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TODAY

SCREENINGS

» Page 74

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THURSDAY, MAY 14 2015

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Insiders launches on River

BY MELANIE GOODFELLOW

Ricardo Darin

FilmSharks makes a splash with Disney

BY JEREMY KAY

Disney has secured Latin American and Spanish rights to Koblic, a thriller that reunites Argentinian idol Ricardo Darin with his Chinese Take-Away director Sebastian Borensztein.

Guido Rud’s Buenos Airesbased FilmSharks closed the early deal on the $3.5m project and has scored a Greek pre-sale with Seven Films. Production is to start in Argentina on July 20 with Darin (Wild Tales) playing a Navy captain who refuses to take part in a horrific secret mission.

Pablo Bossi produces with Juan Pablo Buscarini and Jose Ibanez in association with Spain’s A Tres Media, Telefonica Studios and Argentina’s Telefe.

Wild Bunch’s newly created Los Angeles-based sales company Insiders is launching Sicario screenwriter Taylor Sheridan’s Wind River, starring Chris Pine and Elizabeth Olsen.

Pine will play a fish-and-game hunter forced to confront his past when he joins a rookie FBI agent in a quest to solve a murder on the Wind River Indian Reservation.

It is a directorial debut for actor and writer Sheridan, whose writing credits also include action thriller Comancheria, another hot property at this year’s market.

Sicario producers Thunder Road and Peter Berg’s Film 44 are producing.

Wild Bunch announced the launch of Insiders — focused on independent pictures with budgets of more than $15m — just prior to

Bellocchio finds his perfect Match

BY ANDREAS WISEMAN

Indie sales powerhouse The Match Factory has struck a three-film deal with Cannes regular Marco Bellocchio, which includes the acclaimed director’s next two films and his 1965 directorial debut Fists In The Pocket (I Pugni In Tasca).

Alba Rohrwacher, star of Hungry Hearts and The Wonders, is set to reteam with the Dormant Beauty

director on Blood Of My Blood (Sangue Del Mio Sangue).

The actress stars alongside Filippo Timi (Vincere), Roberto Herlitzka (The Great Beauty), Pier Giorgio Bellocchio and Lidiya Liberman in the film, which is nearing completion. Bellocchio describes it as a story about “love for the past and the need to make a clean break”.

Hubert Boesl

The film is a co-production between Simone Gattoni of Kavac Film, Beppe Caschetto of IBC Movie, Tiziana Soudani of Amka Films Production, Fabio Conversi of Barbary Films and RAI Cinema.

The deal will also include Sweet Dreams (Fai Bei Sogni), the story of a man who tries to overcome his childhood trauma by burying his feelings.

Vince Vaughn hits Home run

BY JEREMY KAY

Concorde enters Valley Of Love

BY MELANIE GOODFELLOW

Concorde has picked up rights to all German-speaking territories for Guillaume Nicloux’s Palme d’Or contender Valley Of Love.

Produced by Sylvie Pialat (Timbuktu) of Paris-based Les Films du Worso, Valley Of Love stars Isabelle Huppert and Gérard Depardieu as a divorced couple reunited in Death Valley by their dead son.

It is the first time Huppert and Depardieu have appeared on the big screen together since 1980’s Loulou, a semi-autobiographical film by Pialat’s late husband, Maurice Pialat.

Cannes. Its first slate also includes Jeff Nichols’ Loving, the true story of a mixed-race couple who battled against a US law prohibiting interracial marriage in the 1960s, and Sean Penn’s Flag Day. Penn will be in Cannes today to meet potential buyers for the film on a one-on-one basis.

Flag Day is set to star his daughter Dylan Penn in her big-screen debut.

Emmanuelle Bercot (left) is the first female director to open Cannes since Diane Kurys in 1987, with Standing Tall starring Catherine Deneuve and Benoit Magimel

Vince Vaughn’s Wild West Picture Show is to produce animation Home Field, which Double Dutch International (DDI) is selling here.

The Wedding Crashers star will serve as executive producer on the feature, about a golden eagle that helps a colony of animals save their home beneath a baseball field.

Executive producers include Wild West’s Peter Billingsley and Victoria Vaughn, and Dan Krech of Awesometown Entertainment.

Pyramide falls for Ayouch’s Much Loved Pyramide Films has taken French rights to Nabil Ayouch’s Directors’ Fortnight title Much Loved, ahead of its market screening today.

Hengameh Panahi of Celluloid Dreams is reporting strong interest in the film, which is about four Marrakech prostitutes. It has also been

picked up by 2 Eye Films for former-Yugoslavia.

Aside from new titles including Takeshi Kitano’s Ryuzo And The Seven Henchmen and Palme d’Or contender Dheepan, directed by Jacques Audiard, Celluloid Dreams is also working to close final territories on Jafar Panahi’s Taxi,

TODAY

Reviews: My Mother

NEWS Lazar focus American Sniper producer joins Emily Blunt’s Bronco Belle » Page 2

REVIEWS My Mother Nanni Moretti’s family drama sees a “tasty turn” from John Turturro » Page 18

Standing Tall Emmanuelle Bercot’s opening film has “potent performances” » Page 22

SCREENINGS

» Page 74

Cast, financiers fly to Blackbird

BY ANDREAS WISEMAN

Nightcrawler co-star Riz Ahmed and Tara Fitzgerald have joined Rooney Mara and Ben Mendelsohn in upcoming drama Blackbird.

Directed by Benedict Andrews, the film is due to shoot in the UK from June 13.

Creative Scotland, Film4 and WestEnd Films will back the feature, produced by Jean Doumanian and Patrick Daly alongside WestEnd, which also handles world sales.

In The Loop and Alan Partridge producer Kevin Loader has joined as a co-producer. Executive producers are Ron Burkle, Terry Allen Kramer and George Kaufman.

The script, adapted by playwright David Harrower from his controversial Olivier Award-winning play of the same name, charts the confrontation between a middle-aged man and a young woman who had an illicit affair 15 years earlier, for which the man was arrested and imprisoned.

The film’s crew will include The Lobster DoP Thimios Bakatakis.

which is set to screen in the market on Friday. Its release was expanded to 413 prints on Tuesday in France, where it has reached 456,000 admissions since mid-April.

The European Parliament has recently pledged financial support for P&A in unsold territories.

Iranian film-maker Panahi was a laureate of its Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought in 2012.

Melanie Goodfellow

News

The Golden Cane Warrior

Well Go grabs Golden Cane

By Liz Shackleton

Paris-based WTFilms has sold Indonesian martial-arts drama The Golden Cane Warrior to Well Go USA for North America.

WTFilms picked up the film with Backup Media, introducing it to buyers at Hong Kong Filmart in March. It has since sold to Focus Entertainment for Korea and MovieCloud for Taiwan.

Directed by Ifa Isfansyah and produced by Mira Lesmana, The Golden Cane Warrior tells the story of two student fighters who, after their master is killed, set out to find the Golden Cane relic before it falls into the wrong hands. The film is set to screen at this year’s Fantasia International Film Festival in Montreal.

WTFilms has also picked up international rights to Japanese film-maker Sion Sono’s Love & Peace, which recently received its world premiere at Beijing International Film Festival.

Asmik Ace is releasing the fantasy comedy, which stars Hiroki Hasegawa, in Japan next month.

Lazar in saddle with Bronco Belle, Rupture

By Andreas Wiseman

American Sniper producer Andrew Lazar has boarded Emily Blunt drama Bronco Belle as lead US producer.

As revealed by Screen last week, first-time writer-director Khurram Longi is set to direct the ‘Rocky-on-a-bull’ story of a woman’s quest to become a champion bull-rider.

“Having made American Sniper, another film about the DNA of Americana, I was really drawn to this project,” Lazar told

Screen. “The film is about strong people with strong convictions.

The script was undeniable.”

Lazar has made films with George Clooney, Glenn Ficarra and John Requa, and the Wachowskis.

Embankment Films is selling Bronco Belle here in Cannes.

Oscar-nominated Lazar, whose credits also include Mortdecai and I Love You Phillip Morris, is also producing Steven Shainberg sci-fi film Rupture, which is being sold here by AMBI Pictures, and is due

to shoot in three weeks with True Blood’s Deborah Ann Woll and Maleficent’s Lesley Manville in talks to join.

“Steve is a huge fan of the sci-fi genre but has never done it before,” said Lazar. “When he told me the twist in this one, I thought, ‘Are you kidding me?’ It starts off very grounded but becomes a sci-fi nightmare. It is really destined to be a franchise if we can pull off the first one.” » See ScreenDaily.com for the full interview.

New Europe Rams it home

By Geoffrey Macnab

New Europe Film Sales has herded sales of Un Certain Regard title Rams (Hrutar).

Grimur Hakonarson’s Icelandic film has been taken for Benelux (Imagine), Greece (Ama Films) and Taiwan (Maison Motion).

French rights were sold to ARP Selection ahead of the festival.

New Europe Film Sales is also reporting strong interest from Scandinavia, German-speaking Europe, Asia and the US.

Rams

Red Sea sets sail with eight Roman Kopelevich’s Los Angeles-based Red Sea Media is in Cannes with a slate of eight completed titles, led by Jeanne Tripplehorn and Laura Linney drama Morning. Leland Orser wrote, directed and stars in the story of a couple in the aftermath of their child’s death.

Maxim Sveshnikov’s Paws, Bones & Rock’n’Roll, about two dogs home alone, is produced by Timur Bekmambetov. Other titles include Emily Ting romance It’s Already Tomorrow In Hong Kong; Michael Shumway’s alien invasion drama Alienate; and Christian Johnston’s military thriller Blackline: The Beirut Contract.

Rounding out the roster are Josh Bear’s demonic logger horror Lumberjack Man, starring Michael Madsen; Pearry Reginald Teo’s Pale Horse; and Timothy Woodward Jr’s creature horror Gnome Alone.

Jeremy Kay

Samuel L Jackson

Jackson ready Contents Panda feels the love Buyers flock to Jeruzalem to take on Venezuela (Cine Unidos) and the as Twenty racks up sales Blob remake Epic Pictures heads Patrick Ewald Philippines (Pioneer).

By Jeremy Kay

By Liz Shackleton

Contents Panda, the sales arm of Korea’s Next Entertainment World (NEW), has signed a raft of deals on Lee Byeong-heon’s Twenty, including the sale of Japanese rights to NBC Universal Japan.

The youth-oriented comedy drama has also been sold to Taiwan (Movie Cloud), Hong Kong (Deltamac), Singapore (Clover Films), Malaysia (Asia Tropical Films) and Vietnam (Lotte Cinema Vietnam). In addition, inflight rights have gone to Emphasis.

The film follows three high school graduates as they struggle with life and love. The three pro-

tagonists are played by Kim Woobin (Friend: The Great Legacy), Lee Jun-ho (Memories Of The Sword) and Kang Ha-neul (Mourning Grave).

Released in Korea in March, the film grossed $21.5m and was released the following month in North America by CJ America.

Contents Panda is also introducing several new titles in Cannes including Park Hoonjung’s The Tiger: An Old Hunter’s Tale, starring Choi Min-sik (Oldboy); Kim Hyun-joo’s animation Lost In The Moonlight; and Kim Hak-soon’s Northern Limit Line, about naval skirmishes between North and South Korea during the 2002 World Cup.

2 Screen International at Cannes May 14, 2015

and Shaked Berenson have reported a strong early response to Jeruzalem.

Deals on the apocalyptic creature horror have closed in the UK (Metrodome), Germany and Benelux (Splendid), Japan (New Select), France (Pretty Pictures),

Negotiations continue for Russia and Latin America on the story of two American tourists in Israel who are caught up in a Biblical nightmare.

Doron Paz and Yoav Paz are in post on Jeruzalem, which Epic invested in and produced.

Wolfe makes King-size signing US distributor Wolfe Releasing has snapped up all rights to Mika Kaurismaki’s costume epic The Girl King from The Yellow Affair. A theatrical release is planned for autumn 2015 followed

by VoD, DVD and SVoD dates.

The co-production between Finland, Canada, Germany and Sweden stars Malin Buska as Queen Christina of Sweden, who was crowned in 1633 at the age of six and raised as a prince.

Geoffrey Macnab

By Andreas Wiseman

Samuel L Jackson has joined Simon West’s remake of 1958 cult classic The Blob.

Due to shoot this autumn, the film will star Jackson as a biochemistry professor attempting to thwart an alien predator discovered deep within the earth.

Goldcrest, which is shopping The Blob in Cannes, has reportedly seen strong demand for the film in key territories.

Richard Saperstein and Brian Witten will produce with Jack Harris — the 96-year-old producer of the original film — Judith Parker Harris and Tae Won Chung. Chris Haney (Avatar) will oversee VFX.

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News

Copro Office takes Control Coproduction Office has taken world sales rights to Benjamin Dickinson’s SXSW award winner Creative Control, about a man who has a virtual affair with a computer simulation of his friend’s partner.

It has also sold Jonathan Nossiter’s Natural Resistance to Poland (Against Gravity), Austria (Stadtkino), UK (Soda Pictures), Taiwan (Andrews Film), US (FilmBuff) and Canada (Films We Like).

Geoffrey Macnab

Ruzowitzky to direct Hermann Hesse tale

By Martin Blaney

Oscar-winning Austrian director Stefan Ruzowitzky (The Counterfeiters) is to direct Hermann Hesse’s 1930 international bestseller and cult novel Narcissus And Goldmund.

Producers Helge Sasse (Tempest Film) and Christoph Müller (Mythos Film) are in Cannes to meet potential partners for the international project, which is set to have a double-digit million euros budget.

Ruzowitzky, who has just completed shooting US thriller Patient Zero in London, is also writing the screenplay for the story with a setting in the late Middle Ages. Principal photography is set to begin in summer 2016.

Mirovision’s Sassy buy

By Liz Shackleton

Korea’s Mirovision has picked up international rights to romantic comedy My New Sassy Girl, the highly anticipated sequel to 2001 hit My Sassy Girl.

A co-production between Korea’s Shincine and China’s Beijing Skywheel Media, the sequel stars the male lead of the original film, Cha Tae-hyun, and Victoria, a Chinese member of Korean pop band f(x).

The film is directed by Cho Keun-sik (Once In A Summer) and is in post-production. The original

My New Sassy Girl

My Sassy Girl was a huge hit across Asia and launched the career of actress Gianna Jun. Mirovision has also picked up drama Canola (working title), directed by Chang, whose last film, The Target, played in official

selection in Cannes last year as a Midnight Screening.

Starring Yoon Yeo-jung and Kim Go-eun, Canola follows a grandmother who is reunited with her granddaughter who went missing for 12 years.

Mirovision is also selling two 40-minute animations, based on Korean literature, to be released as one film: Shower, adapted from Hwang Sun-won’s short story; and The Shaman Sorceress, based on a Kim Tong-ni short story that was nominated for the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1982.

Alchemy set to Howl in the US

By Andreas Wiseman

Alchemy has picked up US rights from Metrodome International to werewolf thriller Howl.

The deal was negotiated by Caroline Couret-Delegue of Metrodome and Samantha Fabin from Alchemy.

Directed by Paul Hyett, the film stars Ed Speleers (Downton Abbey), Shauna Macdonald and Sean Pertwee (Dog Soldiers) and is set on a midnight train stranded

Howl

in a forest that is attacked by a pack of werewolves.

Special make-up effects guru Hyett has worked on titles includ-

ing The Descent, The Woman In Black and Ironclad.

Howl is produced by Ed King and Martin Gentles for Starchild Productions. The script comes from Mark Huckerby and Nick Ostler (Me & My Monsters). Lee Brazier executive produced for AV Pictures.

Metrodome International will screen the film to the international market for the first time in Cannes.

LaChapelle to dance with Tana

By Andreas Wiseman

Gaby Tana

6 Screen International at Cannes May 14, 2015

The team behind Sergei Polunin documentary Dancer is working on a film written and directed by photographer David LaChapelle.

Philomena producer Gaby Tana

will produce the picture, featuring dancers and actors including Polunin and Mickey Rourke.

WestEnd Films is selling Dancer at Cannes.

Full interview page 14.

Phoenix flies around world

By Jeremy Kay

Concourse Media heads Matthew Shreder and James Andrew Felts have closed key sales here on The Phoenix Incident.

The conspiracy thriller has gone to the UK (Signature Entertainment), Japan (Nikkatsu), Poland (Kino Swiat) and the Philippines (Rafaella Films).

Concourse Film Trade licensed the feature, which XLrator will distribute in North America. Keith Arem directed and produced with Ash Sarohia and Adam Lawson for PCB Entertainment.

