Screen AFM 2017 Day 4 by Media Business Insight

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Industry talks AFM future BY JEREMY KAY

The Wife

Picturehouse takes a Wife BY ANDREAS WISEMAN

Picturehouse Entertainment has finalised a deal at AFM with Embankment Films for UK rights to Glenn Close and Jonathan Pryce drama The Wife. Sony Pictures Classics picked up the film for North America following its well-received world premiere in Toronto. Directed by Björn Runge and adapted by Jane Anderson from Meg Wolitzer’s novel, Close stars as a woman who questions her life choices as her husband is slated to receive the Nobel Prize for Literature. Embankment has now sold out on the movie, with other deals revealed at AFM including France (TF1), Germany (SquareOne), Italy (Videa), Australia and New Zealand (Icon), Scandinavia (Svensk), Spain (Vertice), Benelux (Imagine), Latin America (Corazon), Japan (Shochiku), South Korea ( G re e n Na ra e ) a n d C h i n a (DDDream).

Lino party gets started Guido Rud’s Buenos Aires-based FilmSharks has closed key territories on Rafael Ribas’s Brazilian animation Lino 3D. Rights have gone in CIS (Big Film), South Korea (Hammer Pictures), Greece (Tanweer), Turkey (Sinema) and Vietnam (Skyline). Rud is in advanced talks to close a US deal and is close to announcing sales to Spain and Italy. Fox International holds Latin American rights. Jeremy Kay

Paramount’s standout $10m deal for Book Club yesterday offered a rare glimmer of hope at an AFM that has elicited more than the usual number of gripes and prompted some to speculate on the future of the market. Bloom and Endeavor Content’s grey-dollar comedy has been a big draw for those buyers who can afford it, along with Bloom’s The Front Runner starring Hugh Jackman. Rocket Science’s Nicole Kidman thriller Destroyer and Sierra/Affinity’s Julia Roberts vehicle Ben Is Back also drew buzz. Several observers remarked how the scarcity at markets of genuine star power, caused by the allure of TV, allowed agencies to drive up

the asking prices to unreasonable levels. This not only reinforces the economic divide in the independent space but hits distributors hard if the films flop. A splashy market buy has tremendous PR potential but that promise disintegrates months later if the release fails to perform. Valerian And The City Of A Thousand Planets and, more recently, Suburbicon — the big sale of Berlin 2016 — are cases in point. Markets allow for necessary face time and inevitably business gets done. Indeed, AFM notes that exhibitors are up 18% on last year, to 445 companies. But what many describe as a costly market has become an ordeal for smaller buyers faced with

Netflix and Amazon, as well as third-party sales agents bereft of must-have content. Insiders say the space needs markets to stand out. “We should evolve to something more akin to the May screenings in TV,” one senior executive said. “All the key foreign buyers show up in LA for a week and the bigger players entertain them on home turf.” A high-level US buyer who also wished to remain anonymous noted the lack of commercial titles beyond the aforementioned quartet. “AFM used to be the DVD market’s market but it’s slow now that sector has died,” the buyer said, adding that Cannes and Berlin remained attractive because the festival element triggered genuine enthusiasm about proven commodities.

Endeavor Content’s Alexis Garcia addresses yesterday’s AFM Finance Conference

Financiers face the challenges up-stream BY WENDY MITCHELL

“We’re seeing a challenge in the film space largely due to the streaming platforms — how do you get people to continue to go to theatres when there is so much available at home, of such high quality?” asked Alexis Garcia of Endeavor Content at the AFM Finance Conference yesterday. Adrian Alperovich of OddLot Entertainment said that “from a producer’s standpoint the proliferation of platforms is a good thing”, and he expects more fragmenta-

tion: “More content is created more specifically for specific audiences.” John Penotti of Sidney Kimmel Entertainment added: “With streaming platforms trying to buy worldwide rights, it’s a tricky place to be as a financier. As with any investor we want to hold some of that upside [for a breakout].” At a later session, producer Cassian Elwes praised “brave” Netflix for boarding Dee Rees’s Mudbound, not an easy sell as a period drama dealing with race relations. “Netflix was the only company that would

buy the movie from us, and I promise you they will get some Oscar nominations from this picture.” Jesse Sisgold, president/COO of David Ellison’s Skydance, said the company is “absolutely” a believer in the theatrical experience but it has to be worth it for the consumer. “Part of the sag in box office is that the audience is getting fatigued seeing the same things over and over,” he said, adding that Skydance is trying to innovate with its forthcoming Gemini Man directed by Ang Lee and starring Will Smith.

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Congo, page 12

NEWS Inferno heats up Free Dolphin closes deals on disaster pic Crystal Inferno » Page 7

FEATURE Real deal Screen visits the set of Marius Holst’s Congo, being sold at AFM by TrustNordisk » Page 12

High fliers Will Clarke and Andy Mayson of Altitude on their expansion plans » Page 8

SCREENINGS

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Nollywood states case for investment The Nigerian film industry’s current “lack of tools and training is a challenge, but it provides a fertile ground for growth”, said Jared Murray-Bruce of media group Silverbird, kicking off the Nigerian International Film Summit (NIFS) at AFM yesterday. “Demand is unquestionable, supply presents an opportunity. Now is the time to invest in Nollywood,” he said. Nigeria has a GDP of $500bn annually, with Nollywood representing 1.4% of that, or annual revenue of more than $7bn. The Nigerian government pledged $200m to boost the film industry back in 2010. Chijioke Uwaegbute from PwC estimated that 2,500 Nigerian films are made each year, but there is not enough infrastructure to maximise the potential of those films. The country has 32 cinemas (with 151 screens) to serve a population of 186 million. The highest grossing local film has been The Wedding Party, which earned about $1.5m. “That’s only from 30 cinemas. Think about what could happen if we had 1,000 cinemas. There’s huge opportunity,” he said. NIFS continues through Sunday and will also address production and distribution. Wendy Mitchell

NEWS

AFM BRIEFS Media Asia digs Bodies Media Asia has boarded Renny Harlin’s Chinese-language production Bodies At Rest as co-producer alongside Wanda Pictures. Media Asia will also handle international sales, excluding China.

Evolutionary thrills UK producer/distributor Evolutionary Films will launch horror thriller AUX in Showcase cinemas in the UK starting November 10. Thriller Vengeance will have its global premiere in New York on November 11. Evolutionary represents both titles at AFM.

Cast flies to Bird Swedish director William Olsson’s I Am Not A Bird has added Carice van Houten, Andrew Rothney, Kate Easton, Takehiro Hira and newcomer Elisabeth Larena to its cast. The dramatic thriller is sold by Endeavour Content. » Full stories on ScreenDaily.com

Macao touts new talent BY ORLANDO PARFITT

The Hong Kong/Macao premiere of Paddington 2 will open the second International Film Festival and Awards Macao (IFFAM, December 8-14). It marks the first year with Mike Goodridge, former Protagonist Pictures CEO, on board as artistic director. This year’s competition strand for first or second features has a $60,000 prize. The titles are: Beast by Michael Pearce, Custody by Xavier Legrand, Foxtrot by

Samuel Maoz, Wrath Of Silence by Xin Yukun, Borg/McEnroe by Janus Metz, Hunting Season by Natalia Garagiola, My Pure Land by Sarmad Masud, The Cakemaker by Ofir Raul Graizer, The Hungry by Bornila Chatterjee and Three Peaks by Jan Zabeil. The winner will be selected by a jury that includes Laurent Cantet, Joan Chen, Jessica Hausner, Lawrence Osborne and Royston Tan. The out-of-competition screenings include the Asian premiere of

Saul Dibb’s Journey’s End; Netflix original Okja, showing on the big screen for the first time in the region; and Pen-ek Ratanaruang’s Samui Song. A best of festivals strand will comprise 10 award-winning films including Call Me By Your Name, The Florida Project, Angels Wear White and Sweet Country. A special presentation of Bernardo Bertolucci’s The Last Emperor will mark the film’s 30th anniversary.

Lightning strikes for Freezer Los Angeles-based Saga Films has closed a deal with Lightning Entertainment for all China, Hong Kong and Macau rights excluding theatrical on Mikael Salomon’s thriller Freezer, starring Dylan McDermott; and Rob Sitch’s Australian rom-com Until She Came Along starring Rachael Taylor and Josh Lawson. Jeremy Kay

IFT goes back to school for And Then I Go

Darbo and Sawyer Barth also star IFT has come on board to handle in Vincent Grashaw’s high schoolinternational sales on the drama set tale from Brett Haley’s screenAnd Then I Go, starring Justin play based on Jim Shepard’s novel. Long and Melanie Lynskey, from And Then I Go centres on two the producers of It Follows. best friends who are bullied by the Tony Hale, Carrie Preston, Mel- other students and hatch a plan to onie Diaz and newcomers Arman take revenge. Laura D Smith and ScreenDaily - Half Page 218x150.qxp_Layout 1 23/10/17 11:28 Pagina 2 BY JEREMY KAY

Incontrol

Screening Sat 4th Nov 3:30 PM Theatre AMC Santa Monica - 2

And Then I Go

Rebecca Green (It Follows) served as producers and control US rights. “And Then I Go is an incredibly powerful and beautiful film that is well-crafted and loaded with brilliant performances,” said IFT head of international Todd Olsson.

Sight and Sound: “An increasingly paranoid sci-fi thriller!”

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4 Screen International at AFM November 4, 2017

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M A R K E T P R E M I E R E S AT U R DAY N OV E M B E R 4 T H 11 A M A RC L I G H T 11

MUCH OF WHAT’S HERE IS “ INSPIRED GOOFINESS, MIXING THE GENIALLY RUDE WITH PLENTY OF MOCKERY ”

AN ALCOHOLIC DAREDEVIL “ BECOMES AN UNLIKELY NATIONAL HERO IN THIS CHEERFULLY CRASS DUTCH COMEDY! ”

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NEWS

KFD secures Vision for China BY ANDREAS WISEMAN

Crystal Inferno

Buyers heat up Crystal Inferno BY ANDREAS WISEMAN

French sales outfit Free Dolphin International has struck a number of deals on completed actionadventure Crystal Inferno, starring Claire Forlani, Jamie Bamber, Riley Jackson and Isaac Rouse. Deals have closed in France (TF1 Group), Belgium (RTBF), Spain (Selecta Vision), Japan (Fine Films), Turkey (Kanal D), Middle East (Phoenicia Pictures),

South Korea (With Lion), Bulgaria (BTV) and Portugal (Cinemundo). Eric Summer (Leap!) directs the disaster story about two teenagers who are caught in a fire on the 20th floor of a skyscraper. The English-language France-Belgium production is produced by Jeffrey Beach, Fiorenza Cella and Phillip J Roth, and written by Regina Luvitt and Roth.

