French sellers head into EFM with a diverse slate of titles, from documentaries to directorial debuts

HFrom Mediawan Rights to Pyramide, these French sales teams are on the ground in Berlin with their hottest titles in hand, ready to seduce international buyers and demonstrate the diversity of French production output.

From a documentary about the war in Ukraine, shining the spotlight on the brave civilians, to a dramatic war-themed feature-film from director David Oehloffen, the French offering is sure to attract international buyers.

Mediawan Rights

H For its first international market, Mediawan Rights will be present at the Unifrance stand during this year’s EFM. The company is set to present three documentaries to buyers. First, Godard Cinema, representing the first feature film within the Mediawan Rights documentary catalog launched a year ago. Directed by Cyril Leuthy and produced by 10.7 Productions for Arte, the film has already found international sales with Portugal’s Zero em comportamento, Spain’s Filmin, Italy’s Wanted, the Czech Republic’s Film Europe, Finland’s YLE, and Japan’s Mimosa.

Further Asian territories are expected to pick up the film during the market. Next up is Léonard Cohen’s animated title Flavours of Iraq, co-produced by Nova Production and Miyu Produc- tions, with Mediawan Rights handling international distribution with the exception of France and Germany. Sales deals for the documentary have already been signed for the Benelux region’s Lunanime and Italy’s I Wonder. Finally, the Mediawan company is bringing to market a Canadian documentary, Ryan Marley’s The Blind Couple from Mali. With the film currently in production, a six-minute trailer will be shown to buyers in Berlin. With its documentary-heavy line-up, Mediawan is sure to attract international buyers interested in this specific genre.

Le Pacte

H Jean Labadie’s company has a bevy of attractive fiction titles that are due to be presented to buyers during the EFM market. First, Marie-Castille Mention-Schaar’s Divertimento, which has incurred several international buyers already, being driven by the film’s universal appeal due to its classical music narrative.

The film has already been sold to companies in Spain, Switzerland, the Benelux region, Germany, Austria, Canada, Israel, Korea, and Brazil, an impressive list. Next is Thomas Salvador’s The Mountain, with sales already inked for the Benelux region, Switzerland, the U.S., Canada, Poland, Israel, Korea and China. To say the least, Le Pacte’s films seem to have already attracted numerous buyers, and the EFM is likely to serve as the backdrop for more. Up next is Alexis Michalik’s contemporary romcom, A Love Story. This title serves as perhaps the most difficult to promote to buyers, while confident about the quality, the film doesn’t benefit from a star-studded cast that is often a major selling point for pre-purchases. Furthermore, Le Pacte is bringing Shih-Ching Tsou’s Left-Handed Girl to market, with the first images of the Taiwanese film to be presented to buyers during the market. Next to last, the French group will be bringing David Oehloffen’s dramatic war-themed title The Fourth Wall to market, marking the group's first collaboration with the director.

With a bevy of genres in their line-up, Le Pacte is likely to be an attractive seller for international buyers on the hunt for a variety of diverse titles. Finally, Le Pacte will undoubtedly create quite a buzz with Thomas Lilti’s A Real Job, a director already recognized within the international market thanks to the global success of his previous films. The title features a star-studded cast: Vincent Lacoste, François Cluzet, Adèle Exarchopoulos, Louise Bourgoin and Lucie Zhang. “This film has a deeep human aspect to it, while also being full of humor and emotion. Thomas Lilti has demonstrated his capacity for storytelling like never before,” enthused Camille Neel, Le Pacte's international sales manager.

France TV Distribution

on Carine May and Hakim Zouhani’s latest film SOS: Save Our School, along with Sébastien Tulard’s Sugar and Stars, the latter having already been pre-sold in several territories, including Spain. Representing Tulard’s feature-film directorial debut, Sugar and Stars is drumming up interest among a bevy of distributors as the film is inspired by a true story, a major selling point these days, celebrates the French way of living, and showcases the world of French pastry-making, yum. Regarding new releases, France TV Distribution is launching sales for Bernard-Henri Levy's documentary Slava Ukraini . The writer bravely traveled to Ukraine in the midst of the war where he met with civilians and delivered a testament to their courage and dignity. “It’s an emotional project that makes you really want to get involved. Many buyers have already expressed their interest to us because they believe, as we do, that cinema remains a place for political engagement,” commented Julia Schulte, Director of International Sales.