Bravos picks up Pang pair Hong Kong-based Bravos Pictures has picked up worldwide rights to two titles produced by Pang Ho-Cheung.

Jason Kwan’s A Nail Clipper Romance, centres on a young man who thinks he has fallen for the perfect woman until she admits to having unusual appetites.

Luk Yee-Sum’s Lazy Hazy Crazy is a drama about three teenage girls who make money through ‘compensated dating’.

Pang and Subi Liang’s Making Films Productions is producing both features.

Bravos has also picked up Hong Kong and Southeast Asian rights to Singaporean film-maker Kelvin Tong’s horror tale The Faith Of Anna Waters.

Liz Shackleton

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News

Autlook sings Songs Of Lahore

Image cuffs Criminal

By Geoffrey Macnab

By Jeremy Kay

Autlook Filmsales has snapped up international sales rights to Songs Of Lahore, the new feature doc from Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy — the first Pakistani to win an Oscar — and Andy Schocken.

The film, which recently premiered in Tribeca, follows a group of musicians in Pakistan brought together to keep their musical traditions alive in the face of rising fundamentalist threats.

Other titles on Autlook’s Cannes market slate include 10 Billion — What’s On Your Plate? by film-maker and food activist Valentin Thurn. The film, already released in Germany by Prokino, explores what will happen with food production and distribution when, by 2050, the world population grows to 10 billion.

Here at the Marché, Autlook is also screening Michael Madsen’s The Visit: An Alien Encounter.

Image Entertainment has acquired North American and UK rights to the John Travolta thriller Criminal Activities, which Diamond Pictures is selling on the Croisette.

Jackie Earle Haley directs from a screenplay by Robert Lowell about four young men who fall foul of the mob.

Haley stars with Dan Stevens, Michael Pitt, Christopher Abbott, Rob Brown and Edi Gathegi.

Criminal Activities

“This is a smart, witty, extremely commercial thriller with elements of Boiler Room and Reservoir Dogs, and an ending you don’t see coming,” said Mark Ward, chief acquisitions officer for

the Image brands at parent company RLJ Entertainment. “We’re excited to bring this film with a star-studded cast to the big screen.”

Image plans an autumn theatrical release of the film, after Ward and Matt Hooper brokered the deal with WME Global.

Wayne Rice, Howard Burd and Micah Sparks produced and Rodger May, Gayle Nosal and Daniel Diamond served as executive producers.

Finecut cuts global deals Korea’s Finecut has pre-sold Min Kyu-dong’s erotic period drama The Treacherous to Pretty Pictures for France and Frenchspeaking Swiss pay-TV. Finecut has also sold Im Kwon-taek’s Revivre to Taiwan’s Way Sen International. Finecut’s period drama The Royal Tailor has gone to Turkey (Sinema TV), Thailand (Coral Culture Contents) and the Philippines (Viva Entertainment).

Liz Shackleton

Film4 takes Amy doc for TV

By Andreas Wiseman

Amy

8 Screen International at Cannes May 14, 2015

Film4 has boarded TV rights to Asif Kapadia’s anticipated Amy Winehouse documentary Amy, which plays as a Midnight Screening in Cannes on Saturday.

In a rare move, David Kosse’s

Film4 has taken rights to the doc biopic about the singer ahead of its debut, despite not being part of the film’s original finance.

The deal was struck with Alison Thompson’s Cornerstone, which handles rights to the film.

The UK broadcaster is understood to have been a long-time fan of Senna director Kapadia.

Kosse has spoken recently about the need for the funder to see commercial as well as creative returns on its slate.

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News

Dutch pilot fund cracks the Code

By Geoffrey Macnab

Details have emerged of the regional film fund being set up in the Dutch province of Limburg.

Tw o p r o j e c t s h a v e already been supported by the new Limburg Fund, which is at pilot stage.

Code M directed by Dennis Bots (Cool Kids Don’t Cry) is the first film to have been supported by the fund. The adventure film will be launched for presales in Cannes by Sola Media ahead of its planned release next month. It is produced by Harro van Staverden of Bijker Film.

The second project sup-

in brief eOne backs Gervais eOne in association with BBC Films has come on board to finance Ricky Gervais’ upcoming Life On The Road featuring his character from The Office, David Brent. eOne will distribute in the UK, Australia and New Zealand and handle world sales.

Search finds opener Search Engine Films has acquired Canadian rights from Elle Driver to Cannes festival opener Standing Tall.

IM launches Valor IM Global and talent managers Carlos Bobadilla and Brandon Guzman have launched joint venture management and production company Valor Entertainment Group with a focus on Latino talent.

Warner to open Gifts Warner Bros Pictures is to release zombie thriller She Who Brings Gifts in the UK, starring Gemma Arterton and Paddy Considine.

Altitude handles sales.

10 Screen International at Cannes May 14, 2015

Code M

ported by the Limburg Fund is Playboy Priest, produced by Reinier Selen at Rinkel Film.

Investment levels from the fund are capped at $225,000 (¤200,000) but it is anticipated that amount may rise when the fund is officially launched.

Support from the fund can be combined with money that producers access through the recently launched Netherlands Film Production Incentive.

Limburg has also appointed its own film commissioner, Guido Franken of Cinesud.

Cinephil proves a bold Believer

By Geoffrey Macnab

Sales agent Cinephil has taken world rights, excluding North America, to controversial Tribeca title Among The Believers.

The film, directed by Hemal Trivedi and Mohammed Ali Naqvi, offers an unsettling insight into radical Islamic school Red Mosque, which trains

legions of children to devote their lives to jihad from a very young age.

North American sales are handled by Submarine. The film is a market premiere here in Cannes.

Also on Cinephil’s slate is

By Sidney Lumet, a doc screening in Cannes Classics, centred on the director of films such as Serpico.

Buyers battle for Sevastopol

By Geoffrey Macnab

Epic Second World War film Battle For Sevastopol has been snapped up by several territories in advance of its screening in the Cannes market.

Deals now confirmed include Japan (New Select), South Korea (Sonamu), Bulgaria (BNT) and Thailand (Digital Content Fac-

tory Co), according to Russian producer Mila Rozanova.

Advance negotiations are ongoing with other major territories including China, France and the UK. Co-producer Film UA is handling sales on the Russia (New People Film Company), Ukraine (Kinorob) co-production.

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DIARY

The big dance

BY ANDREAS WISEMAN

Sergei Polunin, the James Dean of the ballet world, is no longer a rebel without a cause.

The magnetic 25-year-old, widely considered one of the most naturally talented dancers of his generation, has a renewed passion for the craft he spectacularly walked away from three years ago.

“Ballet is still on the agenda,” says the tattooed and tortured dancer, a former principal for the Royal Ballet, with a laugh. “I’m currently waiting to go to Moscow

BY WENDY MITCHELL

Nearly 40 years after her death, 2015 looks to be the year of Eileen Gray, the designer, modernist and architect behind iconic villa E-1027. The Irish-Anglo architect, who lived much of her life in France, is now the subject of Mary McGuckian’s feature The Price Of Desire, which is being prepared as part of an eight-strand project devoted to the architect.

Gray had already been through several career shifts by the time she started work on E-1027 (an hour’s drive from Cannes) in 1924.

She later lost the house, and Le Corbusier stepped in and painted murals on the walls and didn’t acknowledge Gray’s authorship.

McGuckian, another Irish woman living partly in France, and who happened to study engineering, was drawn to Gray’s story for many reasons. “It became

to work on a new piece for the Bolshoi.”

Polunin’s fascinating journey is laid bare in documentary biopic Dancer, directed by Steven Cantor and produced by Gaby Tana (Philomena). WestEnd is selling and showing a promo here.

“Ultimately I hope it’s a celebration of dance,” says Tana.

“There is a lot of dance in it. But it’s a portrait of a dancer and what that life entails. It’s about the gift and the responsibility.”

Four years in the making,

Price Of Desire

Designs and desire fairly metaphoric about the lack of recognition for female artists,” McGuckian says. “It’s a lifetime of little insidious chauvinistic events, no singular massive event.

“The story is really a dialogue between herself and Le Corbusier

14 Screen International at Cannes May 14, 2015

Tomorrow

Mostly cloudy

Partly sunny with showers

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Edited by Wendy Mitchell wendy.mitchell@screendaily.com

Dancer

Today

Dancer, currently in post-production, is choreographed by Emmywinning director Ross MacGibbon and photographer David LaChapelle. The latter is a regular collaborator with Polunin, directing him in the music video for Hozier’s Take Me To Church.

“The video was going to be my last dance but, after meeting Gaby and David, I have got some inspiration back,” says Polunin.

When he quit ballet, he was tempted by a big-screen career.

“I was interested in going to Hollywood,” admits the Ukrainian. “It was a dream. But something has pulled me back to ballet again.”

Film has long informed his career, however. “I get my inspiration from movies,” he says. “I love certain actors, watching how they move; their movements inspire me. Mickey Rourke [whose name is tattooed on Polunin’s forearm] has been an inspiration.”

Polunin will collaborate with Rourke on a new film from Tana and LaChapelle (the latter will direct and write), which will bring together actors and dancers.

For now, he hopes Dancer can help make ballet more accessible.

“Ballet needs to become more democratic. It’s public but not open… I want to do ballet movies, to combine theatre and movies.”

and Le Corbusier’s promoter… it’s the story around that house; it’s not a biopic,” she adds. Orla Brady plays Gray with Vincent Perez taking on Le Corbusier.

The production was allowed to shoot in E-1027 and even helped with restoration work that saw the house opened to the public.

Buyers seeking a respite from the Palais might consider a trip, with sales firm The Little Film Company arranging daily visits.

The narrative feature is just one component of the Gray package: there is also documentary Gray Matters by Marco Orsini, a biography, exhibitions, photography, villa tours, music and a video game.

The Little Film Company is showing scenes of The Price Of Desire today at noon in Riviera 1, and a summer launch is planned theatrically in Ireland with more territories to follow.

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Q&A GRIMUR HAKONARSON

The director and one of the sheep

Icelandic director Grimur Hakonarson first came to Cannes with short Slavek The Shit in 2005. He’s back a decade later with Rams, the story of estranged farming brothers who must reconcile to save their sheep from slaughter after a disease outbreak. The Un Certain Regard selection premieres tomorrow; New Europe handles sales.

Why was this a story you wanted to tell?

I have roots in the countryside.

My parents grew up on a farm and I worked on a farm when I was a teenager. I was familiar with this world. There are not many people telling stories like this.

My grandmother was born in the valley where we shot. It’s a very personal film for me. My grandparents were farmers and it’s a tribute to their values.

What’s special about sheep?

In the Icelandic culture, the sheep have a history very connected to our history. Sheep farming was the main livelihood. Sheep kept the nation alive. Sheep farming is

now dying out a little bit, but still there are strong emotional ties.

What was it like shooting in this remote valley?

Visually it was beautiful. The environment there is isolated; it feels like the end of civilisation.

What was it like working with the sheep?

We had a sheep casting. We met a lot of sheep. They had to look good so you believe they are this special breed, but they also had to be calm and easy to work with.

Sometimes when I called ‘action’ it was like the sheep went into character. It was quite amazing.

Your two lead actors are brave…

There are nude scenes, and they didn’t have a problem with that.

They wanted to go further!

What are you working on next?

It’s a rural lesbian movie. Some films about the countryside can be exaggerated and not respectful. I want to make a more realistic image of these people.

Wendy Mitchell

Rams

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Reviews

» My Mother p18 » Standing Tall p22 » Krisha p22

Reviews edited by Fionnuala Halligan finn.halligan@screendaily.com

My Mother Reviewed by Lee Marshall By rights, Nanni Moretti’s new film My Mother (Mia Madre) shouldn’t add up to much. Two middle-aged siblings watch their mother die, relatively peacefully, over several weeks. One is a brittle, neurotic director struggling to complete a “positive, energy-filled” film about laidoff workers; the other a mild-mannered engineer. The mother duly departs (no spoilers here: it’s flagged from the start). The film ends.

Competing in Cannes after opening in Italy on April 16, My Mother has none of the deathof-a-child shock factor and tragic catharsis of Moretti’s 2001 Palme d’Or winner The Son’s Room, and only measured doses of the acerbically comic critique of Italian social and political mores that have endeared Moretti’s work to international audiences in films such as Dear Diary (Caro Diario) or We Have A Pope (Habemus Papam).

But its relatively tranquil surface, its small amusements (many of these revolving around a

18 Screen International at Cannes May 14, 2015

Competition It-Fr. 2015. 106mins Director Nanni Moretti Production companies Sacher Film, Fandango, Le Pacte, Arte France Cinema International sales Films Distribution, www. filmsdistribution.com Producers Nanni Moretti, Domenico Procacci Screenplay Nanni Moretti, Francesco Piccolo, Valia Santella Cinematography Arnaldo Catinari Main cast Margherita Buy, John Turturro, Giulia Lazzarini, Nanni Moretti, Beatrice Mancini

tasty turn by John Turturro as a histrionically insecure American leading man), its moments of touching, almost Sirkian melodrama, above all its ability to tease resonant themes out of seemingly inconsequential scenes or lines of dialogue, make for a film that is greater than the sum of its parts.

Declaredly inspired by the death of Moretti’s own mother during the editing of We Have A Pope, My Mother is one of the Roman director’s least showy films, but also one of those that most successfully rises above his personal tics and mannerisms to achieve a kind of universal pathos — even as it rejects grand universal statements in favour of the muddled everyday.

Granted, it takes a while to get there. The film opens on the set of another film that director Margherita (Margherita Buy, in a career-best performance) is shooting, before switching to the hospital bed where her frail, elderly mother Ada is being cared for (a fine, affecting account by theatre actress Giulia Lazzarini).

My Mother takes a perverse pleasure in ordinariness, dwelling on banal hospital details such as the drip, the half-eaten yoghurt or the blood-monitoring finger clip. People say the kind of reassuring or empty things people in hospitals actually say.

The film within the film — which centres on, and sympathises with, a group of workers who occupy their factory in a protest against planned lay-offs — holds back from an outand-out parody of socially engaged cinema.

Margherita’s film is unlikely to be terrible — just dull and well-meaning.

For Moretti-philes, there will be a certain pleasure in the deliberate cross-casting of Buy as a feminised version of Moretti, a director with an impressive array of neuroses and people issues, while Moretti himself plays her elder brother Giovanni, a male spinster with a mother complex who is so derailed by Ada’s illness that he thinks nothing of quitting his safe, high-profile engineering job. At the same time though, he is a calm harbour in the storm of Margherita’s growing feelings of inadequacy and self-doubt.

Like Margherita’s daughter Livia (Beatrice Mancini), whose struggle with Latin at her topflight Roman lyceum is perhaps not unrelated to the fact grandma was a Latin teacher, all three members of Ada’s immediate family are unsettled in subtle and unexpected ways by a death which is pre-announced, but no less traumatic for all that.

Perhaps it was the need to counter-balance the downer of a feature-length death that led Moretti and his co-scripters to introduce the film’s only purely comic role — Turturro’s Barry Huggins. Huggins is the self-obsessed US actor who has been engaged to play the role of the ruthless new cost-cutting boss in Margherita’s film within the film. But his pretensions — incarnated in a story of being courted by Kubrick — are soon punctured.

At times, especially early on, the broad slapstick of these scenes jars in what is otherwise an intimate family drama. But gradually the script reveals common themes. One is inauthenticity, a preoccupation both of the wannabe methodactor Turturro, and of his director, whose guilt at not being able to express simple emotions — love, grief, sympathy — racks up her nervous energy to the point where bad dreams begin to invade her waking life.

One of Moretti’s minor-key works, My Mother leaves the audience to make connections, and those who are bored by its sometimes drab surface (figured in the anywhere cityscapes of a suburban Rome that are a million miles from the glorious decadence of Sorrentino’s The Great Beauty) may be unwilling to make the effort. That’s their loss.

Screen Score

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Standing Tall Reviewed by Jonathan Romney The most down-to-earth Cannes opening film in living memory, Standing Tall (La Tete Haute) shows the festival flying the flag for the grand tradition of French social realism. As the title suggests, Emmanuelle Bercot’s film is a redemption drama ending on a high note — but it takes us over some rough terrain en route, in its story of a delinquent’s experiences in France’s juvenile justice system.

A turn to hard-tacks realism from writerdirector Bercot following her relaxed Catherine Deneuve vehicle On My Way (2013), Standing Tall is an honourable if rarely surprising addition to the tradition of French films about challenged childhoods — although it’s no 400 Blows.