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Kaleidoscope Film Distribution (KFD) has secured Chinese distribution deals on animations The Land Of Sometimes, SpaceDog And TurboCat and Little Princess And The Legend Of Bluefoot with Vision Film Entertainment (HK), which will release in collaboration with Beijing Tenray Culture Media of China. The deal was negotiated by Kaleidoscope senior sales executive Daniel Cooper and Vision Film Entertainment investment director Ricky Qi.

The three titles are set to deliver in the second quarter of 2019 with voice talent for The Land Of Sometimes featuring Ewan McGregor and Helena Bonham Carter, and Bill Nighy and Gemma Arterton in key voice roles for SpaceDog And TurboCat. Little Princess comes from the team behind On Angel Wings and The Snowman. Cooper said: “We are incredibly excited to be working with our new partner Vision Films Entertainment.”

AFM BRIEFS Bold makes Foxy move Bold Films will produce and finance its first animated film, Foxy Trotter. Chris Prynoski will direct, and Natalie Portman will produce and join the voice cast. Wild Bunch handles sales at AFM.

Shelton makes Escape Gold Star Films and Signature Films have confirmed Ron Shelton will direct Escape Artist, based on the story of Ed ‘Hacksaw’ Jones, who slipped custody 14 times.

Saban, Mongrel strike Canada pact BY JEREMY KAY

Saban Films has partnered with Toronto-based Mongrel Media to release its 2018 North American films in Canada. The slate includes Roland Joffe’s The Forgiven starring Forest Whitaker and Eric Bana; Alexandros

Avranas’s True Crimes with Jim Carrey; and Eshom Nelms and Ian Nelms’ Small Town Crime starring John Hawkes and Octavia Spencer. Saban Films has distributed 30 films in the US since launching in 2014 and is scheduled to release a further 22 through 2018. Upcom-

ing films include Ethan Hawke action thriller 24 Hours To Live and Hangman with Al Pacino. “We have developed a close partnership with Mongrel over the past couple years... delivering strong numbers across the board,” said Saban Films’ Bill Bromiley.

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EXECUTIVE FOCUS PAUL HANSON, COVERT MEDIA Covert Media ventured into fully financing and producing features with the upcoming drama Ophelia, a reimagining of Shakespeare’s Hamlet starring Daisy Ridley, Naomi Watts and Clive Owen. CEO Paul Hanson discusses the project, which enjoyed a strong response to footage unveiled in Toronto, and addresses what international buyers need to do to stay relevant and why theatrical still matters.

or worse, it’s not associated with a festival and feels more commercial.

What’s the latest on Ophelia? We’re on schedule to finish by the end of the calendar year. Our expectation is to get a sense of where we are domestically in the first quarter [of 2018] because we will probably be attending a festival in the first quarter. It’s compelling, worthy theatrical storytelling. There are a few territories left and we’re in the midst of negotiations.

Netflix took for the world. The Secret will be the next one [we fully finance and produce] and we have maybe a couple more next year.

TV advertising is down, VoD has not filled the gap left by DVD and the streaming titans have the deep pockets to take worldwide rights off the table. How do traditional buyers compete? It’s easier said than done and it’s different in each territory but at the end of the day the theatrical window isn’t going away — there’s still a lot of vibrancy and value to it. We need to be smart about what we pick and programme, and budget appropriately, and frankly people are going to have to take risks. A lot of us [in the sales space] have taken risk and some of these distributors are going to have to take more [risk]. We want to do this together because when it works, everyone succeeds.

Covert financed and produced Ophelia. What’s next in this realm? Ophelia was the first film where we were the soup-to-nuts company. We had previously arranged the debt on Naked, which

What’s the value of attending AFM? It’s the big fourth-quarter market. Because so much of the industry is based here, it increases attendance and it’s not quite as expensive as Cannes. For better

What kind of risk? The nature of the deal-making may evolve so that they get more creative, [which means] we’re all bearing some financial risk. That could be some combi-

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Paul Hanson

nation of working on projects that might be a little more left of centre and creatively ambitious, which is what could drive theatrical exhibition to give people the feeling they need to go to the cinema. Sequels aren’t resonating at the box office. As a corollary to that, creative risk can involve filmmakers, actors and actresses who are not well known. A huge star is no longer predictive of success. We should be on the look-out for the next wave of talent. How is Covert’s TV business growing? The history of the company and me personally is very much rooted in features but there’s so much crossover and so many great TV shows it would be foolish not to engage. We’re starting mostly in unscripted, which is a lower-cost, lowerrisk world. We’re exploring scripts and have optioned some material and might have some announcements in the coming months. It’s an area we view as strategic that has value [for us] based on our experience and relationships. Jeremy Kay

11/2/17 10:18 AM

November 4, 2017 Screen International at AFM 7

ill Clarke’s decision to exit Studiocanal in June 2010, four years after the French studio had acquired Optimum — the UK distribution company he set up in 1999 — took many in the industry by surprise. After all, he ran a distribution operation that was the envy of the UK sector, giving him an executive producer role on award-winning UK titles including This Is England, Four Lions and Tyrannosaur. Not yet in his forties, it seemed a little early to be thinking about retirement. Clarke’s return to the fray with the launch of Altitude in 2012 was hardly unexpected. The only surprise was that this new company was limiting itself to areas less associated with the executive: production, finance and sales. “I didn’t want it to be just, ‘Will equals distribution’,” explains Clarke, sitting with business partner Andy Mayson — former Exclusive Media managing director — in Altitude’s offices just off London’s Carnaby Street. “For us it was to set our stall out from the beginning as a productionsales outfit, and expand into distribution later on.”

Levelling up Clarke, chairman and co-CEO of Altitude, and Mayson, co-CEO, are talking to Screen about their five years in business together, as well as giving details about what Clarke dubs “Altitude 2.0”. The pair launched the company with Mike Runagall, who was lured away from Pathé’s sales division to head up Altitude Film Sales. Distribution was added to the mix in October 2013 when Hamish Moseley, then head of theatrical at Momentum Pictures, became available thanks to eOne’s acquisition of that company. While Altitude Film Distribution proved its mettle early on with Asif Kapadia’s Amy, which grossed $5m (£3.8m) at UK cinemas, a string of its own productions were sold to other UK distributors, including The Girl With All The Gifts to Warner Bros and 47 Meters Down to eOne. “47 Meters Down, we weren’t ready. Kill Your Friends, same story, we sold to Studiocanal,” says Clarke. “I would have loved to have released The Girl With All The Gifts. At that particular point, there was a requirement for a bigger minimum guarantee two years ago. We just weren’t ready to take that level of risk.” Now, with Altitude’s distribution division having proved its spurs not just with Amy but also My Scientology Movie, Moonlight, The Eagle Huntress and Lady Macbeth, Clarke is ready to leverage up on risk and retain UK rights on most of its own productions. That will be true for animation Mary And The Witch’s Flower, from Japanese animation house Studio Ponoc,

Darren Brade

SPOTLIGHT ALTITUDE FILM ENTERTAINMENT

(From left) Will Clarke and Andy Mayson

The high life Launched as a sales and production player but now firing on all cylinders as a vertically integrated company that distributes its own films, Altitude has come of age in its fifth year. Charles Gant talks to co-CEOs Will Clarke and Andy Mayson ‘If a buyer buys our film, they know we have skin in the game. We’re going to make damn sure these films work’ Will Clarke, Altitude

and for the film version of hit BBC series Horrible Histories. UK distribution rights are yet to be assigned for Guns Akimbo, starring Daniel Radcliffe. For Clarke, the vertical integration of production, sales and distribution not only makes logical sense, it gives Altitude more credibility in the sales space. “If a buyer buys our film, they know that we have skin in the game, they know that we are taking significant risk against the (Right) Mary And The Witch’s Flower, an original production that Altitude will also

8 Screen International at AFM November 4, 2017

UK, and if it doesn’t work, we’re going to suffer,” he says. “So we’re going to make damn sure that these films work.” At AFM, Altitude is presenting the first market screenings of two titles: cat-andmouse thriller 10x10, from producerwriter Noel Clarke and director Suzi Ewing, starring Luke Evans and Kelly Reilly; and high-concept comedy Dead In A Week (Or Your Money Back), the feature debut of Tom Edmunds, starring Aneurin Barnard, Freya Mavor and Tom Wilkinson. It is introducing documentary The Mystery Of DB Cooper, directed by My Scientology Movie’s John Dower. First footage of the recently wrapped gothic coming-of-age love story Carmilla, starring Jessica Raine and Tobias Menzies, will be shown to buyers. It is also selling Ghost Stories, starring Martin Freeman and Alex Lawther, which IFC recently acquired for the US; and the Lili Fini Zanuck-directed doc Eric Clapton: Life In Bars which pre12 Bars, miered at Toronto.

ALTITUDE FILM ENTERTAINMENT THE FIRST FIVE YEARS Launched Altitude Film Entertainment and Altitude Film Sales, May 2012 Altitude Film Distribution, October 2013 UK box ofﬁce 2014: $545,000 (£413,000) 2015: $6.1m (£4.62m) 2016: $2.8m (£2.13m) 2017: $8.7m (£6.6m) to October 19 Productions/sales titles 40 Theatrical releases to date 34 Oscars 5

Says Mayson regarding Altitude’s approach to sales: “Of the films we’ve taken to market, most of them have got made. I’d say well over 90%. And because of that, distributors trust us. Some companies, they take it to market, see how it sells, and then try to finance it on the back of that. In a world of scarce resources, the last thing distributors want to do is com-

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‘I’ve always wanted to do something like this, but I’ve never been able to find a partner I would be comfortable with’ Andy Mayson, Altitude

mit to buy a film for next year’s slate and then the film doesn’t deliver, and they’ve lost an opportunity and have to buy something at the 11th hour.” Adds Clarke: “Buyers have said to us, ‘We know these films are going to get made.’ That’s why they keep coming back. They know there’s going to be a quality threshold to them. And they know there’s going to be a marketability as well.” Meanwhile, distribution is also expanding through acquisitions. “I think our slate over the next 12 to 18 months illustrates the point that you can find wonderful films in the marketplace,” says Clarke. “I’m looking for something different. I’m looking for something that moves me, that I know there’s a strong marketing hook. And I know that I’ve got a base, a safe audience segment, that I can build out. It’s what I did at Optimum.” One new acquisition for distribution is Michael Pearce’s Beast, a Jersey-set thriller starring Screen Star of Tomorrow Jessie Buckley and Johnny Flynn. Clarke comments: “I think the youth audience in the UK is under-served by British films. With Lady Macbeth we got an 18-plus audience in to see that film. We want to concentrate on that particular audience, not exclusively in terms of our slate, but we feel there are opportunities.” Altitude 2.0 Altitude has no financial backers, says Clarke — apart from himself, that is, investing some of the war chest acquired after selling Optimum to Studiocanal. However, he explains, “My investment stopped a few years ago. It’s very healthy. The expansion is being funded from the balance sheet. We’re trading profitably, and when you’re on a sound footing, then you can expand. In the last five years, within one of the most challenging environments in film that I’ve known, we’ve done actually better than we thought when we set out. We can now accelerate the growth of the company. Not only expansion of the current operation, but also expansions into other areas.” Those other areas include television, and Clarke acknowledges he will be building on the current staff of 20 to achieve that goal. He explains that “2.0 is basically recalibrating the company as a media company”, but is not yet ready to discuss further. “I’ve been working on it