Also on the docket is Gilles Legardinier's Mr. Blake at your Service, an adaptation of Legardinier’s eponymous novel which sold over one millon copies in France. The story follows an English businessman, played by American actor John Malkovich, who dreams of returning to live in the French chateau where he met his late wife. Upon arrival at the chateau, he is hired as a butler by the new owner, played by French actress Fanny Ardant. The film is currently in post-production, and has already been pre-sold across several E.U. territories. A long first look at the title will be presented to buyers who will likely become seduced by the hilarious mix of English and French comedy.

Pyramide

H Armed with the internationally successful title The Worst Ones from directors Lise Akoka and Romane Gueret, having already picked up buyers in the U.S. and China, two major markets, Pyramide also finds ones of its films present within the Berlinale Panorama Selection: Léa Fehner's Midwives, produced by Geko Films. Taking place in a maternity ward where two newly employed midwives confront the harsh realities of their profession, the film takes viewers through a variety of emotions, while also questioning the involvement of caregivers in the face of public hospitals often lacking in resources. Also on Pyramide’s slate is Lucie Borleteau’s newest feature film, My Sole Desire, starring Zita Hanrot and Louise Chevillotte and produced by Apsara Films, with sales already concluded in Austria and Germany. Taking place within a strip club, the film is nothing less than femme-forward, and questions the posiblity of finding love in such an unlikely place. After being presented during the Rotterdam International Film Festival, Alice Zeniter and Benoît Volnais’s Before We Collapse is being presented to buyers, with Niels Schneider and Ariane Labed in the leading roles. Furthermore, Pyramide is presenting the first feature film by director Eve Duchemin, Time Out, in co-production with Belgium’s Kwassa Films and France’s Les Films de l’autre cougar, the title was already presented during this year’s annual Unifrance Rendez-vous with sales having been inked for the Benelux region. The story follows three characters who get released from prison for just 48 hours, each of them deciding to use their few hours of freedom differently. Finally, the distribution company is unveiling the first images of Catherine Breillat’s new film, Last Summer, starring Léa Drucker and adapted from the Danish feature-film Queen of Hearts. Produced by Saïd Ben Saïd, the hot-button title has already been sold in several Scandinavian territories.

Nicolas Colle

H

On the ground at this year’s EFM, France TV Distribution are set to continue seeking out buyers for Audrey Dana’s comedy Men on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown. Also, the France TV team will be shining the spotlight

HEstablished in 1984, Wallonie Bruxelles Images (WBI) is the region’s official promotional arm for the audiovisual industry. Co-financed by France’s national film body, the CNC, and Wallonia-Brussels International, the region’s responsible authority for international relations, WBI benefits from a hefty budget, and an array of promotional tools at its disposal. As head of the promotional agency for the French-speaking Belgian audiovisual industry, Le Phuez is the go-to executive for all things Belgian cinema, and more. On-site at this year’s EFM, and with several Belgian titles throughout the various Berlinale selections, Le Phuez and the teams of Wallonie Bruxelles Images will be hard at work promoting the region’s hot-button titles and talents, with the hopes of demonstrating the region’s savoirfaire to the international audiovisual industry against the backdrop of the major market event. If you’re wondering about the process behind promoting the French-speaking region’s films, or are a producer looking to get your film promoted or supported, WBI is the agency to know, and Hervé Le Phuez is the man with the plan.

I understand Belgium is well represented across the various selections this year, and you have quite the line-up, can you speak on some of the hot-button titles that you have high market expectations for?

We have one title in the Generation 14Plus Selection, Zeno Graton’s The Lost Boys, it’s the director’s first feature film, produced by Belgium’s Tarantula Productions. We are looking forward to hearing the feedback on this one specifically because it’s a very exciting moment for a new director to share his first feature film. We also have a documentary in the Critics Week selection (parallel to the Berlinale), Dominique Loreau’s Such a Long Walk, and we also have two co-productions in competition, Giacomo Abbruzzese’s Disco Boy, within the official selection and coproduced by Panache Productions, as well as Patric Chiha’s The Beast in the Jungle, within the Panorama selection, co-produced by Frakas Productions. We are also in Berlin of course for the EFM, we have a booth there, we’ve got a lot of meetings set up especially with film festivals to discuss our line-up. We have a lot of fiction feature films this year, more than usual in fact, because shooting ramped up post-Covid.One of the titles that we’re super proud to present is the latest film from Joachim Lafosse, A Silence, produced by Stenola Productions and featuring Daniel Auteuil and Emmanuelle Devos, for which we have great expectations. Most notably, we have a lot of featurefilm directorial debuts. Among these first films, several came from the call