The film’s prime distinction — which should give it moderate box-office clout when it opens domestically today — is a set of potent performances, from Deneuve and Benoit Magimel, but also from young newcomer Rod Paradot as anti-hero Malony.

The story begins with Malony aged six, showing up with his young single mother (Sara Forestier) in the Dunkirk office of juvenile judge Florence Blaque (Deneuve). The meeting erupts into one of the frenetic emotional splurges that too repetitively punctuate the film, but it establishes the parameters. To wit, Malony will have a

Opening Film, Out of Competition Fr. 2015. 119mins Director Emmanuelle Bercot Production company Les Films du Kiosque International sales Elle Driver, sales@elledriver.eu Producers Francois Kraus, Denis PineauValencienne Screenplay Emmanuelle Bercot, Marcia Romano Cinematography Guillaume Schiffman Editor Julien Leloup Production design Eric Barboza Main cast Catherine Deneuve, Rod Paradot, Benoit Magimel, Sara Forestier, Diane Rouxel

tough fight for survival given his anarchically dysfunctional upbringing.

An inveterate car thief and social rebel, Malony nevertheless has a tenacious surrogate aunt watching his back in the form of Mme Blaque — Deneuve incarnating unflappable

authority with characteristic grace. He also acquires a no-bullshit counsellor (Magimel), who isn’t afraid to show tough love in the form of the odd thump.

Magimel is the film’s ace card: the actor has entered a phase of leather-tough gravitas that gives him something of the authoritative presence of Gérard Depardieu in his prime. Forestier too makes her character appealingly vulnerable, although her tendency to overdo maman’s unruly personality isn’t helped by an awkward set of special-effects teeth.

Bercot and co-writer Marcia Romano don’t always show a sure hand in pacing the narrative, which mainly follows Malony, now aged 16, through various facilities and numerous clashes with authorities and peers, to diminishing effect. Worked for subtler emotional tones is Malony’s developing relationship with girlfriend Tess (a quietly tough turn from Diane Rouxel).

The use of classical music (Bach, Schubert, Arvo Pärt) is gratifyingly on-the-nose. Visually too, the film, though polished enough, often feels somewhat functional. But Standing Tall cannot be faulted for energy or seriousness. It offers a rare example of a troubled-teen drama in which the justice system is seen as entirely benevolent, and a source of succour to troubled souls. A cast of young supporting unknowns enhances the realist rawness.

Krisha Reviewed by Tim Grierson How do you solve a problem like Krisha? A jittery character drama that mixes tones and influences, the feature debut of writer-director-editor Trey Edward Shults does a very good job of finding fresh emotional terrain in a very familiar setup: a Thanksgiving meal tormented by the black sheep of the family. Krisha is a little bit of Terrence Malick by way of John Cassavetes, with a dash of psychological horror thrown in for spice. But even when the film-making falters, Krisha Fairchild’s unsettlingly intense lead performance dominates the movie, leaving us feeling as captive as the character’s wary kin.

Winner of the Grand Jury Prize and the Audience Award at South By Southwest, Krisha screens here as part of Critics’ Week. Featuring no stars and shot in a little over a week, it is poised to become a critics’ darling, with ambitious smaller distributors most likely to step up.

Theatrical business will probably be minor, but strong word-of-mouth on the festival circuit could make it an under-the-radar curiosity that adventurous film-goers will want to seek out.

As the film opens, Krisha (Krisha Fairchild) arrives at the house of her sister Robyn (Robyn Fairchild) for a Thanksgiving feast that will fea-

22 Screen International at Cannes May 14, 2015

Critics’ Week US. 2015. 81mins Director-screenwritereditor Trey Edward Shults Production company Hoody Boy Productions International sales Visit Films, info@visitfilms.com Producers Justin R Chan, Trey Edward Shults, Wilson Smith, Chase Joliet Cinematography Drew Daniels Music Brian McOmber Main cast Krisha Fairchild, Robyn Fairchild, Bill Wise, Chris Doubek, Olivia Grace Applegate, Alex Dobrenko, Chase Joliet, Trey Edward Shults

ture several generations of her family. The occasion isn’t entirely festive, though. Unspecified personal demons have plagued Krisha in the past, and now she is hoping to make amends and show everyone she has changed. But there is a palpable apprehension within the group, especially from her estranged son Trey (Shults).

Krisha is about a family in turmoil and Shults (expanding on his 2014 short) has drawn inspiration from events in his own family. Further blurring the line between fact and fiction, his

aunt plays Krisha, while his mother portrays Robyn. Not surprisingly, then, the film can sometimes be hampered by a self-indulgent streak, as the expository dialogue between characters begins to resemble therapy sessions.

But Krisha’s occasional navel-gazing is mitigated by Krisha Fairchild’s raw performance, constructing the character out of hints and dark asides. We learn alcoholism forms part of her problems, but the actress suggests unchecked mental and emotional issues could be factors, too. Krisha grumbles to herself, veers between sweetness and rancour, and sometimes slips into a melancholy funk. Brian McOmber’s anxious electronic score seems to respond to Krisha’s fluctuating moods, which complements the skittish, unpredictable performance.

Shults got his start working on Malick films such as The Tree Of Life, spending time in the camera department. Viewers will be able to spot Malick’s fingerprints on some of Krisha’s meditative, floating-through-the-air atmosphere shots.

But instead of the profoundly lovely, almost spiritual tone of The Tree Of Life, Shults and cinematographer Drew Daniels use the technique to suggest disorientation, finding a way to visualise the tension and resentment lingering beneath the surface of this family get-together.

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ARABIAN NIGHTS

By MIGuEl GOMES Portugal / France / Germany Switzerland, 2015, 380 min.

World Sales: The Match Factory GmbH www.the-match-factory.com

SCREENINGS IN CANNES: VOl 1: THE RESTlESS ONE, 124 min

Office Cannes: La Bagatelle, 25 La Croisette T +33 (0)4 93 99 13 36

Saturday May 16, 11:45, Théâtre Croisette Saturday May 16, 17:30, Théâtre Croisette Saturday May 16, 18:00, Star 1 M Sunday May 17, 18:30, Studio 13 Monday May 18, 16:00, Olympia 5 M VOl 2: THE DESOlATE ONE, 131 min Monday May 18, 09:00, Théâtre Croisette Monday May 18, 17:30, Théâtre Croisette Monday May 18, 18:15, Olympia 5 M Tuesday May 19, 18:30, Studio 13 VOl 3: THE ENCHANTED ONE, 125 min Wednesday May 20, 09:00, Théâtre Croisette Wednesday May 20, 17:15, Théâtre Croisette Thursday May 21, 18:30, Studio 13

IN THE SHADOW OF WOMEN By B y PHIlIPPE GARREl l

France / Switzerland, 2015, 73 min.

World Rights: SBS Productions | T +33 (0)1 45 63 66 60 | contact@sbs-productions.com

SCREENINGS IN CANNES: Thursday May 14, 09:00, Théâtre Croisette Thursday May 14, 19:30, Théâtre Croisette Friday May 15, 12:00, Olympia 8 Friday May 15, 14:00, le Raimu Friday May 15, 15:15, Théâtre Croisette Friday May 15, 18:30, Studio 13 Saturday May 16, 11:30, Arcades 1 Sunday May 17, 18:00, Olympia 8

Connect with SWISS FIlMS at the Village International in Cannes, Pavilion No. 121 info@swissfilms.ch | T: +33 (0)4 92 59 00 11 Discover all Swiss films at the Festival de Cannes 2015 in our e-booklet

Promotional Feature

Grazyna and Kiejstut Bacewicz Academy of Music in Lodz

The interior of Saint Stanislaus church in Boguszyce

On the set of Pawel Pawlikowski’s Ida

Lodz: ready to compete The Polish city of Lodz boasts world-class technicians, a thriving cultural scene and an innovative film commission, as well as pristine locations and untouched architecture. No wonder it’s a location on the rise

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he city of Lodz lies in the heart of Poland, a country bordered by Germany, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Belarus, Ukraine and Russia. Mirroring its location, Lodz (pronounced ‘Woodge’) plays a central role in the country’s film and TV production activities as well as a vital part in developing Polish ambitions to lure international film-makers to set up shop despite several challenges.

While having to overcome an enormous fiscal disadvantage — Poland offers no national or local government backed financial incentives for film and TV unlike almost all of its European neighbours — Lodz is on the map for reasons both current and historical.

Poland’s third largest city, after Warsaw and Krakow, boasts its own film commission, various annual cultural festivals and is also home to the prestigious Lodz Film School. The school opened its doors in 1948 just after the end of the Second World War and famous alumni — many of whom jetted off to Hollywood and beyond to ply their trade — include Oscar-winning film-maker

26 Screen International at Cannes May 14, 2015

Roman Polanski (The Pianist) and Oscar honouree Andrzej Wajda, along with a who’s who of celebrated DoPs including Andrzej Bartkowiak (Speed, Falling Down) and Adam Holender (Midnight Cowboy).

Leading the charm offensive locally and internationally is the relatively youthful Lodz Film Commission (LFC), a city-backed organisation set up in 2009 and a member of global umbrella organisation the Association of Film Commissioners International. But with no big-ticket financial incentives to rival the draw of its cross-border neighbours, LFC is hoping a strategy of reputation building and the offer of help from the city will pay off in the long run. From small acorns, giant oaks can grow.

Plan of action “We are trying to find other solutions to help us compete to attract international productions,” says Lodz film commissioner Monika Glowacka. “We are trying to create a dedicated fund for co-productions, which would be paid for directly by the city for next year [2016].”

‘We are trying to create a dedicated fund for co-productions’ Monika Glowacka, Lodz Film Commission

The city has created a series of small, local incentives for film and documentary makers.

These include a 90% reduction in the price of the permit required to mount a shoot on the city’s roads and highways. And it will also discount city permits by 85% for film-makers taking cameras into its city parks and public squares during the shoot. It means producers pay just $10.70 (¤10) for every $107 (¤100) demanded by the permit cover price to close down the city’s main drag Piotrkowska Street — which boasts a Hollywood-style star walk of fame. Lodz has a road layout that mirrors New York City, while its film school and walk of fame has helped the city earn the nickname HollyWoodge.

LFC can lay claim to growing the business for the city since its set up and offers a small local film fund for Polish productions.

“When we started the film commission in 2009 we had three projects. Now we’ve got 20 different projects from feature films, TV series, TV programmes, documentaries and advertising and the numbers are growing,” Glowacka says.

LFC also works with the city’s film school

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Orthodox church in Piotrkow Trybunalski

Uniontex Factory in Lodz

Piotrkowska Street

Jan Komasa’s Warsaw 44

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Kinderman’s Villa in Lodz

to help second-year students find suitable projects and receive invaluable on-the-job training during their studies.

Recent international projects to have shot in the city include Pawel Pawlikowski’s Oscar-winning Ida, Cellin Gluck’s debut feature Persona Non Grata and Agnieszka Holland’s In Darkness to TV shows such as Great Continental Railway Journeys for the BBC and a Snoop Lion project that coupled Polish singer Iza Lach with the rapper’s reggae incarnation. Lodz has also been the go-to location for a host of high-profile Polish projects such as Jan Komasa’s Warsaw 44, about the 1944 uprising.

Natural selection The city is home to Opus Film Studios, which includes an 800 sq m sound stage, equipped with lighting catwalks, winches, an artificial horizon and full back-up facilities with everything from make-up rooms and costumes to set-building workshops.

Post-production outfit Toya Sound Studios is also located in what was one of only two Polish towns, along with Krakow, not to have been razed to the ground during the Second World War.

As a result of avoiding the destruction, Lodz and the region of which it is the capital, offers a heady mix of old and new, with palace complexes such as Biedermann, medieval castle towns, Second World War bunkers, 19th-century mills and churches dating back to the 12th century. And the region also boasts forests, a cave system, peat bogs and marshes as well as a brown coal open-cast mine so large it is visible from space.

Polish, Jewish, German and Russian communities all arrived to build fortunes, shape the city and influence Lodz’s present-day look and feel. It emerged in the 19th century as a textile industry centre for which it became known as the Manchester of the Russian empire, referencing the Northern English town’s wealth-creating industry. After the war the film school stayed in Lodz after initial plans to move it to Warsaw were shelved, boosting the city’s cultural and film influence.

Pawlikowski described Lodz as a “melancholy place but with a great beauty” in an interview for US publication The Jewish Week, before noting it was a relatively inexpensive place to make a movie.

Lodz is just over 100km southwest of the Polish capital Warsaw, which boasts an international airport with direct flights to and from Chicago and New York as well as hops from Germany, Italy, France and the Netherlands among others. Direct flights to Lodz land from the Netherlands, the UK, Ireland and Norway.

Visiting international talent can take in the view of the city from the roof terrace of the four-star Andel’s Hotel, a renovated former red-brick textile factory. And on rest days events include Triennale of Textiles, a nod to the city’s heritage as the world’s oldest event dedicated to the art of textiles, a biannual fashion festival, an international festival of photography, Lodz Design Festival and Tansman International Festival of Music Personalities.

Quirkier annual events include the International Festival of Pleasant and Unpleasant Plays, the Urban Forms Festival, celebrating street art, and — since 1991 — comic-book creators and enthusiasts have visited the International Festival of Comics and Games.

Lodz is ready to compete.

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feature Hong Kong & china

Wild City is Ringo Lam’s first film in seven years. See page 38

Buzz titles

Hong Kong & China While China’s box office is booming, Hong Kong producers are targeting both mainland and international audiences, and their Beijing-based counterparts are taking their first steps overseas. Liz Shackleton reports

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ot that anyone really doubted it, but the recent success of Universal’s Fast & Furious 7 has proved yet again that China’s box office is a force to be reckoned with. At the time of writing, the James Wan-directed sequel had grossed $389m and was still going strong.

Based on advance ticket sales, Avengers: Age Of Ultron, released in China on May 12, could be an even bigger hit, while earlier this year The Hobbit: The Battle Of The Fives Armies grossed $123m. But the success enjoyed by Hollywood tentpoles doesn’t mean local productions are suffering.

At the end of each year, domestic films have a more than 50% share of the China box office — and although that result is partly achieved through strategic scheduling, there is no doubt local producers have been fast learners when it comes to the demands of China’s ever-expanding cinema audience.

Over the Chinese New Year holiday in February, three local films grossed more than $100m: Wong Jing’s gambling caper From Vegas To Macau 2, which took

30 Screen International at Cannes May 14, 2015

$160m; Jackie Chan’s ‘swords-and-sandals reach China’ epic Dragon Blade ($117m); and Jean-Jacques Annaud’s Sino-French wilderness tale Wolf Totem ($110m). Those results helped push China’s first-quarter box office to $1.5bn, up 40% on the same period in 2014, with local productions taking a 66% market share.

Supplementing those seasonal hits has been an increasingly steady diet of comedies, nostalgia-drenched romantic dramas, reality TV show spin-offs and occasional actions films and thrillers. Recent successes include Wu Jing’s Wolf Warriors, which grossed $87m in April, and romantic drama You Are My Sunshine, which opened on April 30 and took $38m in its first four days.

Broader reach Now that China’s third and fourth-tier cities are visiting theatres for the first time, CGI-heavy films that make best use of the cinematic experience can expect to do well. But many local films are smaller in scale and reflect the concerns of a newly minted middle class

— exploring ethical dilemmas and situational comedy that first-world economies went through in the 1950s and Asia’s ‘tiger economies’ a few decades later. As a result, many of these films don’t travel — even to neighbouring Chinese-speaking territories such as Taiwan and Hong Kong.

There are exceptions, but on the whole Hong Kong producers continue to lead the export charge for Chinese-language movies. Many of the Hong Kong films in production have elements that will help them travel; the long list includes John Woo’s Manhunt, Johnnie To’s Three, Dante Lam’s To The Fore, Benny Chan’s Deadly Reclaim, Wilson Yip’s Ip Man 3 and Ringo Lam’s first film in seven years, Wild City. In addition to the track record of these directors, Hong Kong producers tend to focus on genres such as action, crime thrillers and horror that international audiences can relate to.

Hong Kong film-makers also continue to be the creative force behind many mainland hits. Recent successes in mainland China — including The Taking Of Tiger Mountain, Dragon Blade, From

Vegas To Macau 2 and Zhong Kui: Snow Girl And The Dark Crystal — were all driven by Hong Kong directors, even if they weren’t majority financed by Hong Kong companies. Interestingly, these mainland-oriented films usually fail at the Hong Kong box office.