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for about a year,” he says. “There will be more to say in the coming months, but it’s a big step for us.” Perhaps pertinently, Clarke is already director of a videogames company, Ripstone, which he set up in 2011, in between exiting Studiocanal and launching Altitude. It was Mayson who planted the seed for the partnership with Clarke. “I’d said 10 years ago, ‘If you’re ever thinking of doing something again on your own, I’d be interested,’” Mayson says. “Throughout my very long career, I’ve always wanted to do something like this, but I’ve never been able to find a partner that I would be comfortable with.” The timing was right, since Mayson had just left Exclusive, turning down a move to Los Angeles. The pair then approached Runagall, who “said yes straight away”, notes Clarke. Ellie Gibbons, who was an early staff hire as an assistant, now serves as acquisitions and development manager (Screen named her a Future Leader in Sales & Acquisitions earlier this year). Bradley Quirk joined from Pathé to work in development. Mayson points out that in Altitude’s brief lifespan — even less as a distribution company — it has already distributed films that have collectively won five Oscars: three for Moonlight, and one apiece for Amy and 20 Feet From Stardom. The company is also proud to have secured 10 nominations in this year’s Screen Awards, including distributor of the year. Unusually for a private company, Altitude is willing to talk financials with Screen. Turnover for the year ended March 31, 2016 was $20.8m (£15m), while the operating profit for the Altitude Group was $407,000 (£308,000). Accounts are in the final stage of audit for the following year, with Mayson saying profits have “almost doubled”. He adds, “For 2018, based on identified projects, we expect the growth rate to continue with operating profits comfortably exceeding £1m.” By retaining UK distribution rights on its own productions, rather than offloading the risk, Altitude is betting big on its own taste and judgment, but Clarke insists the risk remains managed. “I’ve always had a sense of deep responsibility to the staff within the company,” he says. “You are playing with their futures. I didn’t do it at Optimum, and I’m not planning to do it here. Yes, it’s an entrepreneurial way of looking at our business, which is a managed growth and then an expansion of the managed growth again. We’ve all learnt a lot over the past five years. We’ve got the collective experience of a big company in a small operation. The individuals involved have been in this industry for s quite a long time.” n

ALTITUDE AFM SALES TITLES

10x10

Dead In A Week (Or Your Money Back)

Eric Clapton: Life In 12 Bars

Ghost Stories

November 4, 2017 Screen International at AFM 9

SPOTLIGHT SF STUDIOS

Borg/McEnroe spearheaded SF Studios’ focus on projects that travel internationally

‘We feel we have a lot of interesting IP coming out of the Nordics’ Michael Porseryd, SF Studios

Global warming After sellout sales on Borg/McEnroe, Swedish outfit SF Studios is planning an ambitious slate of English-language films without forsaking its Nordic heritage. Wendy Mitchell reports on the company’s new direction

ack in the 1920s, Swedish studio Svensk Filmindustri was known for making silent films that were global hits, such as The Phantom Carriage (1921), Haxan (1922) and The Saga Of Gosta Berling (1924). Now, in 2017, the company — under new moniker SF Studios — is again aspiring to make global hits, moving into more English-language projects without abandoning its Scandinavian roots. CEO Michael Porseryd explains: “We feel we have a lot of interesting IP coming out of the Nordics and all the talents, both behind and in front of the camera, that are working internationally.” This revamped strategy started in part with Borg/McEnroe, an $8m film, partly in the English language and made not just for the local audience. The picture opened Toronto this year and has been sold to more than 150 countries by SF Studios’ world sales arm SF International. SF Studios’ SVP of international production Fredrik Wikstrom Nicastro describes Borg/McEnroe as “both a Scandinavian blockbuster and an international film that can stand on its own two legs”. While Borg/McEnroe was financed in the traditional Scandinavian way, drawing on funding from the national film institutes of Sweden, Denmark and Fin-

‘The Englishlanguage films will be audienceoriented and will not rely on film institute support’ Fredrik Wikstrom Nicastro, SF Studios

land, as well as the Nordisk Film & TV Fond, some of the upcoming projects are more likely to be financed without government funding. “These English-language films will be audience-oriented and will not rely on film institute support to be made,” says Nicastro. “In that sense we will compete with production companies like Working Title or EuropaCorp.” A co-financing pact with Anton Corp was unveiled in January. The two big English-language titles A remake of A Man Called Ove (right) is set to star Tom Hanks

10 Screen International at AFM November 4, 2017

being prepared to shoot in 2018 are Horizon Line, an original thriller written by 10 Cloverfield Lane scribes Josh Campbell and Matt Stuecken, with a director soon to be announced and slated to shoot in Ireland and the Caribbean; and I Am Victor, a thriller about a lawyer accused of a series of brutal murders, adapted by Neal Purvis and Robert Wade from an as-yetpublished Jo Nesbo novel. I Am Victor will be directed by Iceland’s Baltasar Kormakur and shoot in London. Nordic attitude While not every project will need to have a Nordic connection, naturally most will. “That is our USP and makes us unique,” Nicastro says. The company’s Swedish-language hit and 2017 Oscar nominee A Man Called Ove is now being set up as an English-language remake with Tom Hanks’ Playtone. The plan is to shoot in 2019 with Hanks in the role of the famously grumpy Ove. “We have partnered with Hanks and Playtone after turning

down offers from studios who just wanted to buy the rights,” Nicastro explains. “We are taking a much more active role in the remake.” These new strategies reflect changes in recent years, including the company’s rebranding in May 2016 from Svensk Filmindustri to SF Studios. After the departure of controversial CEO Jonas Fors in June 2016, Endemol Nordics and Metronome veteran Porseryd was appointed CEO in late 2016. The company, which is part of Nordic media giant Bonnier, works across production and distribution in Scandinavia. In addition to its Stockholm headquarters, there are offices in Oslo, Copenhagen and Helsinki. SF Studios has recently launched a UK satellite office, led by Kate Myers, which will find and develop English-language projects. “We make lots of local decisions,” says Porseryd. “We need to be local to be close to the audiences and local partners.” Porseryd also confirms that smaller local-language films — still with a commercial angle — will not be abandoned. “In the Nordic territories, we plan to make more films,” he says. “We’re not giving up the local production.” Local productions on the slate include the third film in the Bamse family film franchise; an adaptation of Ove author Fredrik Backman’s comedy drama Britt-Marie Was Here, directed by Tuva Novotny; Daniel Espinosa’s historical drama The Emigrants; and Espen Sandberg’s explorer adventure story Amundsen. SF Studios also works in TV production, already producing local hits such as Seaside Hotel in Denmark and Alex, The Lawyer and The Hunters in Sweden. After the push into English-language features, English-language TV series will follow. “The talent is moving between TV and film — it feels natural,” says Porseryd. The company’s cinema business was “spun off many years ago” but SF Studios does still deal directly with customers on its two digital platforms, SF Anytime and SF Kids Play. In 2019, SF Studios will celebrate its centenary and Porseryd says the timing could not be better: “It’s going to be nice for us when this international slate is happening that we will also celebrate the 100-year anniversary. It used to be a worldwide film production company and now we want s to get back to that.” ■

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David Bloomer © Friland

PRODUCTION FOCUS CONGO

(From left) Tobias Santelmann and Aksel Hennie as Tjostolv Moland and Joshua French

Art of

darkness Marius Holst’s Congo is based on the controversial true story of two Norwegians who were imprisoned for murder in the titular African country. Wendy Mitchell visits the South Africa set

t’s sunny outside, but dark in a ‘bush pub’ near Cape Town, South Africa — the scene is set with flashing Christmas lights, crates of Ugandan beer, a dozen stray dogs wandering around and hippies playing guitar outside — and at the barstools people are arguing about the complexities of Central African politics. The pub is real, the beer is fake and the conversation is scripted — the film team behind Congo is using this location to double for a bar in Kampala, Uganda, where in early 2009 Norwegians Joshua French and Tjostolv Moland were plotting their next move, into the Democratic Republic of Congo

(DRC). That would prove to be a big mistake. French and Moland are now household names in Norway. The two former soldiers were sentenced to death by a military tribunal in eastern DRC after the death of their hired driver in May 2009. They always denied killing 47-year-old Abedi Kasongo, saying they were ambushed by gunmen. When director Marius Holst was approached about making a narrative film centred on French and Moland, he confesses: “I was sort of hesitant at first. Are these characters you want to spend years of your life with?” Ultimately, he decided the film could be compelling

12 Screen International at AFM November 4, 2017

because of “the challenge to find the humanity behind these headlines”. “We’re not playing them to be freaks as they were painted in some parts of the press,” the Norwegian filmmaker continues. “We tried to make them human. They are humans who make mistakes.” Trials and errors The case has been headline news in Norway (and beyond — French is also a British national) since 2009. That’s when producer Christian Fredrik (aka ‘Kifrik’) Martin of Oslo-based Friland (Headhunters, Pioneer) decided the story would make a fascinating narrative feature. Martin had originally optioned a nonfiction book (Morten Stroksnes’ A Murder In Congo) about the pair’s ordeal; French and Moland heard about the film project and wanted to present their side of the story to Martin and screenwriter Nikolaj Frobenius. The filmmakers went to DRC in late 2011 to meet with French and Moland in prison and hear their account. “That started a two-year dialogue between them and the film team,” Martin remembers. They made three separate trips to interview the pair. Moland died in prison in August 2013; investigators ruled his death a suicide (his mental health had been in evident decline through years of the trials and imprisonment as he suffered from cerebral malaria) but nevertheless French was later charged with his murder.

