgli, which will be unveiled at Un Certain Regard and which centres on Signe and Thomas, who have an unhealthy and competitive relationship that takes a vicious turn when Thomas suddenly establishes himself as a contemporary artist. In response, Signe desperately tries to regain his status by creating a new persona that seeks attention and sympathy... This second feature by the filmmaker was piloted in production by Oslo Pictures and co-produced by the Swedes of Garage Film International and Film i Väst.

The line-up is enriched by a showcase title in Directors' Fortnight: Falcon Lake by Charlotte Le Bon. The Canadian actress' first feature film is an adaptation of the graphic novel Une soeur by Bastien Vivès. This love and ghost story starring Joseph Engel, Sara Montpetit and Monia Chokri was produced by Canada's Metafilms and France's Cinéfrance Studios and Onzecinq, and co-produced by Les Productions du Ch'timi.

Also worth mentioning is the market premiere of Marcelo Gomes' Paloma (which has a production partnership between Brazil and the Portuguese of Ukbar Filmes), as well as the launch of pre-sales for The Empire [+leggi anche:
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intervista: Bruno Dumont
scheda film], which Bruno Dumont will shoot this summer with Lily-Rose Depp, Anamaria Vartolomei, Camille Cottin and Fabrice Luchini. The plot is set on the Opal Coast in northern France. The Wain, the offspring of Belzebuth, the beast of the end of time, is born into the ordinary life of a fishing village. While the knights of the Wain will make sure that he invades the Earth for the worse, the defenders of the Good will have to thwart their plans, even if it means plunging the world into an epic interplanetary battle that will decide the fate of the universe... A feature film piloted by Tessalit with co-production by the Germans of Red Balloon Film, the Italians of Ascent and the Belgians of Novak Prod.