But while they may be focused on their huge domestic market for now, mainland producers are taking notes and occasionally bringing on board US sellers to help with their sales efforts. IM Global is making a big push for Wuershan’s The Ghouls at Cannes; co-produced by Wanda Pictures, Huayi Brothers and Enlight Pictures, the film is an ambitious treasure-hunt saga based on hit online novel Ghost Blows Out The Light.

Lu Chuan has also directed a film based on a different section of the novel for Beijing-based Le Vision Pictures, scheduled for a September release. Meanwhile, Zhang Yimou is directing English-language epic The Great Wall, starring Matt Damon and Andy Lau, for Legendary Pictures. As the market develops, it’s inevitable that more projects will be fine-tuned for global as well as domestic tastes. »

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NEWS

Hollywood Adventures

A Tale Of Three Cities

A Tale Of Three Cities Dirs Mabel Cheung, Alex Law Following their success with Hong Kong-set Echoes Of The Rainbow, Mabel Cheung and Alex Law are tackling a mainland-set drama about a couple torn apart from their children during the second Sino-Japanese war in the 1930s.

Sean Lau Ching-wan plays a former spy in the Nationalist party who falls for an opium-peddling widow played by Tang Wei. The story is loosely based on the experiences of Jackie Chan’s parents, which Cheung and Law previously explored in 2003 documentary Traces Of A Dragon. Produced by Huayi Brothers, the film is in post-production.

Contact Leslie Chen, IM Global leslie_chen@imglobalfilm.com

Deadly Reclaim Dir Benny Chan Sean Lau Ching-wan, Louis Koo and Eddie Peng star in the latest epic action film from Benny Chan (The White Storm, Shaolin), which is in production for delivery at the end of the year. Set during the warlords era after the fall of the Qing Dynasty, the story revolves around a plucky group of villagers standing up to a cruel young general. Universe Entertainment is producing the $25m film, which has Sammo Hung on board as action choreographer.

franchise, produced by Andrew Lau, is scheduled to start shooting in July with Chow Yun Fat, Nick Cheung and Carina Lau reprising their roles. While the first film in the gambling caper series grossed $85m in 2014, the second doubled that with a box-office haul of $160m this year. Both were released over Chinese New Year, a traditional time for tales of high rollers, and the third instalment is expected to be a huge hit when it is released over the same holiday period in 2016.

Contact Angela Wong, Mega-Vision Project Workshop angelaolwong@mvphk.biz

The Ghouls Dir Wuershan Based on a bestselling novel, this 3D fantasy adventure revolves around a trio of legendary grave-robbers who come out of semi-retirement in New York to raid the secrets and treasures of China’s ancient tombs. Chen Kun, Huang Bo, Shu Qi and Angelababy head the cast of the film, which is co-produced by Wanda Pictures, Huayi Brothers and Enlight Media, and is being lined up for a December 2015 release. Wuershan previously directed Painted Skin: The Resurrection and The Butcher, The Chef And The Swordsman.

Contact Leslie Chen, IM Global leslie_chen@imglobalfilm.com

Contact Alice Leung, Universe Films Distribution alice_leung@uih.com.hk

Hollywood Adventures

From Vegas To Macau 3

Justin Lin, the Taiwan-born director behind the latter Fast & Furious films, produced this Chinese-language romantic comedy set in Los Angeles. Huang Xiaoming and Tong Dawei star as two

Dir Wong Jing The third instalment in Wong Jing’s wildly popular From Vegas To Macau

32 Screen International at Cannes May 14, 2015

Dir Timothy Kendall

Kill Time

best friends competing for the affections of a woman, played by Zhao Wei. Coproduced by Beijing Enlight Pictures and Seven Stars Entertainment, the film is being readied for a wide release on June 26.

Contact Yamin Zhang, Enlight Pictures zhangyamin@ewang.com

Ip Man 3 Dir Wilson Yip Mike Tyson is set to do battle with Donnie Yen in the third instalment of Pegasus Motion Pictures’ hit franchise about the life of Bruce Lee’s Wing Chun master. Currently shooting in China, the 3D kung-fu biopic is directed by Wilson Yip from a script by Edmond Wong and also stars Lynn Hung, Max Zhang and Patrick Tam. Well Go USA pre-bought North America and a slew of other territories on the film, which is scheduled for release over Chinese New Year 2016.

Contact Kat Yeung, Pegasus Motion Pictures kathy.yeung@pegasusmovie.com

Kill Time Dir Fruit Chan Following his critical and commercial success with The Midnight After, Hong Kong maverick film-maker Fruit Chan has directed a thriller starring Angelababy and Ethan Juan for Emperor Motion Pictures. The story follows a girl who goes online to the ‘Witch’s Zone’ to find her late father’s favourite song and ends up unleashing a torrent of memories and clues to an unsolved murder.

Produced by Li Rui, the film is in postproduction.

Contact May Yip, Emperor Motion Pictures mayyip@emperorgroup.com

Little Big Master Dir Adrian Kwan Adrian Kwan’s social drama, starring Miriam Yeung and Louis Koo, was a big hit in Hong Kong, grossing $5.7m following its March release. Based on a true story, the film follows an enthusiastic »

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feature Hong Kong & china

tasy adventure. Jing Boran, Bai Baihe and Tang Wei head the cast of the film, about a monster king who tries to bring unity between monsters and humans.

Edko Films is producing, and behindthe-scenes talent includes production designer Yohei Taneda (Kill Bill) and costume designer Yee Chung Man (Curse Of The Golden Flower).

Contact Julian Chiu, Edko Films chiujulian@edkofilms.com.hk

Mountains May Depart Dir Jia Zhangke

Little Big Master

headmistress (Yeung) who runs a kindergarten for underprivileged children, despite low pay and growing pressure to shut down schools due to Hong Kong’s declining birth rate. Benny Chan, better known as a director of big-budget action movies, produced the film for Universe Entertainment.

Contact Alice Leung, Universe Films Distribution alice_leung@uih.com.hk

Manhunt Dir John Woo John Woo is directing this adaptation of a Japanese novel that was made into a hit 1976 Japanese film of the same name, starring legendary actor Ken Takakura, who passed away in November 2014.

Monster Hunt

36 Screen International at Cannes May 14, 2015

Screening in Competition at Cannes, Jia Zhangke’s Mountains May Depart follows a woman who ditches her coalminer boyfriend to marry a wealthier man at the end of the 1990s. The couple meet again in the present day when the woman is divorced and living alone in her home town. She discovers her son is moving to Australia with her ex-husband. France’s MK2 co-produced the film with Shanghai Film Group and Japan’s Office Kitano. Zhao Tao, Zhang Yi, Liang Jingdong and Sylvia Chang head the cast.

Woo is a huge fan of Takakura, who played a man framed for multiple murders who must evade the relentless pursuit of the police to clear his name. The project is in the final stages of scripting and is expected to start shooting later this year.

Kwok is replacing Donnie Yen, who starred in the original but couldn’t reprise the role due to a busy shooting schedule. Filmko Entertainment is again producing with mainland partners. The film is scheduled for release over Chinese New Year 2016.

Contact Fred Tsui, Media Asia frederick_tsui@mediaasia.com

Contact Jackie Poon, Filmko Entertainment jackie.cl.poon@gmail.com

Office

The Monkey King 2

Monster Hunt

Dir Soi Cheang

Dir Raman Hui

Aaron Kwok, Gong Li and Feng Shaofeng star in the $70m sequel to Soi Cheang’s 3D fantasy epic The Monkey King, based on Chinese classic Journey To The West. The film grossed more than $170m over Chinese New Year 2014.

After gaining fame as a supervising animator and lead character designer for films such as Antz and the Shrek franchise, Raman Hui is making his Chinese-language, live-action feature directorial debut with this $30m 3D fan-

Proving his versatility yet again, Johnnie To is directing Chow Yun Fat, Silvia Chang, Tang Wei and Eason Chan in this 3D big-screen adaptation of Chang’s musical Design For Living. Chang scripted and plays the lead role of an aggressive female corporate boss steering a company towards an IPO. To’s long-time writing partner Wai Ka-fai

Contact Juliette Schrameck, MK2 juliette.schrameck@mk2.com

Dir Johnnie To

Mountains May Depart

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SPL2 – A Time For Consequences

scripted the adaptation with Chang. Produced by To’s Milkyway Image and Shanghai Hairun Film & TV, the film is scheduled for release on June 12.

Contact Julian Chiu, Edko Films chiujulian@edkofilm.com.hk

Saving Mr Wu Dir Ding Sheng Ding Sheng’s latest crime thriller stars four award-winning actors — Andy Lau, Liu Ye, Wang Qianyuan and Wu Ruofu — in a story based on a true incident about the kidnapping of a Hong Kong star in Beijing. In post-production, the film is the first production of Ding’s Beijing Going Zoom Media Co and is co-financed by Shanghai New Culture Media Group and Beijing Skywheel Entertainment. Ding previously directed action thriller Police Story 2013 and action adventure Little Big Soldier,, both starring Jackie Chan.

Contact Clarence Tang, Golden Network Asia clarence@goldnetasia.com

SPL2 – A Time For Consequences Dir Soi Cheang Thai action star Tony Jaa stars in this loose sequel to 2005 action drama SPL, which is in post-production for release in summer 2015. The cast also includes Louis Koo, Wu Jing, Simon Yam a n d Z h a n g Ji n , while Wilson Yip, who directed the original, is producing with Paco Wong for Sun

38 Screen International at Cannes May 14, 2015

Entertainment Culture. The story follows a Hong Kong undercover policeman who ends up in a Thai prison and a local prison guard who agrees to help him escape in return for saving his daughter’s life through a bone-marrow transplant.

Worldwide contact Ricky Tse, Bravos Pictures ricky.tse@bravospictures.com Asia contact Lammy Li, Star Alliance lammyli@staralliancemovies.com

Three Dir Johnnie To Produced by Media Asia Films, the latest crime thriller from Johnnie To revolves around a showdown in a hospital involving a criminal with a bullet in his head, a policeman who is about to turn rogue and a surgeon from mainland China. Zhao Wei, Louis Koo and Wallace Chung head the cast of the film, which is in production and promises to be one of the director’s most action-packed thrillers.

Contact Fred Tsui, Media Asia frederick_tsui@ mediaasia.com

To The Fore Dir Dante Lam Dante Lam’s first sports drama delves deep into the action and psychological drama of competitive cycling. Two support riders or ‘domestiques’, (Left) To The Fore

Office

played by Eddie Peng and Shawn Dou, become disillusioned after helping a champion sprinter, played by Korea’s Choi Si-won, to win his race. They leave the sport but years later are inspired to form an amateur team to fight their way up from the bottom. Produced by Emperor Motion Pictures, the film is in post-production and is being lined up for an August 6 release.

Contact May Yip, Emperor Motion Pictures mayyip@emperorgroup.com

The Vanished Murderer Dir Lo Chi Leung A continuation of Lo Chi Leung’s The Bullet Vanishes, The Vanished Murderer revolves around a police inspector who follows an escaped female convict to a city struggling with corruption and an apparent wave of suicides. Sean Lau Ching-wan reprises his role as the police inspector, and Gordon Lam, Li Xiaolu and Jiang Yiyan also star. Derek Yee and Mandy Law produced for Beijing-based Le Vision Pictures. The film is in postproduction for delivery in the second half of 2015.

Contact Virginia Leung, Distribution Workshop virginia@ distributionworkshop.com

Wild City Dir Ringo Lam Ringo Lam’s first film in seven years is a fast-paced ‘Canto noir’ starring Louis Koo, Shawn Yue, Tong Liya and Simon Yam. The story follows a cop-turned-bar owner who befriends a drunken woman and finds himself pursued by her former lover and his thugs. The chase turns deadly when the bar owner’s deadbeat brother and a suitcase full of cash enter the picture. The film is in post-production for delivery in the second half of 2015.

Contact Virginia Leung, Distribution Workshop virginia@ distributionworkshop.com

Z Storm II Dir David Lam Pegasus Motion Pictures is lining up a sequel to David Lam’s hit crime thriller Z Storm, which revolved around Hong Kong’s Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC). Louis Koo is reprising his role as an investigator, while Chilam Cheung and Vic Chou join the cast. The film is in pre-production and scheduled to shoot in June.

Contact Kat Yeung, Pegasus Motion Pictures s kathy.yeung@pegasusmovie.com ■

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feature russia

Buzz titles Russia The past is dominating today’s box office in Russia as film-makers mine the country’s rich history for cinematic gems. Martin Blaney reports

R

ussian cinema had a good 2014 on the international festival circuit.

Andrey Zvyagintsev’s Leviathan played in Competition at Cannes, winning the best screenplay award and going on to worldwide festival and critical acclaim. Andrei Konchalovsky won the best

director Silver Lion at Venice for The Postman’s White Nights, while Yury Bykov’s The Fool was a hit at Locarno, and Ivan Tverdovsky’s debut Corrections Class was selected for Karlovy Vary among other festivals.

But this year the film industry is feeling the affect of the introduction of Western sanc-

Historical epics such as Alexey Uchitel’s Mathilde (above) are very much in vogue in Russia

tions, the weakening Russian rouble and a new anti-West political climate. Russia’s minister of culture Vladimir Medinsky, however, has managed to keep the Russian Cinema Fund’s budget stable at $60m (rub3bn) for 2015, and has indicated more attention will be paid to the quality of the funded films.

At the same time, Medinsky’s anti-profanity law for the mass media has not won him any friends in the film-making community.

While locally made animation such as The Snow Queen franchise has been increasingly successful at home and abroad, a spate of films marking the 70th anniversary of the end of the Second World War — such as Sergey Mokritsky’s Battle For Sevastopol and Renat Davletyarov’s The Dawns Here Are Quiet — are now being released.

Indeed, the Russian appetite for historical epics that look back to the country’s eventful past shows no sign of abating. Soon to be seen on screen is the Middle Ages (Andrey Kravchuk’s Viking) through to the 19th century (Alexey Uchitel’s Mathilde and Pavel Lungin’s The Queen Of Spades).

The weak rouble poses a particular challenge for Russia’s arthouse distributors, whose audience share contracted from 2.2% to 0.5% last year as the sector entered a period of consolidation. Bucking the trend is veteran player Sam Klebanov with his new outfit Arthouse, launched with US distributor Lorem Ipsum Corp. It will release independent and auteur cinema in Russia and the CIS. Arthouse’s first releases include Jafar Panahi’s Berlinale Golden Bear winner Taxi s and Ruben Ostlund’s Force Majeure. n

Russian films on the horizon

Crew

based on the 1971 sci-fi novel The Kid by Arkady and Boris Strugatsky.

Dir Nikolay Lebedev Produced by Nikita Mikhalkov’s TRITE Studio, Crew will be the second Russian film to be released in the Imax format. It sees the director of the ice-hockey blockbuster Legend No. 17 reunited with Russia’s answer to Brad Pitt, Danila Kozlovsky. He stars as a young pilot who is dismissed from military service for refusing to carry out an order. Now a commercial pilot, he and his crew are suddenly faced with life and death decisions.

Contact Anastasia Bankovskaya, Planeta Inform bankovskaya@planeta-inform.com

Kikoriki: Legend Of The Golden Dragon Dir Denis Chernov The next instalment in the Kikoriki (Smeshariki) franchise is a 3D animation about the loveable residents of peaceful Kikoriki Island. They are plunged headlong into a new adventure when the resident scientist invents an amazing device that swaps personality traits between people.

Contact Julia Osetinskaya, Production Center Riki julia@riki-group.com

42 Screen International at Cannes May 14, 2015

Contact Anton Mazurov, Antipode Sales & Distribution kerel@antipode-sales.biz

The Queen Of Spades Dir Pavel Lungin Kikoriki: Legend Of The Golden Dragon

Quackerz Dir Viktor Lakisov

Lungin is a Cannes regular who won the best director prize for Taksi-Blyuz in 1990. His latest, The Queen Of Spades (Dama Pik), is set in early 19th century Russia and is a psychological thriller based on Alexander Pushkin’s short story and Tchaikovsky’s eponymous opera.

This family animation about a group of ducks sees the emperor’s son and the commander’s daughter become friends as a conflict flares between the local Mandarin Ducks and the Military Mallards.

Contact Dmitry Rudovsky, Art Pictures Studio company@art-pictures.ru

Contact Anastasia Bankovskaya, Planeta Inform bankovskaya@planeta-inform.com

Dir Andrey Kravchuk

Space Mowgli Dir Alexey Fedorchenko A futuristic sci-fi thriller about a group of eco-technicians working on the planet Ark who discover a human child who has apparently been raised by aliens. It is

Viking Billed as Russia’s answer to Game Of Thrones, this historical action epic from the director of Admiral will star Danila Kozlovsky as Prince Vladimir opposite Svetlana Khodchenkova (The Wolverine) and Maksim Sukhanov.