‘We tried to make them human. They are humans who make mistakes’ Marius Holst, director

When Moland died, the filmmakers thought the project might have to be scrapped. But, says Holst, “Then we started thinking, ‘Now it’s a different kind of story, but maybe now it’s even more powerful and important to tell.’” The two outsiders had met in the Norwegian Armed Forces, but were both kicked out. While living in Uganda in early 2009, they made the unexpected, and perhaps foolish, decision to go into DRC because they said they were researching various business opportunities; some locals had suggested instead that they were mercenaries for hire. Their case was complicated because they were wearing military IDs when they were captured after the driver’s death. Espionage was one of the charges against them. “It is a story of two men,” says Holst, an alumnus of London Film School. “It’s the story of a strange friendship, and trying to fit in somewhere else. Trying to find an identity and self-image.” Holst sees similarities with themes in

www.screendaily.com

David Bloomer © Friland

‘The people in this story are fascinating from all aspects’

FACTFILE CONGO ■ Budget

$7m

■ Producers Christian Fredrik Martin

and Asle Vatn for Friland

■ Co-producers Nordisk Film, Pandora

Film Produktion, Nimbus Film, Garageﬁlm International and Film i Väst

Aksel Hennie, actor

■ South African producer Marlow de

Mardt, DO Productions

his 2010 feature King Of Devil’s Island — young men in captivity — although this story is “more complex. We are not portraying them as heroes or victims.” Actor Aksel Hennie (Headhunters), who plays French, observes: “This can’t just be a movie about, ‘Did they do it or did they not?’ The more interesting thing is that they could have done it. What drives a human being into a situation where it would even be possible? Who are these guys who got into this situation?” Co-star Tobias Santelmann (KonTiki), who plays Moland, agrees: “It’s about the friendship and who these two people were for each other and as individuals.” Finding that humanity was crucial to the actors stepping up to take on these complex lead roles. In their earlier friendship, Moland was the alpha male who had more experience in Africa; by the time of the trial and imprisonment, when Moland was suffering from cerebral malaria, their roles had reversed. Both actors prepared rigorously for the film. As Holst says: “The actors are really committed deeply to their parts. They’ve done so much research, it’s beyond the call of duty.” Like everybody on set, Hennie has his own theories as to what happened on that fateful night, but he wanted to present French as a more rounded character. “I’m not interested in judging when I’m working on a character. I wanted to see what his mindset was,” Hennie, who sees “so many levels” to the story, says. “The people in this story are fascinating from all aspects,” he adds. “I’ve never done this much research for a role.” Santelmann relishes taking on such a complex part, but recognises the moral issues behind the film. “It’s an ethical dilemma to be enjoying work on this fascinating project. I can shoot a scene in prison, but [Moland] couldn’t get out of it. He went through this in reality,” he says on a long shooting day. The pair of actors keep delving into their characters even after each day’s shooting wraps. Sometimes they send suggestions for the next day’s shoot to their director. “They will send me emails at 2am with new ideas,” Holst says. The research was not limited to

www.screendaily.com

■ Financiers Norwegian Film Institute,

Eurimages, Nordisk Film & TV Fond, Danish Film Institute, Swedish Film Institute, MEDIA

■ Sales TrustNordisk (ﬁrst footage of

Congo features in its AFM promo reel)

Marius Holst (centre) on the set of Congo

■ Distributor Nordisk (Scandinavia)

(From left) Santelmann, Hennie and Patrick Madise as driver Abedi Kasongo

French and Moland’s side of the story; the team also conducted extensive research with journalists who had covered the case, and with the driver’s widow and other witnesses and experts in DRC. Historical context The history of white oppression in Central Africa is an important backdrop to the story of these two interlopers. DRC itself provides a rich backdrop, as it has been a place of cultural and political tensions dating back to the days of Joseph Conrad’s 1899 novel Heart Of Darkness. Contemporary DRC has political unrest, corruption and corporate greed. “There are a few scenes that touch on the white man’s burden, with the colonial oppression and violent history,” Holst explains. Hennie agrees it is a story “bigger than these two guys” and he read up on the history of Central Africa, including books such as Adam Hochschild’s King Leopold’s Ghost. He adds that they have had to use some artistic licence in presenting the complicated friendship of these two

men. “You can use your imagination in the end. It can never be the full truth, it’s a film. We can’t know how they moved and how they talked behind closed doors.” In addition to dealing with such complex themes, logistics were also challenging. Despite working on the project for nearly eight years, it was only safe for Friland to announce the film in May 2017, when French was released for humanitarian reasons and sent home to Norway for medical treatment. To reveal the film plans sooner “could have jeopardised his release,” Martin explains. Filming in DRC would not have been feasible, although the team did research there. South Africa lured the shoot thanks in part to its renowned services and infrastructure and, of course, the country’s 20% tax incentive. Holst, who has filmed many commercials in South Africa before, plans shoots well in advance but is also open to possibilities that emerge on set. Martin says Holst is “one of the most creatively adaptable people” and is “very open to try things on the spot as time allows… He

wants to keep his options open in the editing room.” Santelmann agrees that Holst gives him a lot of trust and freedom as an actor. “We can do the scene as written but then let the camera keep rolling and do something more intuitive,” he says. The film had a budget of about $7m for its 43 shooting days. “The film is big by Norwegian standards,” says Martin. “It’s incredible what we can get out of that $7m down here. It’s been a good experience to shoot here.” Shooting in South Africa meant a crew of up to 150 people, much larger than they would have used back in Europe. But the tax break, lower costs and longer, 12-hour shooting days made it affordable. “A few heads of department were brought in from Europe but most of the crew was from South Africa,” Martin says. The South African partner was DO Productions, headed by Marlow de Mardt, who has worked on films such as Kristian Levring’s The Salvation. While in Cape Town, the production was based at a juvenile detention centre in the Ottery neighbourhood, where the crew built sets of a DRC prison and courtrooms. The bush pub on a farm near Cape Town doubled for a backpacker bar in Kampala; the jungle scenes were shot in Richards Bay and scenes of life in Kampala, the borders and Kisangani were shot in Durban and its surroundings. Filming at night in a jungle is never easy, but this was crucial because the sequence depicting the driver being shot had to be very carefully orchestrated. Holst says that scene is the film’s most pre-planned, with lots of storyboards. Another challenging scene was a courtroom sequence featuring 250 extras, which almost escalated into a riot as some of those extras started talking politics in the stands as they waited. As Holst says: “It’s the most complex shoot I’ve done in s terms of the material and the stakes.” ■

November 4, 2017 Screen International at AFM 13

AFM IN PICTURES AMERICAS RECEPTION

A celebration of ﬁlming

in the Americas

Where Jimmy’s Famous American Tavern, Santa Monica When November 2, 2017 Who Panama Film Commission, St Petersburg/Clearwater Film Commission and Screen International Why Networking event promoting Panama and St Petersburg/Clearwater

14 Screen International at AFM November 4, 2017

www.screendaily.com

Tony Armer St Petersburg/Clearwater Film Commission Susan Simms Florida Ofﬁce of Film & Entertainment

AnelM oreno, Gabriel Padilla, Arturo Montenegro, Essie Mastellari, Jorge Ameer, Cesar Garrido, Frank Spano Panamanian delegates

Tim Grohne Carnaby International Bonnie Voland Global Road

Gabriel Padilla Panama Film Commission, Linda Nelson Indie Rights

CarlosG allardo actor Chee Keong Cheung Intense Productions

JakeR iley-Hunte Bankside Films Asia Muci Goldcrest Films

Stephen Kelliher Bankside Films Susan Wendt TrustNordisk Silje Nikoline Glimsdal TrustNordisk Nicolai Korsgaard TrustNordisk

JamesF ler Raven Banner Entertainment Michaelangelo Masangkay Raven Banner Entertainment Derek Lui LevelK

Daniel Goroshko A-One Films Rodolphe Sanzé The Project

10 Daniel Bort Fantawild Animation Essie Mastellari Panama Film Commission 11 Lawrence Atkinson DDA Gudrun Giddings G4C Innovation

in partnership with

Panama has a diverse range of landscapes, both urban and natural, ideal for a wide range of productions to suit any budget. With the fastest growing economy in Central America, Panama is an exciting place to do business and is a popular destination for international productions. Seven Panamanian filmmakers are attending AFM with projects available for international sales and distribution rights. Contact panamafilmcommission.com

gpadilla@mici.gob.pa

Every year more than 200 projects shot in St Petersburg/Clearwater, Florida. With no state film incentive, the film commission is focusing on ‘Moonlight effect’ projects (films with a budget of $2m or less). Using a local cash incentive programme of 10%-20% the film commission has attracted studio features, such as Tim Burton’s Miss Peregrine’s Home For Peculiar Children, independent features and more.

13 11

www.screendaily.com

Contact filmspc.com

tony@filmspc.com

November 4, 2017 Screen International at AFM 15

David Buchan

GUEST LIST

SCREENINGS Edited by Paul Lindsell

paullindsell@gmail.com

AFM THEATRES AMC SANTA MONICA 1310 3rd Street Promenade, at Arizona Avenue

OCEAN SCREENING ROOM 1401 Ocean Avenue, at Santa Monica Boulevard

ARCLIGHT SANTA MONICA Santa Monica Place, level 3

AFM SCREENINGS ON DEMAND Loews Hotel, room 334

BROADWAY CINEPLEX 1441 3rd Street Promenade, just north of Broadway LAEMMLE’S MONICA FILM CENTER 1332 2nd Street

MARKET 09:00 AMANT DOUBLE

Thriller. 110mins. Dir: Francois Ozon. Scr: Francois Ozon. Cast: Marine Vacth, Jeremie Renier, Jacqueline Bisset. Playtime. Chloe, a fragile young woman, falls in love with her psychoanalyst, Paul. A few months later she moves in with him but soon discovers that her lover is concealing a part of his identity. AMC SM 1

ANCHORS UP

Animation, family. 75mins. Dir: Simen Alsvik, William John Ashurst. Scr: Simen Alsvik, Karsten Fullu. Cast: Animation. Sola Media. During a storm, Elias gets an emergency call from neighbouring city Big Harbor, asking him to rescue a ship in trouble. Elias succeeds and is headhunted to work at Big Harbor, leaving his friends behind. Life at Big Harbor turns out to be harder than expected when Elias has a run-in with a local gang and he soon finds out that what he needs most is the help of his old friends. ArcLight 5

THE BOOKSHOP

Drama. 113mins. Dir: Isabel Coixet. Scr: Isabel Coixet. Cast: Emily Mortimer, Bill Nighy, Patricia Clarkson. Celsius Entertainment. Set in a small English town in 1959: a woman decides, against polite but ruthless local opposition, to open a bookshop, a decision that becomes a political minefield. AMC SM 5

THE CASE FOR CHRIST

Drama. 123mins. Dir: Jonathan M Gunn. Scr: Brian Bird. Cast: Mike Vogel, Erika Christensen, Faye Dunaway, Robert Forster, Frankie Faison. Pure Flix/Quality Flix. When an atheist reporter for the ‘Chicago Tribune’ learns his wife has become born again, he sets out to prove Christianity is a cult by interviewing leading apologists, only to discover the truth for himself. AMC SM 4