It is set for release in spring 2017.

Contact Anastasia Bankovskaya, Planeta Inform bankovskaya@planeta-inform.com

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W

Profiles by Martin Blaney, Edna Fainaru, Sandy George, Melanie Goodfellow, Alexis Grivas, Elaine Guerini, Jeremy Kay, Geoffrey Macnab, Wendy Mitchell, Matt Mueller, Michael Rosser, Juan Sarda, Andreas Wiseman and WY Wong

hen I was appointed editor of Screen International, one of the features I was most looking forward to working on was Future Leaders. And I wasn’t surprised in the least to find out it’s one of the most popular pieces Screen publishes, and has been publishing, for the past several years. While the film industry can undoubtedly appear too obsessed at times with finding ‘the next’ whatever (actor, director, genre, trend, etc), there’s something exhilarating about shining a spotlight on the rising stars in the business, the people coming up in sales, acquisitions, distribution and producing.

Last year, Screen presented our Sales and Distribution Future Leaders. This year, we turn our focus back to the hot producers around the globe who we think will be the names to know in years to come. With our team of correspondents canvassing the inter-

Producers

FUTURE LEADERS national industry, we’ve selected 40 up-andcoming faces who, for the most part, are on their second or third feature and who are currently working on projects that will propel their careers to even greater heights. It was a huge challenge keeping the number to only 47 but I hope you’ll enjoy reading about every single name on our list.

It’s incredible how smart and savvy these young guns already are about the business of producing. Knowing how difficult it is for any producer to navigate the immense complexities of the film world, let alone new ones just finding their footing in the industry, we can’t help but be impressed by what they’ve already achieved. They all have exciting futures ahead of them and we look forward to toasting them in Cannes at a reception in partnership with Marché du Film’s Producers Network.

Matt Mueller, editor

» www.screendaily.com

May 14, 2015 Screen International at Cannes 45

future leaders producers

SÉbastien Aubert France Adastra Films s.aubert@adastra-films.com Past Projects Brides (dir. Tinatin Kajrishvili); Cigarette Candy, Jonathan’s Chest and Social Butterfly (shorts).

Up Next Christopher Radcliff and Lauren Wolkstein’s The Strange Ones, a feature version of their award-winning 2011 short.

Rashid Abdelhamid Palestine Made In Palestine Project madeinpal.project@gmail.com Past Projects Dégradé (dirs. Arab Nasser, Tarzan Nasser); Condom Lead (short).

Up Next Second untitled feature by the Nasser twins, set in a Gaza apartment block on the verge of destruction by Israeli forces.

Abdelhamid is the producer of Dégradé, a comedy set in the Gaza Strip, which is screening in Critics’ Week at Cannes.

The Palestinian architect and curator recounts how he fell into producing. “I was curating an event called ‘This Is Also Gaza’ to which I invited Arab and Tarzan [Nasser] and they ended up staying on,” says Abdelhamid, who is based in Amman, Jordan.

The trio started writing about their shared experiences in Gaza and went on to make the short Condom Lead, about a couple whose love life is interrupted by an Israeli bombing campaign. They submitted it to Cannes in 2013 for “fun”. To their surprise it was selected. “I gained about three or four years of work just by being in shorts competition in Cannes,” says Abdelhamid. Two years later, the trio are back with their debut feature Dégradé, about a group of women trapped in a beauty parlour during a battle between Hamas and a notorious Gaza clan over a stolen lion. Hiam Abbass stars.

Marine Arrighi de Casanova France contact@apsarafilms.fr

Past Projects Fidelio: Alice’s Odyssey (dir. Lucie Borleteau); Tuc Tuc (short).

Up Next Borleteau’s A Mon Seul Désir; Louise Arhex’s Les Petites Filles Sages Vont Au Paradis; Marion Laine’s Comment Rester Immobile Quand On Est En Feu.

“I’ve always known I would work in cinema as a producer,” says Arrighi de Casanova, who studied literature and cinema before entering France’s prestigious film school La Fémis. She co-created Apsara Films with production manager Isabelle Tillou and director Lucie Borleteau around the production of the latter’s award-winning debut feature, Fidelio: Alice’s Odyssey. The trio met in 2011 on the set of Lou Ye’s Paris-set Love And Bruises, a co-production between Why Not Productions, where Tillou and Borleteau both worked, and Les Films du Lendemain, where Arrighi de Casanova was employed as a junior producer for Kristina Larsen.

Arrighi de Casanova admits Fidelio: Alice’s Odyssey, produced in association with Why Not, represented a steep learning curve, especially on the financing side. She is now working on Borleteau’s next project, A Mon Seul Désir, and has four other films in development, including the latest feature from actressdirector Marion Laine, Comment Rester Immobile Quand On Est En Feu, an adaptation of a popular novel based on a former pop star’s experiences as a maternity nurse. “I like projects with strong narratives that tell a story,” says Arrighi de Casanova.

Simon Amberger Germany simon@neuesuper.de

Neuesuper

Past Projects Ada (dir. Mirjam Orthen); Eastalgia (dir. Daria Onyshchenko); Ice Flowers (short).

Up Next Enno Reese’s road movie Rock And Roll, which has backing from regional fund FFF Bayern; Paradise with writer-director Hans Weingartner (The Edukators).

After studying law in Passau, London and Berlin, Amberger decided to embark on a career in film and enrolled at University of Television and Film Munich (HFF). There, he joined forces with fellow students Korbinian Dufter and Rafael Parente to establish the production outfit Neuesuper in 2010.

Producing commercials has put the

46 Screen International at Cannes May 14, 2015

Apsara Films

company on a firm financial footing, and they have now produced their first feature, Germany-Ukraine-Serbia coproduction Eastalgia.

“Our passion was and has always been cinema and television,” Amberger says.

“One thing all Neuesuper projects have

Fresh out of European business school EMLYON, Aubert fell into producing in 2008 when he helped his old friend, film-maker David Guiraud, get his first short off the ground. The pair headed to Morocco to make Le Tonneau Des Danaïdes, where, recalls Aubert, “I found myself in a desert in the middle of the summer. It was the first time I’d attended a film shoot and I had to manage 30 people. On top of that, it rained — something that happens there once a decade.”

Both men survived, and so did their friendship. Le Tonneau Des Danaïdes toured 50 festivals worldwide and the company they founded to produce the short — Cannes-based Adastra Films — is still running. “Year after year we’ve been building up a crew that has become like a family,” says Aubert.

“It creates a very positive energy on every film.”

After an initial focus on shorts, Adastra is branching into features, recently co-producing Georgian director Tinatin Kajrishvili’s Brides (Patardzlebi), which premiered in the Berlinale’s Panorama section and went on to compete at Tribeca.

“We’re hoping to produce our second feature fully financed with private equity instead of subsidies.

That’s a big challenge for us,” Aubert says, smiling.

in common is the aim of commercial success. The pure arthouse film was never our goal. We are working on a road movie, a sci-fi thriller and an Englishlanguage noir Western.”

While he has nothing but praise for FFF Bayern as “a very reliable partner”, Amberger notes Neuesuper’s greatest challenge is in being able to finance genuine genre projects in Germany.

“Everything that isn’t a comedy, drama, literary adaptation or historical piece has an extremely hard time in Germany with the classical financing partners of the TV stations and funding institutions,” he says. “One shouldn’t forget Germany was once the genre world champion with films such as Metropolis and Nosferatu.”

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STEVE McQUEEN: THE MAN & LE MANS Directors: Gabriel Clarke, John McKenna “If we’re going to do this, we are going to do it right. No typical Hollywood bullshit - no clever twists, no perfect ending. It has to be pure. And if we’re going to do it about one race, it has to be Le Mans.” - Steve McQueen

CALLAS Director: Niki Caro Cast: Noomi Rapace The epic, enthralling romantic true story about the life and loves of the iconic opera superstar Maria Callas.

THE DEVIL

AND THE DEEP

BLUE SEA

Director: Bill Purple Cast: Jason Sudeikis, Maisie Williams, Jessica Biel, Paul Reiser, Mary Steenburgen Music: Justin Timberlake The story of a widower’s friendship with a most unusual young drifter.

Emotional, funny and life-affirming.

SAVE A BULLET FOR ME Director: Adam Rehmeier An intense action thriller, which takes no sides, and pulls no punches.

‘This is not your grandfather’s western’.

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FUTURE LEADERS PRODUCERS

JANNINE BARNES Australia Happening Films jbarnes@happeningfilms.com Past Projects Downriver (dir. Grant Scicluna), a slew of shorts including The Wilding, which played at Berlin 2012 and won the Iris Prize for best gay short.

Up Next Writer-director Scicluna’s mafia revenge comedy Pig’s Blood, which Screen Australia is supporting through development.

There’s much buzz around Downriver, Barnes’ feature debut for Level K, which is set for a Melbourne International Film Festival premiere later this year. She and

RUCHI BHIMANI India One-Eyed Turtle Films ruchibhimani@gmail.com Past Projects Ship Of Theseus (dir. Anand Gandhi), winner of a slew of festival awards; hybrid documentary short Newborns.

Up Next Fantasy creature feature Tumbad and documentary Proposition For A Revolution.

When Bhimani came to her first job as a producer, she had already worked in

MIKE BRETT & STEVE JAMISON UK info@archersmark.co.uk

Archer’s Mark

Past Projects BIFA-winning documentary Next Goal Wins (2014), which they directed and produced; as executive producers, War Book (dir. Tom Harper), which opened International Film Festival Rotterdam in 2014.

Up Next A feature-length version of Peter Middleton and James Spinney’s 2014 Sundance short Notes On Blindness, with backing from Arte France, BFI and Creative England. They have also signed a remake deal on Next Goal Wins with Jonathan Cavendish and Andy Serkis’s Imaginarium Studios.

50 Screen International at Cannes May 14, 2015

Downriver’s writer-director Grant Scicluna hope it will set them up to develop and produce other people’s films. After all, they met at a speed-dating event at which both were attending as producers.

“I liked his ideas more than anyone else’s,” says Barnes. “I will always want to do films with an edge and an intellectual and philosophical grounding. Australia has shied away from drama but it’s what goes wrong in life that makes it interesting.”

Barnes found Downriver’s low budget liberating, helped by her understanding of the numbers. She crossed into producing from production accounting and, prior to that, worked for the marketing department at Golden Harvest in Hong Kong.

“Having the responsibility of producing has been a great maturing process,” Barnes reveals. “To fight to get the best people and services, I had to overcome a tendency to self-moderate. It is amazing how many people say ‘yes’ but the quality of the prior work was a factor.”

film-making for more than 12 years, doing odd jobs in almost every conceivable department. “When I started working on Ship Of Theseus in 2010, my vast work experience in casting, art, editing and assisting finally found meaning,” she says.

Bhimani says the road hasn’t been easy and still presents challenges.

“The most difficult thing about producing in India has been establishing myself as a creative producer in a landscape where the ‘producer’ credit is typically understood to be a man with the moneybags,” she notes.

“There is little understanding of a producer being a creative partner so I’m grateful to have worked with directors who treat me as a collaborator.”

Attending the Film Independent Forum in Los Angeles and Sundance in Park City has helped Bhimani hone her identity as a creative producer.

Jamison (pictured left) and Brett (right) started out producing shorts before founding commercials company Archer’s Mark in 2008 to provide the financial foundations for their long-term ambitions in film. Their debut feature Next Goal Wins,, about the American Samoa football team’s seemingly hopeless World Cup qualification efforts, was released to acclaim last year, followed by their first foray into

EVA BLONDIAU Germany Color Of May blondiau@colorofmay.com Past Projects Award-winning short The Swing Of The Coffin Maker and Torn, a short that premiered in Directors’ Fortnight in Cannes 2014.

Up Next Engin Kundag’s feature debut Angst; Otar’s Death, from Georgian film-maker Soso Bliadze, about an accident that changes the lives of two families.

JULIETTE BONASS

Ireland Element Pictures jbonass@gmail.com Past Projects Comedy drama Get Up And Go (dir. Brendan Grant), released in Ireland last year; Glassland (dir. Gerard Barrett), a hit at Sundance earlier this year.

Up Next In post-production on A Date For Mad Mary by writer-director Darren Thornton. Developing projects with Irish production and distribution powerhouse Element, with whom she works as producer for hire.

“I love comedies and I love social realism and drama,” says Bonass.

“They are total opposites but I have been lucky enough to have worked on both over the years and would like to continue to do that.”

She recognises the importance of fostering a safe environment for actors, writers and directors to get first-rate results. “Forming an environment for the artists around me to feel comfortable enough to do their best work and to create is important. This means organising everything as accurately as possible.

“It goes without saying, it’s important to be nice,” she adds.

“People really radiate towards positive and pleasant personalities and will work their hardest for those they feel care about them and their job.”

fiction, War Book, which they also financed.

Their slate focuses strongly on real-world stories and topics and while

Film-making as a profession became a reality for Blondiau when she won the Student Oscar in 2012 for The Swing Of The Coffin Maker, her graduation film from Cologne’s international film school (ifs). But Blondiau had long harboured a dream of making films thanks to her father, a commissioning editor and programme maker at German public broadcaster WDR. “I wanted to have my own production company when I was a teenager,” she says. “What attracted me was the storytelling, working with different international partners, learning about new cultures and travelling.”

After a stint working in the US, Blondiau returned to Germany to study and make documentaries before enrolling at ifs. “I received some important tools during my studies but producing for real is something you only learn by doing,” she says. “The first projects were very instructive in this respect. The choice of the people you work with is essential.

“The package has to suit us. We are very open in terms of content, so, with the right package, we would also produce more commercial projects.”

they view the UK production landscape as being in a state of flux, they also see opportunities. “The pace of change is creating numerous opportunities for entrepreneurial producers,” notes Jamison. “UK talent continues to be among the best in the world and we’re very excited about the quality of film-making coming out of the country.”

It is hard to believe the pair are only two features into their careers. “We have a much stronger sense of audience than we did when we started out,” says Brett. »

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future leaders producers

Pau Brunet Spain pau@lapandaproductions.com

La Panda

Past Projects 10.000 Km (dir. Carlos MarquesMarcet), which won the best new director Goya in 2014 as well as festival awards at Seattle, Stockholm and SXSW. Up Next Prison thriller Inside The Box, David Martin Porras’ $4m directorial debut; another debut, People You May Know, from Juan Carlos Falcon; the vampire-zombie thriller Turbed; Marques-Marcet’s next film Don’t Fuck Around With Love, to be shot in London next year.

In his former life, Brunet was a respected box-office analyst and script consultant.

But he always had one eye fixed on making his own films. When Spain’s economic crisis prompted a move to Los Angeles four years ago, he teamed with

director David Martin Porras and line producer Maria Aceves to create the production outfit La Panda, which has a presence in both the US and Spain.

Their debut film, 10.000 Km, the story of a long-distance love affair, achieved success around the world. “We prefer to make low-budget films and have total control of the project,” says Brunet of La Panda’s busy slate. “The most important thing is to make a good film. If you have quality, the rest becomes much easier.”

As a marketing expert, Brunet loves to “work on a small budget, but film as if it were a big production. That’s what we did very successfully with 10.000 Km. Analysing the box office, I learnt a lot about how a film can be successful if you market it properly.”

Rachel Dargavel

Tom Butterfield

US Culmination Productions tom@culminationprod.com

UK Crybaby Pictures info@crybabystudio.co.uk

Past Projects 2014 Kristen Wiig comedy Welcome To Me (dir. Shira Piven) as co-executive producer; Life At These Speeds (dir. Leif Tilden), which Content Media is selling in Cannes.

Up Next Coming-of-age drama London Town, co-producing with Sofia Sondervan and Christine Vachon; supernatural heist thriller The Trust.

UK-born, Los Angeles-based Butterfield earned his development stripes at Zide/ Perry (producers of the American Pie series) and is passionate about a range of stories. “I’m a genre agnostic,” he says. “A great story can come from a musical to a horror and any genre in between. In the current climate it’s more about streamlining your budgets and getting the best story up on screen for the right price.”

Fighting the good fight for independent cinema is a great motivator, although Butterfield is under no illusions about the challenges. “If you’re not a studio then it’s incredibly hard,” he says. “What’s tricky is television’s resurgence. This poses a threat to independent producers going after the same talent. Casting an indie film is extremely difficult.”

Butterfield stays ahead of the game by hunting for great material and working hard in prep. “Get the best line producer and first AD out there that you trust and think of every variable you can. It limits production headaches hugely,” he says.