HOSTILE

Horror, suspense, thriller. 84mins. Dir: Mathieu Turi. Scr: Mathieu Turi. Cast: Gregory Fitoussi, Brittany Ashworth, Javier Botet, Jay Benedict. All Rights Entertainment. Only a few thousand have

16 Screen International at AFM November 4, 2017

09:00 OCCUPATION

Action/adventure, sci-fi. 120mins. Dir: Luke Sparke. Scr: Luke Sparke. Cast: Temuera Morrison, Dan Ewing, Rhiannon Fish, Bruce Spence. Film Mode Entertainment. A small group of

town residents have to band together after a devastating intergalactic ground invasion. As they struggle to survive, they realise they must stay one step ahead of their attackers and work together for a chance to strike back. Laemmle 4

of his girlfriend. Samuel has been suffering from a recurring nightmare in which a woman is brutally murdered in a strange ritual. Suddenly, the same woman who appears every night in his dreams is found dead in exactly the same circumstances. Samuel sneaks into the crime scene and there he meets Rachel, who has also dreamed about the murder. Together, they will do whatever they can to discover the identity of the mystery woman, entering a terrifying world controlled by the figures who have inspired artists throughout time: the Muses. Laemmle 1

survived a worldwide epidemic but they are not alone: they have to hide from strange creatures that go hunting at night. One afternoon, Juliette wakes up upside down, stuck in her car with a broken leg, in the middle of the desert. Soon, something’s coming. ArcLight 11

MALICIOUS

Horror. 95mins. Dir: Michael Winnick. Scr: Michael Winnick. Cast: Josh Stewart, Bojana Novakovic, Melissa Bolona, Delroy Lindo. AMP International. Adam, a young college professor, and his pregnant wife Lisa open an antique box when moving into their new home. After an unexpected tragedy befalls them, Lisa starts being plagued by visions and hauntings that convince her there is something evil in the

house. Adam is convinced she must be having a nervous breakdown. It is only when Adam calls upon Dr Clark, a professor of parapsychology at the university, that the true horror of what they have let out becomes clear: the opening of the box has unleashed a malevolent entity that will stop at nothing until it satisfies its murderous intentions. ArcLight 3

MUSE

Supernatural thriller. 105mins. Dir: Jaume Balaguero. Scr: Jaume Balaguero, Fernando Navarro. Cast: Elliot Cowan, Franka Potente, Ana Ularu, Joanne Whalley, Christopher Lloyd. Filmax International. Samuel Salomon, a literature professor, has been off work for almost a year after the tragic death

OCCUPATION See box, above

THE SAMURAI IN AUTUMN

Family, martial arts. 88mins. Dir: Danilo Beckovic. Scr: Dimitrije Vojnov. Cast: Petar Strugar, Hristina Popovic. Wide. The story of a karate champion who falls from grace and finds redemption by falling in love with a single mother whose son participates in his karate class. He secretly enters the underground MMA fighting circuit and risks losing it all. Laemmle 3

» Screening times and venues are correct at time of press but subject to alteration. For late changes visit thefilmcatalogue.com

heartwarming story of friendship and selfdiscovery, set in stunning French countryside in the 1930s. AMC SM 3

SEE YOU UP THERE

Drama, historical. 118mins. Dir: Albert Dupontel. Scr: Albert Dupontel, Pierre Lemaitre. Cast: Nahuel Perez Biscayart, Albert Dupontel, Laurent Lafitte, Emilie Dequenne, Melanie Thierry. Gaumont. November 1919: two survivors of the trenches set up a scam based on war memorials. One is a brilliant illustrator, the other an unassuming accountant. In the France of the “Roaring Twenties”, their operation becomes as dangerous as spectacular. ArcLight 1

THE SEAGULL

Drama. 93mins. Dir: Michael Mayer. Scr: Stephen Karam. Cast: Saoirse Ronan, Elisabeth Moss. Hyde Park International. The story of eight people, all of whom are fatally in love with the wrong person. Funny and heartbreaking, it also touches on the dangerously seductive nature of narcissism. Laemmle 5

SCHOOL OF LIFE

Drama, family. 115mins. Dir: Nicolas Vanier. Scr: Jerome Tonnerre, Nicolas Vanier. Cast: Francois Cluzet, Jean Scandel, Eric Elmosnino, Francois Berleand. Studiocanal. A moving and

SERGIO & SERGEI

Comedy. 93mins. Dir: Ernesto Daranas. Scr: Ernesto & Marta Daranas. Cast: Tomas Cao Uriza, Hector Noas, Ron Perlman. WestEnd Films. » www.screendaily.com

. E R E H S T R A T S IT ALL . CONNECT. EXPLORE . S S E N I S U B DO 8 1 0 2 B E F 15ï&#x161;» 23

Benefit from the early bird discount and register until November 30 Submit films until December 21 Special advertising rates and packages available

WWW.EFM-BERLINALE.DE

EFM18_AFM_Screen_245x335mm_RZ.indd 1

25.10.17 12:30

SCREENINGS

A Russian cosmonaut is stranded on the Mir Space Station during the collapse of the Soviet Union.

Set in the early 20th century on a remote island on the edge of the Antarctic Circle: a young man sent there finds himself trapped in a battle for his own life.

Broadway 3

UNKNOWN SOLDIER

Drama. 135mins. Dir: Aku Louhimies. Scr: Aku Louhimies, Jari Olavi Rantala. Cast: Eero Aho, Aku Hirviniemi, Jussi Vatanen, Joonas Saartamo. Beta Cinema. An explosive drama about a platoon of Finnish soldiers fighting the Soviets in the Second World War.

ArcLight 1

CON MAN

Drama. 100mins. Dir: Bruce Caulk. Scr: Bruce Caulk, Jonathan Meyers. Cast: James Caan, Ving Rhames, Justin Baldoni, Elisabeth Rohm, Mark Hamill, Talia Shire. Archstone Distribution. The story of Barry Minkow, a young charismatic businessman who becomes a wealthy CEO by lying, cheating and stealing his way to the top.

Broadway 2

09:30 THE PLACE

Comedy, drama. 105mins. Dir: Paolo Genovese. Scr: Paolo Genovese, Isabella Aguilar. Cast: Valerio Mastrandrea, Marco Giallini, Alba Rohrwacher. True Colours Glorious Films. A mysterious man sits every day at the same table of the same restaurant, granting his visitors their biggest wishes and assigning them peculiar tasks to accomplish in return. What will they be ready to do to get what they want? Broadway 4

LA QUETE DALAIN DUCASSE

Documentary. 110mins. Dir: Gilles de Maistre. Scr: Gilles de Maistre. Pathe International. Twenty three restaurants worldwide, 18 Michelin stars, Alain Ducasse fearlessly continues creating trendy new places, building schools, writing books and launching major projects. To him, cooking is an endless universe and a vision of the world. This public yet very private man agreed to be followed for nearly two years, opening the doors of his ever-changing world up to us. ArcLight 10

MARKET 09:30 SHEIKH JACKSON

Drama. 93mins. Dir: Amr Salama. Scr: Omar Khaled, Amr Salama. Cast: Ahmad Alfishawy, Maged El Kedwany, Ahmed Malek, Amina Khalil, Basma, Yasmine El Raes. Media Luna

In a post-apocalyptic society, a lone bounty hunter is presented with a chance at the bounty of a lifetime. However, for the first time she might have finally taken on more than she can handle. Laemmle 2

SHEIKH JACKSON See box, above

Action/adventure. 94mins. Dir: Peter Howitt. Scr: Kevin Leeson, Bobby Mort. Cast: Gina Carano, John Hannah, Ryan Robbins. Octane Entertainment.

New Films. The sudden death of Michael Jackson sends a former King of Pop devotee — now a young imam — into a tailspin But what does an imam have in common with the pop star? Laemmle 6

Cast: Ella Hunt, Sarah Swire, Marli Sui. AMP International. When the zombie apocalypse hits the sleepy town of Little Haven — at Christmas — teenager Anna and her high school friends have to fight, sing and dance to survive, with the undead horde all around them. AMC SM 5

THE WEDDING GUEST

Romantic comedy. 103mins. Dir: Ryan Eggold. Scr: Ryan Eggold. Cast: Justin Long, Cobie Smulders, Ryan Hansen, John Cho, Kristen Schaal. Myriad Pictures. A young man navigates the painful awkwardness of attending his ex-girlfriend’s wedding AMC SM 6

SCORCHED EARTH

Laemmle 5

11:00 ANNA AND THE APOCALYPSE

Comedy, horror, musical. 110mins. Dir: John McPhail. Scr: Ryan McHenry, Alan McDonald.

18 Screen International at AFM November 4, 2017

depths of a volcano to retrieve the last Kar-Lalo seed and try to save the planet.

friend’s bar, an unexpected relationship begins to take shape. ArcLight 5

AMC SM 1

BEES MAKE HONEY BAD BLOOD

Suspense, thriller. 95mins. Dir: David Pulbrook. Scr: David Pulbrook. Cast: Xavier Samuel, Morgan Griffin. Little Film Company. When Carrie accepts an invitation from Vincent to spend a long weekend at his mountain resort, she realises something is terribly wrong. In fear for her life, she escapes into the surrounding forest. What she now discovers about Vincent turns everything on its head and hurls her into a one-sided battle against a psychopathic killer.

AXEL ADVENTURES OF THE SPACE KIDS

Ocean

Animation. 88mins. Dir: Leo Lee. Scr: Cherry Che, Leo Lee, Ma Hua. Global Genesis Group. The once beautiful and lush Planet Keplar is now dry and near death after its precious Kar-Lalo plant was exploited by Earthers to extinction. Three brave Kepler spacekids — Axel, Jono and Gaga — want to rebuild their desolate planet by following the ancient legend of the lost Kar-Lalo oasis. Axel leads his friends into danger as they journey down the

BECKS

Drama, musical, romance. 90mins. Dir: Daniel Powell, Elizabeth Rohrbaugh. Scr: Rebecca Drysdale, Daniel Powell, Elizabeth Rohrbaugh. Cast: Mena Suvari, Dan Fogler, Lena Hall, Christine Lahti. Lightning Entertainment Group. After a crushing breakup with her girlfriend, a Brooklyn musician moves back in with her Midwestern mother. As she navigates her home town, playing for tips in an old

Action/adventure, mystery, thriller. 88mins. Dir: Jack Eve. Scr: Jack Eve. Cast: Alice Eve, Hermione Corfield, Josephine de La Baume, Wilf Scolding. Kew Media Group. A stylish 1930s British murder mystery set during a raucous party in a stately manor home. Broadway 1

COEXIST

Comedy. 88mins. Dir: Fabrice Eboue. Scr: Fabrice Eboue. Cast: Ramzy Bedia, Fabrice Eboue, Guillaume de Tonquedec, Audrey Lamy, Jonathan Cohen, Mathilde Seigner. EuropaCorp. An opportunistic music producer has the brilliant idea of bringing together a rabbi, a priest and an imam to preach “peaceful coexistence” through song. But the religious leaders he recruits are far from saints. Broadway 3

COLD SKIN

Fantasy. 104mins. Dir: Xavier Gens. Scr: Jesus Olmo. Cast: Ray Stevenson, David Oakes, Aura Garrido. Kinology.