Past Projects Paul Andrew Williams’ Unfinished Song (formerly Song For Marion) as co-producer. Producer and line producer on Norfolk (dir. Martin Radich).

Up Next Only You, the feature debut of writer-director Harry Wootliff, and psychological thriller A Place To Bury Strangers are both in development.

Samantha Castellano Mexico samantha@darkfactory.com

Dark Factory

Past Projects Sundance 2015 entry Bound To Vengeance (formerly Reversal, dir. Jose Manuel Cravioto) as co-producer; upcoming Topher Grace comedy musical One Shot (dir. Isaac Rentz).

Up Next Action thriller Storage and preparing a summer shoot with husband Daniel Posada for 100 Cries Of Horror for Cravioto to direct.

Castellano regularly shuttles back and forth between Mexico City and Los Angeles, running the expanding slate at production company Dark Factory with her husband Daniel Posada. “I want to bring more indie productions to film in Mexico,” she says. “With One Shot, a new spin on the musical comedy genre we shot last December, we brought 24 cast members and all our heads of departments to Mexico to work with our Mexican crew. It was a great experience for everyone.”

From her intimate involvement with Dark Factory projects such as Bound To Vengeance and One Shot, Castellano has witnessed first-hand the boom in her country’s film industry. “It’s a growing industry full of talented people,” she says. “Every day more infrastructure is created by the film-makers and the government grants that allow us to grow at a rapid pace.”

As she prepares to step up as producer on Storage, Castellano notes: “The most important thing you need on a film is passion. When you work with passionate people all around, it makes not only the material much better but also ensures the production side runs smoothly.”

Dargavel has worked across the production spectrum, beginning as a runner and progressing to third AD, production co-ordinator, line producer (on Andrew Haigh’s 45 Years among many), co-producer and gaining her first producer credit last year on iFeatures thriller Norfolk. She has built strong ties with Paul Andrew Williams and Ken Marshall’s Steel Mill Pictures, and with Bertrand Faivre’s The Bureau.

“I want Crybaby to work on films that are audience-friendly while also having an artistic bent,” she says. “I want to make commercial films that retain creative temperament and Britishness. I’m also a big believer in collaboration. I enjoy film-making as a team sport.”

Of the UK production landscape, the fledgling producer says: “It’s tough finding writers who aren’t already working with the more established production companies and producers in the UK. So I tend to work with a lot of talented but emerging film-makers. In time, as I grow, I’ll be able to attract more established talent and move them from out of the emerging zone.”

» 52 Screen International at Cannes May 14, 2015

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future leaders producers

Lauren Dark

the Art Cinema award at Directors’ Fortnight in 2012; and Orphans Of Eldorado (dir. Guilherme Coelho), which opens in Brazil in November.

Up Next Gernika, a romantic drama set against the backdrop of the Spanish Civil War, which will be his first English-language project. It stars James D’Arcy, Jack Davenport and Maria Valverde. In development on the US-Brazil co-production Cry For Life and a project about Sergio Vieira de Mello, the Brazilian UN diplomat killed in a 2003 terrorist attack in Iraq.

Scotland-born, Brazil-raised, US-based Dreifuss has just set up Anima Pictures, with his new company’s inaugural production — romantic drama Gernika — shooting in the Basque country in Spain.

Dreifuss’ focus is on projects with a social conscience that showcase a cul-

tural diversity. “I’m drawn to characterdriven projects with international appeal, historical content and elements of truth,” says Dreifuss. “If I’m working on a historical piece, I need to find a theme that resonates with our world today. They can be fictionalised accounts of historical events or a fictional character and story set against the backdrop of a historical or political event.”

He describes producing as a marathon not a sprint. “You have to learn what you like and are good at, what you excel in, what your brand is. Finding great material is not a challenge. But you need great directors to attract a great cast.”

Delmon Casanova and Le Goff ’s first feature Fievres clinched the top prize at FESPACO in Burkina Faso earlier this year, beating Timbuktu. The pair met in the corridors of Commune Image — an indie audiovisual hub in the shadow of Paris’s famous SaintOuen flea markets — and decided to join forces under the La VingtCinquieme Heure banner at the beginning of 2012.

“We were both at a crossroads,” says Delmon Casanova, who was

coming to the end of a contract at Commune Image resident Screen Runners, where she worked on Would You Have Sex With An Arab? and The Disintegration. Le Goff was mulling what to do next after producing a series of shorts, including the crowd-funded Alice Au Pays S’émerveille which was shot in Emir Kusturica’s village of Kustendorf and featured the director in the cast. Le Goff had also overseen the guerilla-style distribu-

tion campaign for Djinn Carrenard’s micro-budget Donoma.

Hicham Ayouch’s Fievres was their first production. “We met Hicham by chance,” says Delmon Casanova. “He was looking for a producer and we had a good feeling about it.”

“We’re not tied to one format but rather look for works with an individual aesthetic, which ask questions,” adds Le Goff.

stances that they then have to navigate out of,” says Fielder from the set of Garth Davis’s Lion. She had one feature under her belt when she was invited to produce Lion alongside Emile Sherman and Iain Canning of See-Saw Films. The film is based on the real-life story of a young Indian boy adopted by an Australian family, who rediscovers his roots as an adult. Dev Patel stars with Nicole Kidman, Rooney Mara and David Wenham.

“I’ve learnt a lot about the characteristics Hollywood agents and international

sales people look for in a package that will deliver broad appeal,” she says.

Fielder loves working closely with writers and directors throughout the process. “Our small industry aims incredibly high,” she says. “But our small population is not very supportive of its national cinema. It makes the economics difficult and means we lose people to the US.” Fielder’s goal is to make a film every year or two. She is looking to different business models given the challenges of being a boutique production company.

UK Stray Bear Productions lauren@straybearfilms.co.uk Past Projects Documentary Mediastan (dir. Johannes Wahlstrom), co-producing with Julian Assange and Rebecca O’Brien; War Book (dir. Tom Harper).

Up Next Michael Pearce’s BFI-backed debut feature Beast, which she is producing with Ivana MacKinnon and Kristian Brodie.

After some early crewing gigs (she was a floor runner on Last Chance Harvey and third AD, second unit, on Kick-Ass), Dark cut her teeth at Ken Loach’s company Sixteen Films, where she worked for five years and trained under Rebecca O’Brien and Camilla Bray.

“They were always encouraging me to help out on shorts, hunt down new projects,” says Dark of her mentors. “Rebecca brought me on as a producer to a documentary she was working on [Mediastan], which was a real learning curve.”

Shortly after, Dark left to join Ivana MacKinnon at Stray Bear Productions, where she produced War Book, Tom Harper’s follow-up to The Scouting Book For Boys. A Cold War chamber piece, War Book was the opening-night film at International Film Festival Rotterdam 2014.

Now working on Stray Bear’s slate, where the focus is on finding projects with a strong female focus (“female genre movies, movies that allow a strong female directorial voice”), Dark is extremely happy in her position, as befits the best lesson she has learnt about the industry thus far: “Work with people you trust and collaborate well with.”

Angie Fielder

Australia Aquarius Films angie@aquariusfilms.com.au Past Projects Wish You Were Here (dir.

Kieran Darcy-Smith), opening night film at the 2012 Sundance Film Festival; two shorts by writer-director David Michod.

Up Next Lion, directed by Garth Davis, and Berlin Syndrome, directed by Cate Shortland (Lore) and written by Shaun Grant (Snowtown). Fielder is executive producing.

“I like films that put human beings into stressful and difficult circum-

Daniel Dreifuss

Brazil Filmed Imagination dmdreifuss@gmail.com Past Projects No (dir. Pablo Larrain), which won

Natacha Delmon Casanova & PierreEmmanuel Le Goff France La Vingt-Cinquieme Heure contact@25hprod.com Past Projects Fievres (dir. Hicham Ayouch); Gravity Zero (dir. Jürgen Hansen); Elephants (dir. Emmanuel Saada).

Up Next Lac Noir (dir. Jean-Baptiste Germain), about a former far-right extremist seeking redemption; Ladane Dehdar’s short animation Farniente; Les Phares, a transmedia documentary about lighthouses.

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future leaders producers

Barbara Francisco

Argentina barbara@pastocine.com.ar

Pierre Guyard France contact@nord-ouest.fr

Past Projects Love At First Fight (Les Combattants, dir. Thomas Cailley).

Up Next Mikhael Hers’ This Summer Feeling (Ce Sentiment De L’été), about the impact of a woman’s sudden death on her fiancé and sister; Joan Chemla’s Si Tu Voyais Son Coeur, starring Gael Bernal Garcia and Marine Vacth.

Pasto

Past Projects Sidewalls (formerly Medianeras: Buenos Aires In Times Of Virtual Love, dir. Gustavo Taretto); Germania (dir. Maximiliano Schonfeld); El Incendio (dir. Juan Schnitman), which premiered at the Berlinale this year.

Up Next The 10th Man, written and directed by Daniel Burman; Schonfeld’s new feature Black Frost; La Familia Sumergida, the directorial debut of The Holy Girl actress Maria Alche.

Francisco honed her craft in a small production company in Buenos Aires where she had the opportunity to get involved in every aspect of film production. It gave her the confidence to start her own company, Pasto, to produce arthouse films and showcase new Argentinian talent. “I’m interested in projects that are authentic and genuine, and working with filmmakers who have the courage to question themselves and the society we live in,” Francisco reveals.

She places great importance on nurturing long-term collaborations with directors. “Our challenge as producers is to ensure there is a supportive, creative universe around every director we work with, no matter if it’s a newcomer or an acclaimed film-maker.”

Getting films made in Argentina is difficult now, especially, says Francisco, for younger producers.

“There is only one source of financing — Instituto Nacional de Cine y Artes Audiovisuales,” she says, “so if you’re a first-time producer it’s almost impossible to apply by yourself. That may force you to coproduce with a bigger company, which sometimes is not the best thing for your film.”

Cristina Gallego

Colombia Ciudad Lunar cristinag@ciudadlunar.com Past Projects Colombia’s 2012 foreignlanguage Oscar submission The Wind Journeys (Los Viajes Del Viento, dir. Ciro Guerra); this year’s Directors’ Fortnight entry Embrace Of The Serpent (El Abrazo De La Serpiente, dir. Ciro Guerra).

Up Next The Birds Of Passage (Pajaros De Verano) with Guerra (Blond Indian Films is co-producer). Co-producing Pedro Aguilera’s The Demons In Your Eyes (Demonios Tus Ojos).

Bogota-based Gallego studied marketing and publicity and pursued a degree as a film-maker at the National University of Colombia before catching the producing bug as an intern on director Victor Gaviria’s Sumas Y Restas. “That shoot was an amazing learning experience,” she says. “Five months of shooting, no script, natural actors, killers, guns, drugs, borderline outlaws.”

Colombian producer Jaime Osorio was a mentor and also inspired Gallego to map out the kind of work she wanted to focus on. “I enjoy cinema that cares about the audience, with an interesting point of view,” she says. Now is an exciting time as the country continues to promote itself diligently to international film-makers.

“In Colombia, our cinema tradition is still being established within the areas of production, audiovisual language, criticism, laws and infrastructure.”

One thing stands out for Gallego, she says. “The most important thing I’ve learnt is to listen to your intuition.”

John Giwa-Amu

UK Red & Black Films info@redandblackfilms.com Past Projects Little White Lies (dir. Caradog James, his partner in Red & Black Films), which won two Welsh Bafta awards; James’ sci-fi thriller The Machine; co-producer on The Silent Storm (dir. Corinna MacFarlane), which Sony picked up for multiple territories.

Up Next In post-production on the Brit Listwinning screenplay The Call Up, and producing James’ Don’t Knock Twice, one of a number of genre films the pair have in development.

“Even after my first feature, Little White Lies, I still wasn’t hooked,” admits GiwaAmu of producing. He had originally wanted to be a director, making three short films around the same time he pro-

56 Screen International at Cannes May 14, 2015

Nord-Ouest

Guyard’s debut feature, Love At First Fight, was one of the revelations of Cannes 2014. The quirky romance swept the board at Directors’ Fortnight and has since clinched another 20 prizes, including five Césars. “The thing I love most about producing is that I get to spend my life with the people I love and admire most in the film industry — the directors,” says Guyard. “I don’t have a preferred genre but I’m attracted to a certain type of film-maker, with a personal and radical style.”

He was destined for a career in economic research before changing course.

“I ran the student cinema club; it was the spur, if you like. I’d always dreamt of working in film and decided to take the plunge,” says Guyard, who headed to France’s renowned La Fémis film school after earning his economics degree.

After graduating from La Fémis, he went to work in the finance department of Christophe Rossignol’s production company Nord-Ouest, where he handled the financial and legal side of 15 features before becoming an associate producer four years ago. Around the same time, he also co-founded the Indefilm Sofica tax shelter aimed at first and second features. “I work with complete editorial and financial independence,” says Guyard, “but I have the advantage of being part of the Nord-Ouest family.”

duced Little White Lies in 2006. “It wasn’t until I focused only on producing that I began to enjoy it.”

The Welshman is now keen to develop an eclectic slate. “The first feature I pro-

duced was a black comedy about racism, my last was a high-concept sci-fi,” he smiles. “My shorts aimed to explore character and human nature whereas the films I most often go to see are highconcept thrillers, action and sci-fi. In a perfect world I’ll continue to do both.”

Giwa-Amu has a good understanding of the challenging distribution landscape, having taken an alternative distribution route on The Machine, winner of a Screen Award for Best Home Entertainment Campaign. “That 12-month journey taught me an incalculable amount of what happens after a film is made,” he says. “I’d encourage all producers of lower budget films to go on that journey.” »

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FUTURE LEADERS PRODUCERS

TOM HERN

“You can’t compromise on the things that matter,” says Hern of the main lesson learnt from The Dark Horse, one of the titles that made 2014 an “awesome” year for New Zealand film. “The singular vision that James and I had was a big part of its success.” Hern believes films made in New Zealand can have an impact internationally, as long as it is planned for from the outset. “The Dark Horse was first and foremost about honouring the integ-

New Zealand Four Knights Films tom@4knightsfilm.com Past Projects Everything We Loved (dir. Max Currie); The Dark Horse (dir. James Napier Robertson), which won the audience award at this year’s International Film Festival Rotterdam and, at home, is one of the top 10 independent local hits of all time.

Up Next A remake of 1980s local hit Goodbye Pork Pie, to be directed by Matt Murphy, son of the original director Geoff Murphy.

MIKKEL JERSIN Denmark mikkel@nimbusfilm.dk

Nimbus Film

Past Projects Sparrows (dir. Runar Runarsson); co-producer on Joachim Trier’s Competition entry Louder Than Bombs.

Up Next Co-producing Pernilla August’s The Serious Game, now shooting in Sweden and Budapest. As lead producer, Mikkel Serup’s Second Best, a feel-good drama about a Ugandan boxer who moves to provincial Denmark. He is also developing a pan-Nordic TV drama series.

Jersin studied business at Copenhagen Business School before studying producing at the National Film School of Denmark (NFSD). That business background is important, he says, because “it helps me understand what it takes to run a company”. His creative background is also key: “I directed a short doc at film school and I learnt I was much better at producing. A lot of producers have a broken dream in their stomach [to direct], but now I’m exactly where I want to be.”

At NFSD, he met Icelandic director Runar Runarsson and produced his second feature Sparrows. “I really admire his craftsmanship,” says Jersin, who was headhunted out of film school by Nimbus Film’s Lars Bredo Rahbek. “Lars is my role model; when he asked me to work with him, it was my chance for a master apprenticeship,” Jersin recalls of serving as assistant or co-producer on The Hour Of The Lynx, Itsi Bitsi and Virgin Mountain.

Louder Than Bombs and Sparrows both represent auteur voices telling impactful dramatic stories. “I want to make movies that make a difference,” says Jersin, “films that will remain with audiences after they watch them.”

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OLIVIER KAEMPFER UK Parkville Pictures olivier@parkvillepictures.com Past Projects Borrowed Time (dir. Jules Bishop), made under Film London’s Microwave initiative; Desiree Akhavan’s 2014 Sundance hit Appropriate Behaviour, as executive producer.

Up Next In post-production on writer-director Alex Taylor’s Spaceship, made with Creative England, BFI and BBC Films’ iFeatures support.

Cleaning Up, Bishop’s follow-up to Borrowed Time; rural thriller Shepherd; and Akhavan’s next film, also in an executive producer capacity.

Of Dutch and Swiss heritage, Kaempfer was born in the UK, spent five years in

DAVID KAPLAN US Animal Kingdom dk@animalkingdomfilms.com Past Projects Independent horror hit It Follows (dir. David Robert Mitchell). Multiple festival awardwinner Short Term 12 (dir. Destin Daniel Cretton) as executive producer.

Up Next In post-production on adventure film Kicks from first-time director Justin Tipping.

Targeting a summer shoot for Tramps, Adam Leon’s follow-up to SXSW 2012 entry Gimme The Loot.

New York-based Kaplan got his first job at UTA in Los Angeles before returning to the Big Apple to work as assistant to Christine Vachon and Pam Koffler at Killer Films, where he ended up running development. After a stint at Cinetic Media, he cofounded Animal Kingdom with Joshua Astrachan, backed by Wall Street veteran Fred Green. The independent business, says Kaplan, is

New York and studied in Italy, Scotland and at the Sorbonne. In other words, he has the ideal pedigree to be an international-facing producer.

Kaempfer began as a producer’s assistant in Rome, graduated with an MA from London Film School and set up Parkville Pictures in 2007. His first feature was Borrowed Time, which was selected for the Film London Microwave scheme in 2010. Determined to get a theatrical release for the film, he pursued the self-distribution route, launching a Kickstarter campaign for P&A funds, “the first film in the UK to do so at the time”. “It was a steep learning curve,” says Kaempfer, “discovering the hard way that the job isn’t over when the film is complete.”

Since January 2014, Kaempfer has been senior executive of Film London’s Microwave feature production fund and he now splits his time between both roles. “As an independent producer, your role now needs to be far more integrated across the lifecycle of a film than it ever was before.”

“incredibly hard”, but also worth the blood, sweat and tears.

“The greatest challenge independent producers now face is confronting the conventional wisdom about what kind of independent films will be getting made — what’s a commercial independent film and what’s a safe bet,” he says. “You talk to financiers and they’re looking for certain things — foreign sales and a certain level of casting. It’s a dangerous environment because it stunts creativity.”

Kaplan believes the trick is to be bold. “If you believe a script is incredible or a film-maker is immensely talented and you have a budget plan that seems reasonable, it doesn’t matter what anybody else thinks — that’s the movie you should try to make.”

rity of the story, but it announced us to the international marketplace and we’re leveraging that with more ambitious films and aspirations,” he explains.

Irish producer David Collins has invited Hern to join the UK-Ireland collaboration A Long Way Home, a comingof-age film in development. Hern is also working with Karl Zohrab, a fellow Kiwi, on The Conductor, a true story set in Leningrad during the Second World War.

GIORGOS KARNAVAS

Greece Heretic Productions giorgos@heretic.gr Past Projects Wasted Youth (dirs.

Argyris Papadimitropoulos, Jan Vogel), Boy Eating The Bird’s Food (dir. Ektoras Lygizos), The Eternal Return Of Antonis Paraskevas (dir. Elina Psikou).

Up Next Psikou’s next film, Son Of Sofia, will start shooting in late July. In development on Panos Karnezis’s The Birthday Party.

Hailing from a political science and economics background, Karnavas cut his teeth as general manager of the Athens-based production house Stefi Films, before producing his first film, Wasted Youth, which opened International Film Festival Rotterdam in 2011. His subsequent projects, the Karlovy Vary, Montreal and Galway-feted Boy Eating The Bird’s Food, and Elina Psikou’s The Eternal Return Of Antonis Paraskevas, confirmed Karnavas’s taste for “risk and working with first-time directors”.

Faced with the adverse economic situation in Greece, “where the scene is booming with talent but the funding system is unstable”, Karnavas set up Heretic Productions with fellow producer Konstantinos Kontovrakis. While it has proved a big challenge, Karnavas makes it clear “it was a necessary step to build up our roster of directors and also move into sales”. Heretic Outreach launched at this year’s Berlinale and is selling Tudor Giurgiu’s Panorama 2015 entry Why Me?.

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FUTURE LEADERS PRODUCERS

EITAN MANSURI

Israel Spiro Films eitanmansuri@gmail.com

MILOS LOCHMANN Czech Republic milos@molokofilm.com

Moloko Film

Past Projects The Way Out (dir. Petr Vaclav), which won four 2014 Czech Critics Awards including best film and best director.

Up Next Ad Acta, based on the novel by the Parisbased Czech writer Patrik Ourednik, to be directed by the Rafani collective.

ADAM KASSAN US ak@sixth-and-idaho.com

6th & Idaho Productions

Past Projects Executive producer on David Ayer’s End Of Watch and co-executive producer on the upcoming Johnny Depp crime drama Black Mass (dir. Scott Cooper).

Up Next Dan Futterman’s A Shot In The Eye and an untitled Matt Charman project, both at Fox Searchlight.

After excelling as a senior executive for some of the brightest producers and executives in the business, Los Angeles-born Kassan is about to try his hand as a producer with an exciting new partner: director Matt Reeves (Dawn Of The Planet Of The Apes, Cloverfield) of 6th & Idaho Productions.

Kassan’s first industry job was at Miramax in New York before he relocated to Los Angeles to work for Jeremy Kleiner at Brad Pitt and Dede Gardner’s Plan B Entertainment. He was John Lesher’s first assistant at Paramount Vantage and climbed to vice-president of production before joining Lesher at Le Grisbi Productions. “I was fortunate enough to have been mentored separately by two Academy Award-winning producers with unbelievable taste and relationships,” says Kassan.

At the end of last year, he joined Reeves’ Fox-based 6th & Idaho as executive vice-president, saying: “It was always my goal to produce and work with a film-maker, ultimately.” Favouring “well-crafted, character-based, meaningful narratives”, Kassan knows only too well the pitfalls of production. “Anything worth doing is not easy. Matt is a creative powerhouse whose intellect and emotional compass make it all worthwhile.”

MIKE MACMILLAN

Canada Lithium Studios Productions hello@lithiumstudios.com Past projects Slamdance 2014 selection I Put A Hit On You (dirs. Dane Clark, Linsey Stewart) and Toronto 2014 favourite Guidance (dir. Pat Mills).

Up Next Mills’ Guidance follow-up Don’t Talk To Irene and several films for director Bruce McDonald, including the sequel Pontypool Changes.

In 2007, Toronto-based MacMillan was running a web company and clients were starting to ask for video content. “I fell in love instantly with filming,” he recalls. “Within three years, my company completely shifted

60 Screen International at Cannes May 14, 2015

its focus to film-making. Our concentration is on feature film projects that fit a genre-meets-arthouse criteria.

“We like to develop material from early on and we champion directors with unique voices.”

It has not been easy establishing

After graduating from Prague’s legendary FAMU film school, Lochmann worked as a commercials producer and a producer for hire to gain experience, before becoming a partner in Moloko Film in 2011. His aim is “to concentrate on artistically strong local stories with a global message”, but he points out how difficult it is to finance Czech films from domestic sources. “Czech producers are forced to search for co-production partners, particularly with our neighbours Poland and Slovenia,” he explains. “More and more of us are trying to develop and produce projects internationally, in order to reach a wider European and global audience.”

One of his biggest challenges to date was casting The Way Out with Roma actors. “We travelled from town to town, visited dance parties and looked on Facebook. We organised improvised casting sessions across the country,” says Lochmann. “It took us six months and we ended up driving more than 20,000km to cast all the parts.”

the business but MacMillan and his Lithium team are getting there. “You think you’re capable and you work diligently for years to show that you’re ready. At some point, though, the industry needs to champion you and let you in,” he says.

Working in Canada is a huge benefit.

“We have some amazing resources at our disposal for both production and development, good tax credits, and a robust and talented industry willing to help bring projects to life,” says MacMillan, who has learned some “tough but important lessons” along the way.

“The things you say no to are just as important as the things you say yes to.”

Past Projects The Wanderer (dir.

Avishai Sivan) as associate producer; The Cutoff Man (dir. Idan Hubel); The Congress (dir. Ari Folman); Staircases (L’Esprit De L’Escalier, dir. Elad Keidan), which is screening out of competition in Official Selection.

Up Next In production on Yoni Geva’s children’s fantasy film Aboulele and Hagar Ben-Asher’s The Burglar. In pre-production on Samuel Maoz’s Foxtrot. Developing new projects by Talia Lavie and Nir Bergman.

Mansuri attended the Sam Spiegel Film & Television School in Jerusalem intending to become a photographer. He briefly considered directing but has finally became a producer. “Ari Folman is responsible, to a great extent, for my becoming an independent producer,” says Mansuri. “His invitation to join as a delegate producer on The Congress gave me the rare chance to sit in the cockpit not only with other international producers but also to work with firstrate actors from all over the world.”

With that experience under his belt, Mansuri’s aim now is to get involved in original projects of every genre and kind “but focus mainly on local themes which, if treated in depth, have a better chance of attracting a worldwide audience”. Producing an Israeli feature can be a complex process, thanks to the dearth of private equity, lack of commitment from local broadcasters and an almost total reliance on state funds.

“This is the reason we always need co-production partners,” notes Mansuri. “The only exception among the films I have produced is Staircases, which was half funded by private investment and Elie Meirovitz’s EZ Films.”

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FUTURE LEADERS PRODUCERS

Rainbow (Dhanak, dir. Nagesh Kukunoor).

Up Next Neeraj Ghaywan’s Fly Away Solo (Masaan), set to screen in Un Certain Regard at Cannes.

MANISH MUNDRA India mmundra@gmail.com

Drishyam

Past Projects Ankhon Dekhi (dir. Rajat Kapoor); Sundance audience award-winner Umrika (dir.

Prashant Nair); Berlinale Grand Prix winner

Despite being a newcomer to the business, Mundra has already backed films that have won prizes at Sundance and Berlin. The CEO of Nigeria-based oil company Indorama Eleme, Mundra says social media inadvertently drew him into film.

“Film-maker Rajat Kapoor was venting on Twitter about the lack of producers willing to back good scripts so I tweeted him to say I would produce his film,” he recalls. The result was family drama Ankhon Dekhi, which won critical acclaim both in India and overseas.

“I get connected with stories based on human relationships and behaviour,” says Mundra. “I want to produce simple, brave, content-driven films.”

Offering an alternative to Bollywood, films backed by Mundra include Prashant Nair’s Umrika, which won the audience award in Sundance Film Festival’s World Cinema Dramatic Competition, and Nagesh Kukunoor’s Rainbow (Dhanak), which won two prizes in Berlin’s Generation Kplus section. With Neeraj Ghaywan’s Fly Away Solo (Masaan) in Cannes, Mundra acknowledges he still has lessons to learn. “My greatest challenge has been getting sales and distribution of the film right,” he says. “I am still learning.”

FIDEL NAMISI South Africa Coal Stove Pictures fidel@coalstove.co.za Past Projects Hear Me Move (dir. Scottnes L Smith), as writer and executive producer.

Up Next Hear 2 Move; Bring Back Lost Lover.

Kenya-born, Johannesburg-based Namisi is an experienced producer aged just 32. He started making lowbudget documentaries in high school before attending film school at University of the Witwatersrand in Johannesburg, and began his career as a TV screenwriter before also segueing into producing (Namisi’s TV credits, as producer and/or writer, include the mini-series Remix).

His Johannesburg-based company Coal Stove Pictures is a collaboration with director Scottnes L Smith and actor Wandile Molebatsi. Their latest feature Hear Me Move is an audiencefriendly drama about a street dancer’s son trying to uncover the truth about his father’s death. It was released to strong local response in February and represents the sort of

local-to-global story that Namisi wants to emphasise.

“It captures the heart of South African contemporary culture in a story genre that has international appeal,” he says.

No wonder the Coal Stove team already has a sequel, Hear 2 Move, in the works. Other future projects include a US-South Africa set romantic comedy, Bring Back Lost Lover.

After graduating in 2007, he joined Kinoslovo as a creative producer on several TV movies, becoming the head of development for new TV projects and

handling debuts by film-makers, such as Alexander Kott, who are now among Russia’s most acclaimed directors. A key interest for Odynin is portraying stories about the perception of Russian people from a Western perspective and viceversa. He believes “you must have ambitious ideas that truly inspire you”.

His philosophy is that you have to get your hands dirty. “You won’t get a complete result unless you really get involved, or are always ready to get involved, in all of the dirty work yourself,” he says.

PAVEL ODYNIN

Russia Pavel Odynin’s Film Company odynin@gmail.com Past projects TV movies Stranger and Belly Dancing.

Up Next Anna Fenchenko’s The Woman From Ingria; Russia-UK co-production On The Edge Of The Abyss, a historical thriller about the assassination of Grand Duke Michael Romanov and his English secretary Brian Johnson.

Odynin comes from a film-making family but planned to study economics before his father, a documentary film-maker, introduced him to Moscow’s VGIK film school. “I was amazed by the atmosphere there,” he says.

62 Screen International at Cannes May 14, 2015

ANDREA PARIS & MATTEO ROVERE

Italy Ascent Films info@ascentfilm.com Past Projects I Can Quit Whenever I Want (Smetto Quando Voglio, dir.

Sydney Sibilia).

Up Next I Can Quit Whenever I Want 2 and 3; Costanza Quatriglio’s He Looks Like My Son (Sembra Mio Figlio); Fabio Mollo’s White Shadows.

Andrea Paris (pictured above) and Matteo Rovere (below) of Romebased Ascent Films broke onto the big screen in 2014 with I Can Quit Whenever I Want, about a group of overqualified, unemployed thirtysomethings who set up a ‘smartdrug’ ring. Audiences and critics warmed to the high-octane comedy, produced with industry veteran Domenico Procacci. It grossed $4.4m (¤4m) at the local box office and won praise for its original take on Italy’s youth unemployment.

“Production is a difficult job, especially in recent years in Italy, and an element of risk is fundamental in the choice of projects,” says Paris. “We’ve learnt it’s important to dare and have returned to producing genre films, not just comedies or dramas.”

Paris, who is among this year’s intake of new producers at the Ateliers du Cinéma Européen, founded Ascent in 2003. “I met Matteo in 2005 through a film he proposed as a director and we’ve been working together e v e r s i n c e . He became a partner in 2008,” he says.

The company now has a number of features in the pipeline including two I Can Quit sequels.

Matteo Rovere

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future leaders producers

Pedro Hernandez Santos Spain Aqui y Alla Films info@aquiyallafilm.com

Mike Pruss US Scott Free mpruss@scottfree.com Past Projects Co-produced Drake Doremus’s 2013 Sundance entry Breathe In and produced the writerdirector’s Equals, currently in post.

Up Next Lining up The Burning Woman with Anne Hathaway.

London-born, Los Angeles-based Pruss cut his teeth at DreamWorks, worked as a production and development assistant at Paramount and a creative executive at Focus Features. After serving as vice-president of production at Steven Rales’ Indian Paintbrush, Pruss moved over to Ridley Scott’s US outfit as executive vice-president of production.

“I was, and am, really lucky to have great mentors,” he says.

“Geoff Stier at Paramount, Mark Roybal at Indian Paintbrush, and now Ridley Scott and Michael Schaefer at Scott Free.”

Of all the lessons Pruss has learned, one stands out in the mind of the young producer: “Someone once said to me it’s all about the three ‘Ps’, passion, preparation and perseverance.

“It’s hard, or harder, in all spaces now,” he says.

“The entertainment business has changed irrevocably in the past decade. But the old adage is true — if you have a great piece of material and a great attitude you will attract top-level talent.”

Bendik Heggen Stronstad Norway Yesbox Productions bendik@yesbox.no Past Projects Thale (dir. Aleksander Nordaas); Kano (dir. Paul Tunge).

Up Next In post-production on Pal Oie’s horror Villmark 2; Nordaas’s Morkel The Moss Monster; and Thale 2.

Oslo-based Stronstad, 32, studied film at Bergen’s Noroff University and in his spare time was part of a group that set up

64 Screen International at Cannes May 14, 2015

Past Projects Aqui y Alla (dir. Antonio Mendez Esparza), which won the Grand Prix in Critics’ Week at Cannes 2011; the Goya-winning Magical Girl (dir.

Carlos Vermut); Talk (Hablar, dir. Joaquin Oristrell).

Up Next Las Furias, the $2m feature debut of Miguel del Arco, will shoot in August with backing from TVE. David Galan Galindo’s comedy thriller Secret Origins is in pre-production.

A trained engineer working as a general manager in a shopping mall, Santos’ life veered off in an unexpected direction when Antonio Mendez Esparza, knowing of his friend’s love for auteur cinema, asked for help on his avant-garde debut Aqui y Alla. “We did that film with a very low budget and I invested some of my own money,” he says. “It was a crazy thing to do because we didn’t even have tickets to get back home from Mexico, where we shot the film. Not having experience was a good thing because you only do these kinds of adventures being a little unconscious.”