DINO KING: JOURNEY TO FIRE MOUNTAIN

Action/adventure. 92mins. Dir: Han SangHo. Scr: Han Sang-Ho, Yoon Mi-Jang. Cast: Park Hee Soon. Odin’s Eye Entertainment. Speckles, a ferocious Tarbosaurus, and his young son Junior, mourning the loss of their family in an epic battle, roam the lands in search of food, adventure and peace. Under the watchful eye of his dad, Junior is growing up healthy and strong but with an overconfidence thanks to his young age. After one such encounter results in Junior being kidnapped, Speckles embarks on an adventure to the ends of earth to find Junior. Laemmle 3

THE MAN WHO INVENTED CHRISTMAS

Drama, family. 104mins. Dir: Bharat Nalluri. Scr: Susan Coyne. Cast: Dan Stevens, Christopher Plummer, Jonathan Pryce. The Solution Entertainment Group. After a series of his books flop, Charles Dickens decides to write and selfpublish ‘A Christmas Carol’. AMC SM 3

MARY AND THE WITCH’S FLOWER

Animation. 103mins.

www.screendaily.com

Dir: Hiromasa Yonebayashi. Scr: Riko Sakaguchi, Hiromasa Yonebayashi. Cast: Sugisaki Hana, Kamiki Ryunosuke, Amami Yuki, Kohinohata Fumiyo. Altitude Film Sales. The forbidden “Witch’s Flower” turns Mary into a witch for one night, bringing surprises and joy, mistakes and destiny… and a bit of courage.

Cuenca. Scr: Manuel Martin Cuenca. Cast: Javier Gutierrez, Antonio de la Torre, Maria Leon. Filmax International. Alvaro is a poor man obsessed with the idea of writing “high literature”. He starts provoking conflicts to write about them. Planning all the conspiracy for a possible murder doesn’t let him see that, in fact, he is the real victim.

ArcLight 7

Broadway 4

RON GOOSSENS, THE LOW BUDGET STUNTMAN

SHELTER

See box, right

TO THE TOP

Action/adventure. 98mins. Dir: Serge Hazanavicius. Scr: Serge Hazanavicius, Stephane Dan, Mary-Noelle Dana, Alexis Galmot. Cast: Kev Adams, Vincent Elbaz, Berenice Bejo. Gaumont. Scott, a young gifted snowboarder, has one dream: to be number one. He wants to do what no one has ever done: climb Mount Everest and ride the ultimate descent down the Hornbein Couloir. Once in Chamonix, the riders’ Mecca, he crosses paths with Pierrick, a free-ride veteran turned mountain guide. Scott knows that this is the encounter that could take him to the top. ArcLight 3

11:30 THE BALLAD OF LEFTY BROWN

Western. 111mins. Dir: Jared Moshe. Scr: Jared Moshe. Cast: Bill Pullman, Jim Caviezel, Peter Fonda. WTFilms. Ageing sidekick Lefty Brown has ridden with Eddie Johnson his entire life. But when a rustler kills Eddie, Lefty is forced from his partner’s shadow and must confront the ugly realities of frontier life. ArcLight 6

THE BREADWINNER

Animation. 93mins. Dir: Nora Twomey. Scr: Anita Doron. Cast: Noorin Gulamgaus, Saara Chaudry, Shaista Latif, Soma Chhaya, Laara Sadiq, Ali Badshah, Kawa Ada. WestEnd Films. A headstrong young girl in Afghanistan disguises

www.screendaily.com

MARKET 11:00 RON GOOSSENS, THE LOW BUDGET STUNTMAN

Action/adventure, comedy. 79mins. Dir: Steffen Haars, Flip van der Kuil. Scr: Steffen Haars, Flip van der Kuil. Cast: Tim Haars, Bo Maerten. herself as a boy in order to provide for her family. AMC SM 2

CAPT’N SHARKY

Animation. 73mins. Dir: Hubert Weiland. Scr: Mark Slater. Global Screen. Pint-sized swashbuckler Capt’n Sharky thinks he’s the most dangerous pirate on the Seven Seas. To prove his bravery, he sets sail with Mikey, a well-behaved boy whose life Sharky has turned upside down, and Bonnie, a troubleshooting girl who tends to assume command in every situation. Together, this motley crew sails for big adventures as they thwart the plans of The Admiral and Old Bill the Pirate.

Dutch Features Global Entertainment. Alcoholic and low-budget stuntman Ron Goossens has to get Netherlands’ most successful actress between the sheets in order to save his own marriage. ArcLight 11

Arbillot. TF1 Studio. What if you came home one day to find some weirdo called Patrick living in your house? What if that weirdo, in a barely understandable language, explained that he was your son but you knew for a fact you had no children? This is what happens to Andre and Laurence Prioux, a bourgeois couple, stylishly living in a quiet upscale suburb. Convinced they are victims of an error or a con man, Andre wants nothing to do with Patrick. But Laurence, faced with the inexplicable, becomes the mother she never was and welcomes this longlost son with open arms. Broadway 2

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HERE COMES THE GRUMP FINDING MOM

Comedy. 90mins. Dir: Vincent Lobelle, Sebastien Thiery. Scr: Sebastien Thiery, Pacale Arbillot. Cast: Christian Clavier, Catherine Frot, Sebastien Thiery, Pascale

Animation, family, fantasy. 90mins. Dir: Andres Couturier. Scr: Jim Hecht. GFM Films. Terry is a teenage boy who is magically transported to a far-away land where he must ward off a mean-

spirited wizard called The Grump. ArcLight 4

ICE

Comedy, drama, musical. 113mins. Dir: Oleg Trofim. Scr: Andrey Zolotarev, Oleg Malovichko. Cast: Aglaya Tarasova, Maria Aronova, Alexander Petrov, Milos Bikovich, Ksenia Rappoport. Art Pictures Studio. A talented figure skater, Nadia has attracted the attention of a legend in the sport but a mistake lands Nadia in a hospital bed. Just as it seems she must say goodbye to skating forever, as well as to her plans for a happy life, someone new appears. However, he bears absolutely no resemblance to a fairytale prince. ArcLight 2

THE LITTLE WITCH

Family. 104mins. Dir: Mike Schaerer. Scr: Matthias Pacht, Otfried Preussler. Cast: Karoline Herfurth, Suzanne von Borsody. Studiocanal. Follow the Little Witch as she embarks on a magical adventure and stirs up a whole lot of trouble along the way. AMC SM 4

LIVING AMONG US

Horror. 82mins. Dir: Brian A Metcalf. Scr: Brian A Metcalf. Cast: Esme Bianco, John Heard,

Thomad Ian Nicholas, William Sadler, Andrew Keegan. Vision Films. Vampires have just made themselves public! Now a group of documentarians have been granted access to spend some time with them and learn how they live and coexist with humans. But as reality sets in, the crew realise they are in for far more than they bargained for. Laemmle 4

MAXIMUM IMPACT

Action/adventure. 110mins. Dir: Andrzej Bartkowiak. Scr: Ross LaManna. Cast: Alexander Nevsky, Danny Trejo, Tom Arnold, Kelly Hu. CineTel Films. Since the days of the Cold War, Russian-American relations have been strained. In order to find a way out of this situation, the US Secretary of State arrives at a secret summit meeting in Moscow. However, the operation is in jeopardy. The leader of an international gang makes an attempt on the life of the US guest and kidnaps his granddaughter. Only the joint forces of the Russian FSB and US CIA special agents are able to prevent World War Three and save millions of citizens’ lives. Laemmle 2

THE MOTIVE

Black comedy. 112mins. Dir: Manuel Martin

Psycho-drama, thriller. 93mins. Dir: Eran Riklis. Scr: Eran Riklis. Cast: Neta Riskin, Golshifteh Farahani, Lior Ashkenazi, Haluk Bilginer. Beta Cinema. A thriller set in Germany involving a Lebanese woman and an Israeli Mossad agent sent to protect her in a place where nothing is safe and no one can be trusted. AMC SM 6

YOUR VOICE (KIMIKOE)

Animation. 94mins. Dir: Naoyuki Ito. Scr: Manabu Ishikawa. Cast: Mina Katahira. Tohokushinsha Film Corporation. “You know, the spirit lives in the words that are once spoken. It is called Kotodama.” A 16-year-old girl living in a seaside town believes in Kotodama. One day, she strays into an old community radio station and pretends to be a DJ. Laemmle 6

13:00 10X10

Thriller. 87mins. Dir: Suzi Ewing. Scr: Noel Clarke. Cast: Luke Evans, Kelly Reilly. Altitude Film Sales. After meticulous planning and preparation, Lewis snatches Cathy off the busy streets and locks her away in a soundproofed room measuring 10 feet by 10 feet. His motive: to have Cathy confess to a dark secret that she is determined to keep hidden. But Cathy has no intention of giving up so easily and proves more than a match for her kidnapper. ArcLight 5

November 4, 2017 Screen International at AFM 19

SCREENINGS

Hutcherson, Samantha Bee, Martin Short, John Cleese, Morena Baccarin, Jeff Dunham. Double Dutch International. Get ready to fall in love with the miniature horse with a humongous heart. When one of Santa’s reindeer suddenly announces his retirement, he needs to find a replacement… and fast! Against all odds, Elliot and his best friend Hazel set out to prove that he is the horse for the job. As Elliot and Hazel take on the North Pole reindeer try-outs, Hazel learns that Christmas as we know it may be headed for disaster.

BACK HOME

Comedy. 100mins. Dir: Antonio Albanese. Scr: Antonio Albanese. Cast: Antonio Albanese. Fandango. Mario Cavallaro has just turned 50. Mario loves order, precision, punctuality, respect and decorum: for everyone to keep their voices down and to stay where they belong. He divides his life between the hosiery shop he inherited from his father and a vegetable garden — his only passion — planted on his terrace at home. Any change frightens him, let alone his regular bar being sold to an Egyptian. When Oba, a self-assured Senegalese sock vendor, appears with his wares in his shop, enough is enough. Mario has a simple, yet mad, solution: “To put things back where they belong.” So he decides to kidnap Oba simply to send him back home. Broadway 1

THE BBQ

Comedy. 90mins. Dir: Stephen Amis. Scr: Stephen Amis, David Richardson, Serge DeNardo, Angelo Salamanca, Tim Ferguson. Cast: Shane Jacobson, Magda Szubanski, Manu Feildel, Julia Zemiro, Jim Knobeloch, Frederick Simpson, Nicholas Hammond. Cinema Management Group. Dazza has a passion for barbecuing. To make amends for accidentally giving his neighbours food poisoning, he seeks tutelage from a tyrannical Scottish chef and together they enter an international barbecue competition.

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THE FORGIVEN MARKET 13:30 68 KILL

Comedy. 93mins. Dir: Trent Haaga. Scr: Trent Haaga. Cast: Matthew Gray Gubler, AnnaLynne McCord, Alisha Boe, Sheila Vand. Playtime. Scraping by flushing out septic systems is not Chip’s vision of a perfect life but he’s a conflict in a classic, brutal hand-to-hand fight while the entire country faces civil war. ArcLight 11

DINO KING: JOURNEY TO FIRE MOUNTAIN

Action/adventure. 92mins. Dir: Han SangHo. Scr: Han Sang-Ho, Yoon Mi-Jang. Cast: Park Hee Soon. Odin’s Eye Entertainment.

Ocean

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CHINA SALESMAN

KIKORIKI: DEJA VU

Action/adventure. 110mins. Dir: Tan Bing. Scr: Tan Bing. Cast: Mike Tyson, Steven Seagal, Dong-Xue Li. TriCoast Worldwide. A Chinese engineer/ salesman comes faceto-face with a corrupt competitor over the contract for the first mobile telecom technology in Africa. Local tribesman Kabbah and mercenary Lauder get drawn into the

Action/adventure, comedy, family. 85mins. Dir: Denis Chernov. Scr: Denis Chernov, Dmitry Yakovenko. Cast: Vadim Bochanov. Odin’s Eye Entertainment. The third instalment in the adventure-packed franchise focuses on loveable furball Krash, who decides to throw his best buddy Barry an unforgettable birthday party. He contacts the Deja

20 Screen International at AFM November 4, 2017

simple guy and he’s got a great girlfriend in Liza. Sure, she supplements their income with a sugar daddy but every relationship has its own complexities. When Liza suggests they relieve her sleazy benefactor of a stack of cash, Chip begins to see a side of her he never knew existed. AMC SM 2

Vu Agency, which organises exciting time-travel adventures. A cataclysmic accident occurs after the Kikoriki crew fail to follow the rules, scattering the group across time. Krash has to find and retrieve his friends through the ages.

making people believe he is insane. Laemmle 5

LOOKING GLASS

Thriller. 102mins. Dir: Tim Hunter. Scr: Jerry Rapp, Matthew Wilder. Cast: Nicolas Cage, Robin Tunney. Highland Film Group. A psycho-sexual thriller following a couple who buy an old motel in the desert looking for a new beginning. What seemed at first an escape is soon a thrilling ride through a mysterious world when Ray discovers a two-way mirror and witnesses a horrifying murder in a twisted game of cat and mouse. AMC SM 3

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MARYLINE THE LAST MAN

Action/adventure, thriller. 97mins. Dir: Rodrigo Vila. Scr: Dan Bush, Rodrigo Vila. Cast: Hayden Christensen, Harvey Keitel, Justin Kelly. VMI Worldwide. Tov Matheson is a war veteran with post traumatic stress disorder who perceives that the end of the world is coming. After establishing a relationship with a dubious messiah, he leaves his normal life and begins the construction of a shelter underground and training himself, in an extreme way, at the cost of losing everything and

Drama. 104mins. Dir: Guillaume Gallienne. Scr: Guillaume Gallienne. Cast: Adeline D’Hermy, Vanessa Paradis, Xavier Beauvois, Lars Eidinger. Gaumont. Maryline wasn’t always given the best luck in life but she certainly has a talent for acting. Too humble and sensitive to embrace her natural fit, she can’t help but make an impression on every artist she meets. Broadway 3

RISE OF THE FOOTSOLDIER 3: THE PAT TATE STORY

Thriller. 100mins.

Dir: Zachary Adler. Scr: Michael Loveday. Cast: Craig Fairbass, Terry Stone, Jamie Foreman, Shaun Ryder. Carnaby International. The Pat Tate story is a hard-hitting, fast-moving tale with furious action and visceral violence. The third instalment focuses on Tate’s inexorable rise to notoriety through the ranks of the Essex gangland. ArcLight 1

13:30 68 KILL See box, above

AMERICAN BRAWLER

Action/adventure, biography. 90mins. Dir: Ken Kushner. Scr: Ken Kushner. Cast: Zach McGowan, Amy Smart, Taryn Manning. Conquistador Entertainment. The incredible true story of a boxer who gets a one-in-a-million shot at immortality, only to nearly destroy himself when the fame he desired nearly costs him everything. His story was the inspiration for a cinematic legend: Rocky Balboa. Broadway 2

ELLIOT THE LITTLEST REINDEER

Animation, family. 90mins. Dir: Jennifer Westcott. Scr: Jennifer Westcott. Cast: Josh

Drama, thriller. 114mins. Dir: Roland Joffe. Scr: Roland Joffe, Michael Ashton. Cast: Forest Whitaker, Eric Bana. 13 Films. Archbishop Desmond Tutu finds himself morally and intellectually challenged by Piet Blomfield, a convicted murderer serving a life sentence in prison and seeking redemption for the atrocities he committed. Laemmle 2

THE HOUSES OCTOBER BUILT 2

Horror. 102mins. Dir: Bobby Roe. Scr: Bobby Roe, Zack Andrews. Cast: Brandy Schaefer. Octane Entertainment. Recovering from the trauma of being kidnapped last Halloween by the Blue Skeleton — a group who take “extreme haunt” to another level — five friends decide they must face their fears in order to move on. Laemmle 6

JEALOUS

Comedy, drama. 102mins. Dir: David Foenkinos, Stephane Foenkinos. Scr: David Foenkinos, Stephane Foenkinos. Cast: Karin Viard, Anne Dorval, Anais Demoustier. Studiocanal. Nathalie, a divorced professor of classics, suddenly develops a twisted jealousy of those around her, including her own daughter ArcLight 4

www.screendaily.com

KICKBOXER RETALIATION

SAMSON

Action/adventure, martial arts. 96mins. Dir: Dimitri Logothetis. Scr: Dimitri Logothetis. Cast: Jean-Cladue Van Damme, Alain Moussi, Christopher Lambert, Mike Tyson. The Exchange. After defeating Tong Po in a battle to the death, Kurt returns to the US to try and start a normal life, but he can’t hide from his past. Tong Po’s associates track Kurt down and force him to participate in yet another match to the death. This time he must battle an even more terrifying opponent.

Action/adventure. 126mins. Dir: Bruce Macdonald. Scr: Jason Baumgardner, Galen Gilbert, Timothy Ratajczak, Zach Smith. Cast: Billy Zane, Rutger Hauer, Lindsay Wagner, Jackson Rathbone, Taylor James. Pure Flix/ Quality Flix. Out of the pages of ancient scripture arises the first superhero saga — that of a child born with supernatural strength in 1200 BCE who, as an adult, leads his oppressed tribe against the mighty empire of his day. Though seduced by women and wine, his feats of might and valour strike fear into the heart of his enemies. In the end, only one God can stand in this tale of seduction and revenge.

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LINKS OF LIFE See box, right

MISSION KATHMANDU

Animation. 83mins. Dir: Pierre Greco, Nancy Florence Savard. Scr: Pierre Greco, Andre Morency. Cast: Sylvie Moreau, Guillaume Lemay-Thivierge, Rachid Badouri. Cinema Management Group. Quebec City, 1955: Nelly Maloye, an ebullient novice detective, accidentally crosses paths with Simon Picard, an ambitious research assistant in anthropology at the local university. Backed by a glory-seeking philanthropist, the intuitive but disorganised Nelly and the methodical, obsessive Simon set off on a wild adventure, determined to prove the existence of the Abominable Snowman. ArcLight 2

THE SCYTHIAN

Action/adventure, historical. 100mins. Dir: Rustam Mosafir. Scr: Vadim Golovanov. Cast: Alexey Faddeev. Planeta Inform Film Distribution. The story of a young noble warrior who chooses justice over duty. Broadway 4

15:00 AN ACT OF DEFIANCE

Drama. 118mins. Dir: Jean van de Velde. Scr: Matt Harvey, Dominic Morgan, Jean van de Velde. Cast: Peter Paul Muller, Sello Motloung, Gregg Viljoen,

www.screendaily.com

MARKET 13:30 LINKS OF LIFE

Comedy, drama. 107mins. Dir: MarieHelene Roux. Scr: Marie-Helene Roux. Cast: Marie Bunel, Rene Heger. Picture Tree International. Marion is a charismatic Antoinette Louw. Cinema Management Group. In apartheid-ruled South Africa, a renowned lawyer struggles to hide his secret affiliation to the nation’s chief resistance movement as he takes on defending a group of its arrested members, including its leader Nelson Mandela. AMC SM 5

THE BLOOD OF WOLVES

Action/adventure, drama, suspense. 126mins. Dir: Kazuya Shiraishi. Scr: Junya Ikegami. Cast: Koji Yakusho, Tori Matsuzaka, Yoko Maki, Yosuke Eguchi. Toei Company. Set in 1988 in Hiroshima, Japan, prior to the enactment of the antiorganised crime law. A rumour exists that Detective Shogo Ogami has ties with the yakuza. He is partnered with Detective Shuichi Hioka and they investigate a missing person case involving a financial company employee. Conflicts between opposing

THE CHRISTMAS TRAP

50-year-old French woman who was born with an attention disorder. Rob is a desperate and mysterious 30-year-old American man. They meet in the wilderness of Canyonlands, Utah, Laemmle 4

yakuza groups increase. ArcLight 11

BOUND

Horror. 96mins. Dir: Richard LeMay. Scr: Richard LeMay. Cast: Joseph Melendez, Eden Brolin, Rosa Arredondo. Film Mode Entertainment. Bound to an ancient pact, a family of unlimited power descend upon a small rural town to sacrifice four human lives, one a member of their own family. Ocean

C’EST LA VIE!

Comedy. 115mins. Dir: Eric Toledano, Olivier Nakache. Scr: Eric Toledano, Olivier Nakache. Cast: Jean-Pierre Bacri, Gilles Lellouche, Suzanne Clement, JeanPaul Rouve, Benjamin Lavernhe. Gaumont. A hectic wedding party held in an 17th-century French palace comes together with the help of the behind-the-scenes staff. Broadway 3

Family. 120mins. Dir: Harvey Lowry. Scr: Dave Matheny. Cast: Bo Derek, Shelley Long, Brighton Sharbino, Sierra McCormick. VMI Worldwide. Kara Gentry has always had everything money can buy. Jessie Wilkins is from the other side of the tracks. When seated next to each other on a plane headed home for Christmas, these two teenage girls strike up an unlikely friendship. They soon find they’re both being forced to spend the holidays in the same small town with relatives they’ve never met. Neither girl is happy about their holiday arrangements so they devise a plan to switch places for Christmas.

Fiennes. Cast: Grace Jones, Jean-Paul Goude, Sly and Robbie. WestEnd Films. Larger than life, wild, scary and androgynous — Grace Jones plays all these parts. Yet here we also discover her as a lover, daughter, mother, sister and even grandmother, as she allows us to understand what constitutes her mask. Laemmle 1

MOTORRAD

Horror, thriller. 92mins. Dir: Vicente Amorim. Scr: LG Bayao. Cast: Guilherme Prates, Carla Salle. WTFilms. In a remote part of Brazil, a group of young riders become prey to a gang of machete-wielding bikers.

15:30 ATTACK OF THE ADULT BABIES

AMC SM 6

PRIMAL RAGE

Documentary, musical. 120mins. Dir: Sophie

AMC SM 3

Laemmle 5

ERIC CLAPTON: LIFE IN 12 BARS

GRACE JONES: BLOODLIGHT AND BAMI

Action/adventure, family, fantasy. 115mins. Dir: Yury Kovaliov. Scr: Sashko Dermansky, Yury Kovaliov, Yaroslav Voytseshek. Cast: Danyil Kamensky, Eva Kosheva, Roman Lutsky, Oleg Voloshchenko. FILMUA Group. A present-day schoolboy travels a thousand years into the past.

Horror, supernatural thriller. 104mins. Dir: Patrick Magee. Scr: Jay Lee, Patrick Magee. Cast: Andrew Joseph Montgomery, Casey Gagliardi, Eloy Casados, Justin Rain. Blue Fox Entertainment. A newly reunited young couple’s drive through the Pacific Northwest turns into a nightmare as they are forced to face nature, unsavory locals and a monstrous creature, known to the Native Americans as Oh-Mah.

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THE STRONGHOLD

Black comedy, horror. 85mins. Dir: Dominic Brunt. Scr: Joanne Mitchell, Paul Shrimpton. Cast: Joanne Mitchell, Kate Coogan, Sally Dexter. AMP International. Two teenagers break into a remote country manor and steal top-secret documents. Little do they know the stately pile is also the venue where a group of high-powered middle-aged men go to take refuge from the stresses of daily life by dressing in nappies and indulging their every perverse nursery whim. Or that this grotesque assembly intends to refuel the world’s economy by very sinister, sick and monstrous means.

Laemmle 3

Documentary. 135mins. Dir: Lili Fini Zanuck. Scr: Scooter Weintraub, Larry Yelen. Altitude Film Sales. A look at the life and work of guitarist Eric Clapton told by those who have known him best, including musical greats BB King, Jimi Hendrix and George Harrison.

AMC SM 1

November 4, 2017 Screen International at AFM 21

SCREENINGS

MOOMINS AND THE WINTER WONDERLAND THE DAILY AT AFM Suite 316, Loews Santa Monica Beach Hotel, 1700 Ocean Avenue, Santa Monica, California, 90401 Tel +1 310 458 6700 (ext 316) Editorial Editor Matt Mueller, matt.mueller@screendaily.com, +44 7880 526 547 News editor Wendy Mitchell, indiewendy@gmail.com US editor Jeremy Kay, jeremykay67@gmail.com, +1 310 922 5908 Deputy editor Andreas Wiseman, andreas.wiseman@screendaily. com, +44 7713 086 674 Group head of production & art Mark Mowbray, mark.mowbray@screendaily.com, +44 7710 124 065 Sub editors Paul Lindsell, Adam Richmond Advertising and publishing Publishing director Nadia Romdhani, nadia. romdhani@screendaily.com, +44 7540 100 315 Commercial director Scott Benfold, scott.benfold@ screendaily.com, +44 7765 257 260 VP business development,

MARKET 15:30 INCONTROL

Sci-fi, thriller. 82mins. Dir: Kurtis David Harder. Scr: Kurtis David Harder. Cast: Levi Meaden, Rory J Saper, Anja Savcic, Brittany Allen. Devilworks. Follows a group of university students who

discover a device that allows them to take control of others, and experience the world through someone else’s body. As they push the machine’s abilities to its limits, they don’t realise their own lives have been manipulated and they descend into a nightmare. AMC SM 2

North America Nigel Daly, nigeldalymail@gmail.com, +1 213 447 5120

BOOGIE MAN

International account manager

Comedy, musical, romance. 100mins. Dir: Andy Morahan. Scr: Andy Morahan. Cast: Ankush Khanna, Amy Jackson, Aston Merrygold, Jerry-Jane Pears, Roshan Seth. Little Film Company. A British-Indian teenager struggles with his cultural heritage in modern-day London. After falling for a 20-something actress/model during a 1970s-themed exhibition he becomes obsessed with not just her, but also the fashion and music of the 1970s.

Raphael Bechakjian, raphael. bechakjian@screendaily.com, +44 20 8102 0814 US sales and business development executive Nikki Tilmouth, nikki.screeninternational@gmail. com, +1 323 868 7633 Production manager Jonathon Cooke, jonathon.cooke@mb-insight.com, +44 7584 335 148 Sales co-ordinator Rebecca Moran, rebecca.moran@ screendaily.com, + 44 7834 902 528 Chief executive, MBI Conor Dignam Printer

Laemmle 2

Sinclair Printing, Los Angeles Screen International, London

BRAVE STORM

MBI, Zetland House, 5-25

Sci-fi. 81mins. Dir: Junya Okabe. Scr: Junya Okabe. Cast: Shunsuke Daito, Shu Watanabe, Chihiro Yamamoto, Soran Tamoto, Kouichi Kasuga, Danmitsu, Yuki Matsuzaki, Tom Fujita, Shigeru Izumiya, Yasufumi Terawaki,

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22 Screen International at AFM November 4, 2017

Hisashi Yoshizawa. Blast. Pits two families (one with an armored bionic superhero, the other a red giant robot) against evil aliens to save Earth and prevent the extinction of mankind. ArcLight 4

THE END?

Horror. 98mins. Dir: Daniele Misischia. Scr: Cristiano Ciccotti, Daniele Misischia. Cast: Alessandro Roja, Claudio Camilli, Euridice Axen, Benedetta Cimatti, Bianca Friscelli. Beta Cinema. Claudio is a businessman at the top of his game. But what happens if any sense of control you had is taken away from you in an instant? This is exactly what happens to Claudio. On his way to an important meeting, his elevator gets stuck. Trapped between floors, bit by bit and with his phone the only source of information,

Animation. 88mins. Dir: Ira Carpelan. Scr: Tove Jansson. Cast: Alicia Vikander, Stellan Skarsgard, Bill Skarsgard. Global Genesis Group. Moomintroll discovers Christmas! The winter seems extraordinary in Moomin Valley so Moomintroll decides to stay awake instead of having his typical winter slumber. Moomintroll discovers that strange creatures wander amid the snowdrifts in the midwinter darkness, and all the new hints imply that an eccentric guest is soon to arrive. This new guest is called Christmas and an astounded Moomintroll learns to experience the true meaning of the holiday. Featuring voice work from Alicia Vikander as Little My and Sorry-oo, and Stellan Skarsgard as Moomin Papa and the Storyteller.

Claudio starts to realise the world as he knows it has completely gone down the drain. A lethal virus is transforming people into highly contagious, homicidal zombies. Stuck inside a metal cage, with the ravenous ghouls out to get him, Claudio must rely entirely on his wits and survival instincts to break out of this hell on earth.

LICENSING BRANDS ANIMATION STUDIO PROMO REEL

Broadway 2

Horror, thriller. 100mins. Dir: Davide Montecchi. Scr: Davide Montecchi. Cast: Luigi Busignani. Summerside International. Passion, love, fear… A stylish psycho thriller set in an isolated hotel where photographer Thomas invites Teresa, a model, for a photo shoot.

Action/adventure, thriller. 87mins. Dir: Joe Lynch. Scr: Matias Caruso. Cast: Steven Yeun, Samara Weaving. Octane Entertainment. A virus infects a corporate law office on the day attorney Derek Saunders is framed by a co-worker and wrongfully fired. Trapped in the quarantined building, our hero is forced to savagely fight tooth and nail for his life.

Laemmle 4

ArcLight 6

INCONTROL

MONKEY KING RELOADED

See box, above

Action/adventure, historical, thriller. 93mins. Dir: Piotr Szkopiak. Scr: Piotr Szkopiak, Paul Szambowski. Cast: Alex Pettyfer. GFM Films. A journalist uncovers the horrific murder of 22,000 Poles under Stalin’s instructions, which for many years was blamed on the Nazis.

Animation. 90mins. Dir: Wai Ching Yip. Scr: Aaron Mendelsohn. Cast: Sunny. Media Asia Distribution. A zoo monkey in Sichuan travels to New York City to rescue a human friend from a trio of nefarious kidnappers, only to realise the Demon King is behind it all. With the help of a huge pig, he learns to channel the power of the Monkey King to defeat the villains.

Comedy, drama. 90mins. Dir: Bacha Caravedo, Chinon Higashionna. Scr: Bacha Caravedo. Cast: Adriana Ugarte, Gisela Ponce de Leon, Cesar Ritter, Javier Valdes. Filmax International. It’s Christmas Eve in Lima and the Del Solar family are getting together for the first time in over two years. Leonardo del Solar, a powerful politician who always paid more attention to his work than to his family, turns up on the doorstep of his old house to be reunited with his two children, Edurne and Pavel, and his grandson Puli, a very special nineyear-old boy. But Leonardo hasn’t come alone. Ines, his current girlfriend and Pavel’s ex, is also there. Past conflicts raise their ugly heads over the night and the family gettogether quickly becomes the scene for accusations, revelations and perhaps even a reconciliation. There is, after all, a fine line between love and hate around any family dinner table.

Broadway 4

Laemmle 6

ArcLight 10

IN A LONELY PLACE

THE LAST WITNESS

Animation. 90mins. Licensing Brands. Selected scenes from ‘Princess In Wonderland’ and ‘Two Tails’, footage from ‘The Big Trip 3D’ and the promo of ‘Enchanted Princess’. ArcLight 8

MAYHEM

AMC SM 4

THE SOLAR SYSTEM

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