Santos had the bug. After the film, Santos and Esparza set up Aqui y Alla Films and share a vision about the type of movies they want to make. “We want to make films with a strong personality,” says Santos. “International sales are a top priority for us and there is an interest abroad in original Spanish films.

“I truly believe we can make films for ¤500,000 [$547,000] and make them profitable,” he continues. “As long as you make good films, there is a small audience in every territory that is interested in auteur cinema.”

production company Yesbox in 2005 to work on Aleksander Nordaas’s debut feature Circle. A decade on, he and Nordaas continue to run the company and their latest collaboration is 2012 SXSW and Toronto selection Thale.

The low-budget thriller about a mysterious creature is representative of the kinds of stories to which Stronstad is drawn. “I like projects with a mythical, fantastic and supernatural touch to them, projects that take you into an unknown universe,” he says. “We have

Lucan Toh, Emily Leo & Oliver Roskill UK info@wigwamfilms.com

Wigwam Films

Past Projects Having You (dir. Sam Hoare), starring Anna Friel, Romola Garai and Andrew Buchan; US indie drama Before I Disappear (dir. Shawn Christensen), which picked up the SXSW 2014 Audience Award.

Up Next Under The Shadow, directed by Bafta-nominated Babak Anvari, is shooting in Jordan.

Sci-fi action film iBoy, shooting in August with Adam Randall directing. In development on a dance film written by Gabriel Bisset-Smith and a supernatural thriller based on Liz Jensen’s bestseller The Rapture.

Wigwam founders Toh, Leo and Roskill (pictured, clockwise from left) herald from production, development and commercials backgrounds, respectively.

Before making shorts, Leo cut her teeth at Capitol Films and Shine Pictures, Toh set up Holland Park Pictures in 2009 and Roskill worked as a producer for Filmworks Dubai. “We ditched our jobs and the prospect of steady incomes and just took the plunge,” says Toh. “At the time it felt like a huge risk but we knew we had the basis of a good team, and we went out knocking on doors, eventually raising a small development pot and enough to kickstart the company.”

Toh adds: “We’re very director and writer led. We like taking risks and we want to break new ground. But reaching audiences is key for us; we want to be here in 10, 20 years, so we’re very conscious of social trends and we want to tell the types of stories that capture the zeitgeist.”

Mantras for the London-based company include: “Content is key. Always.”

And “Patience. Urgency. Pragmatism.”

lots of interesting myths and stories in Norwegian folklore and I want to bring the secrets and stories from my home country out into the world.”

Stronstad has also produced a number of shorts and is a veteran of European programmes from the Berlinale Talent Campus to Cannes’ Young Producers Club and eQuinoxe’s Nordic Newcomers. That international network is coming in handy as he prepares Thale 2 as well as an upcoming animated family feature, Morkel The Moss Monster.

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FUTURE LEADERS PRODUCERS

IVY VANHAECKE Belgium ivy.vanhaecke@caviarcontent.com

Caviar

Past Projects Associate producer on My Queen Karo (dir. Dorothée van den Berghe), starring Matthias Schoenaerts. Her first feature as producer was Plan Bart (dir. Roel Mondelaers).

Up Next Raf Reyntjens’ Paradise Trips, a co-production with Ijswater Films, which was shot in Croatia; Lukas Bossuyt’s The Sum Of Histories; Adil El Arbi and Billal Fallah’s Black.

Vanhaecke didn’t go to film school but has a master’s degree in journalism. She entered the industry as a trainee at Geof-

frey Enthoven’s Fobic Films, before working in the fiction department of hip Belgian production outfit Caviar. “I had a chance at a very young age to learn a lot just by doing it, by line producing a first feature film and producing some short films with directors from my own generation,” she says.

Vanhaecke says she is “driven by compelling characters, unexpected laughs and immersive atmosphere. If it’s a good story and I can really relate to it, then I can do it but I don’t believe in producing for only financial reasons.”

She is on the lookout for stories with local resonance as she believes these often travel the best. Thanks to the Belgian tax shelter and strong local backing, it is now easier for Belgian producers to become involved in co-productions, and Vanhaecke identifies “persistence” as the key attribute for producers. “What is difficult but gives me a lot of energy is the financing part,” she says. “You have to persist in convincing people of the potential of your project.”

DAGNE VILDZIUNAITE Lithuania Just A Moment dagne@justamoment.lt Past Projects Documentaries When We Talk About KGB and Master And Tatyana; narrative feature Do You Love Me (dir. Lina Luzyte).

Up Next Giedre Beinoriute’s feature debut Breathing Into Marble, a romantic thriller that may become a four-country co-production.

A graduate in psychology and film and TV management, Vildziunaite worked in various functions in television and the

MARIUSZ WLODARSKI Poland mariusz@lavafilms.pl

Lava Films

Past Projects Award-winning short Without Snow; They Chased Me Through Arizona (dir.

Matthias Huser), co-produced with Switzerland’s Ventura Film; Magnus von Horn’s debut feature The Here After, part of this year’s Directors’ Fortnight line-up.

Up Next Pawel Borowski’s Wooma.

Wlodarski had originally been considering a career as a film distributor after writing a thesis about marketing strategies for film distribution in Poland at the University of Lodz. “I then applied to the film school in Lodz to study production because I thought it would be important to know how films are made,” he says.

WANG DONGHUI China Combo Drive Pictures dwang@combodrivepictures.com Past Projects Crimes Of Passion (dir. Gao Qunshu); Brotherhood Of Blades (dir. Yang Lu).

Up Next A VFX-heavy sci-fi project.

Prior to producing, Wang was an agent at Creative Artists Agency Beijing with ace clients such as actor Huang Bo and director Gao Qunshu.

During his five-year stint, he got to work with major Chinese film companies on many projects, experience

66 Screen International at Cannes May 14, 2015

that came in handy when he struck out on his own to produce independently for Gao in 2010.

“Producing was always what I aspired to do,” he says. “But it’s very hard as China is largely director-driven while the lack of good professional people across the board only intensifies the producer’s work.”

Good stories always come first for Wang, who graduated with an MA in international cinema from the University of Bedfordshire in the UK. He insists on working closely with directors and writers on their scripts, from conception to production. The biggest challenge right now, he finds, is casting.

“Thanks to the

arts world in Lithuania before setting up her production company in late 2007.

Describing her approach as a producer, she says there are three questions she poses before starting something new. “First of all, I should be interested, concerned or in some way strongly related to the subject of the film. I can’t spend my precious time on meaningless things.

“I also believe working with the right people on smaller things can bring better results than being with the wrong team on an ambitious project.

“And last but not least, the important thing is the responsibility I feel as a film producer.”

Trusting in her intuition (“the calculator only answers the question of who pays and who benefits”), Vildziunaite admits her greatest challenge is keeping things in proportion. “When you have a small company and act most of the time like you are one-man band,” she says, “it is easy to forget that it is your work and not your life.”

It was working as a production manager on his first student short that saw Wlodarski hooked on producing and he never looked back. On graduation, he worked for five years as a junior producer at one of Poland’s leading production houses, Lodz-based Opus Film, which was behind Pawel Pawlikowski’s award-winning Ida. “It was a very formative experience,” he says.

In 2010, Wlodarski joined forces with three friends from film school to set up Lava Films. “I don’t have any preference for subjects or genres because I focus more on the people behind the projects,” he says. He and his partners at Lava are currently developing a film for young audiences.

“There aren’t that many films targeting this audience in Poland.”

thriving Chinese market, actors are hard to book,” he says.

After producing Gao’s romantic thriller Crimes Of Passion, he tackled Yang Lu’s period action drama Brotherhood Of Blades, which raked in nearly $16m (RMB100m) at the Chinese box office and received five Golden Horse Awards nominations.

Next up is a VFX-heavy sci-fi project with a first-time director, scheduled to shoot this summer. He is also developing a police thriller, a s romance and an animation. ■

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SPOTLIGHT ALEX WALTON

In Bloom

With Gus Van Sant’s The Sea Of Trees in Competition on Saturday and several titles in post-production, Alex Walton tells Jeremy Kay why Bloom’s first year has been one to remember

T

he sun hung high over the Croisette in May 2014 as Alex Walton, Matthew McConaughey and Gus Van Sant sat on a makeshift platform and talked about a suicide forest in Japan. Despite the subject matter, the mood at Bloom’s inaugural buyer presentation was convivial and classy — typical of Walton and, by all accounts, his new business partner Ken Kao. There was an undercurrent of anticipation that day. The popular UK sales veteran’s first move since the demise of Exclusive Media had already become the talk of Cannes. Distributors craned to hear about the prestige drama and craned a little further to learn about Walton’s new partnership with the Waypoint Entertainment head and son of Garmin billionaire Min Kao. There was promising talk of championing eclectic fare from young directors and established film-makers. One year later there is a sense expectations will be met.

The project that Walton, McConaughey and Van Sant were discussing in the Cannes sunshine, The Sea Of Trees, was granted a Competition berth at this year’s festival.

There are high hopes for a strong reception later in the year for Jane Got A Gun. The Western, inherited from Exclusive’s slate, had the worst possible start when director Lynne Ramsay stormed off set on the first day of production but the

68 Screen International at Cannes May 14, 2015

‘The harder times are incredibly informative to decisions you make later’ Alex Walton, Bloom

Ken Kao, Gus Van Sant, Matthew McConaughey and Alex Walton at Cannes in 2014

producers reconfigured director and cast and the film impressed buyers at a private screening in Berlin.

But for now all eyes will be on The Sea Of Trees. Delivery and execution count for everything but the omens look good. Buyers snapped up Trees within days of that first presentation and have reacted favourably to a further six packages introduced by Bloom over the past 12 months.

“We’re right on our business plan in terms of the amount of movies we were looking at representing, financing and producing,” says Walton in the run-up to Cannes. “We had real ambitions and we’re just enjoying having a company and developing a culture within a company. It feels like a place where people are enjoying working.”

Seeds of growth The personal element matters. Walton and Kao warmed to each other quickly after a mutual friend introduced them in late 2013. Several months later they would be hustling to launch Bloom after Walton flew home from Berlin in February 2014, where the only thing anybody could talk about was the disintegration of Exclusive.

After serving as president

Noomi Rapace in Unlocked

of international sales and distribution for five years, Walton knew the writing was on the wall. Prior to EFM he had told his employers about his plans to form his own company once he had seen out his obligations on the slate. Walton has gained plenty of insight after stints at J&M International, Myriad Pictures, HanWay Films and Paramount Vantage in the US. “The harder times are incredibly informative to decisions you make later,” he says.

Walton knew he wanted an active partner and that he would need to build a sales company with robust financing and production capabilities. Enter Kao, who was already financing The Sea Of Trees. Bloom would have happened with or without Van Sant’s suicide-themed drama but when Kao asked Walton to recommend a sales agent, the Briton put himself forward and that was that.

The partners aim to bring six to eight films a year, of which around four are fully financed via Waypoint without restrictive budget parameters. Currently in post-production is The Nice Guys, which was directed and co-written by Shane Black, and stars Russell Crowe and Ryan Gosling.

Waypoint co-financed with Warner Bros, which will distribute in the US. The rest of Bloom’s slate is third-party sales titles: drama Elvis & Nixon, CIA thriller Unlocked and Jackie Chan action comedy Skiptrace are in post, while action tale The Hunters and action thriller Three Seconds are in preproduction. “We’ve found films we’re proud of,” says Walton.

One film that’s no longer on the slate is the Jamie Dornan war thriller Jadotville, after Netflix reportedly paid $18m for worldwide rights in Berlin. UTA took point on negotiations but Walton was heavily involved. It was tight. There was an April start date. Independent buyers were poised to agree terms but the streaming giant was the first to move.

Privately, buyers worry about the impact of Netflix on the independent space but Walton maintains an upbeat attitude. “The world is changing and none of us is going to stop that,” he says. “We’ve got to make s sure we move forward with them.” ■

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ANALYSIS FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION

More than 3 million people took to the streets in Paris in support of Charlie Hebdo

Chill winds L

ast year, Cannes hosted the world premiere of the poignantly prescient documentary Cartoonists: Footsoldiers Of Democracy?. The film, in which cartoonists from across the world expressed fears about crackdowns on freedom of expression, premiered eight months before the fateful attack on satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo, which left 12 dead and many others injured.

“I couldn’t have imagined what happened in Paris,” says the film’s writer and producer Radu Mihaileanu. “However, I could see that freedom of expression has been shrinking in many countries.” The Franco-Romanian film-maker, who also directed the 2011 Competition entry The Source,, fled Nicolae Ceausescu’s dictatorship at a young age. “We made the film because of the many cartoonists in South America, China, France, the US and other countries who feel increasingly constrained and afraid of reprisal. We saw the movie as a warning because it’s increasingly complicated to broach difficult subjects, especially religion.”

Religion ranks alongside violence, sex and politics as the subjects most likely to inflame controversy, spark anger or prick sensitivities among audiences. Contentious films such as The Last Temptation Of Christ and

70 Screen International at Cannes May 14, 2015

Monty Python’s Life Of Brian have generated thousands of complaints and multiple banning orders over the years. But the assault on Charlie Hebdo was a watershed moment in the attack on freedom of expression.

“Post-Charlie Hebdo, there has been an inevitable chilling effect,” acknowledges Prash Naik, general counsel, legal, compliance and governance for UK broadcaster Channel 4, which has a history of backing controversial TV and films, including Chris Morris’s suicide-bomber black comedy Four Lions (2011) and the what-if? drama Death Of A President (2006). “The notion that satirically covering a subject such as Islam can result in murder is a very different considerapretion to anything pre-Four Lions.

It would be naïve to say it shouldn’t have any impact on decisionmaking in the industry.”

In the past year, the film industry has experienced a new level of interference and undergone new levels of introspection.

The politically motivated threats against US theatres preparing to screen the Seth Rogen comedy The Interview and the ongoing Sony hacking crisis have

The Charlie Hebdo attack sent shockwaves through the creative industries. Andreas Wiseman considers the fallout within the industry and gauges the climate for challenging film-making

‘I could see that freedom of expression has been shrinking in many countries’ Radu Mihaileanu

Something as controversial as Four Lions (left) would struggle for a release in today’s climate

also raised questions about free speech. The initial decision not to show the film provoked anger and surprise, as the distributor and some cinema owners were confronted with a dilemma similar to that faced by many editors and broadcasters over whether to show images of cartoons depicting the prophet Mohammed.

Channel 4 faced the decision in January when it came to airing the Charlie Hebdo cover. “You either say to yourself, ‘OK, we think this is justifiable because it raises an important moral issue and there’s a compelling public interest behind it’,” says Naik. “Or you don’t run the image because of the potential threat to security and staff, or the potential level of offence caused to the audience.”

Ultimately, Channel 4 did show images of the Charlie Hebdo cover. Unlike some other media outlets, the broadcaster had also previously shown images of similarly controversial Danish cartoons.

Rights and responsibilities While some are appalled by the notion that an image of a cartoon cannot be shown on television or that a film might be pulled from a cinema due to politically motivated threats, the decision to self-censor is also a reminder that freedom of expression comes with caveats in every territory. It is not, and never has been, an unfettered right. In most Western countries the right to air potentially offensive »

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Analysis Freedom Of Expression

Getty

packaging movies and TV, you always try to be respectful and sensitive of free speech, gender and socio-economic issues. You would never want to put something together that feels like the goal is to offend.”

“I haven’t found in my decision-making that this [fear of repercussions] has been a factor that influences the films with which I get involved,” says Andrew Herwitz, president of The Film Sales Company. “In a number of cases it’s the inverse, in fact. I realise that given social media it is easier now to create awareness of a film on a controversial topic despite a tight publicity budget. I’ve not seen the chilling effect of terrorism or violence against those who express a controversial view.”

Sony struggled with pressure over The Interview’s release

material is subject to individual judgment as well as a raft of statutory limitations: libel, hate speech, copyright, public security, confidentiality and copyright among them. “After Charlie Hebdo there was a big push in France to stand up for freedom of expression, which included the publication of the offensive photos,” says Naik. “It is down to each media organisation to decide whether it feels, in that particular context, justified to show those images.” Sony ultimately felt the context it faced demanded it scale back the theatrical release of The Interview. The story didn’t end there. That same context led to deep internal and external unease about confidentiality at the studio level. While the majors declined to talk to Screen about the issue, the change is noticeable, according to Hollywood industry.

“There’s a climate of paranoia,” said one wellconnected US sales agent who has worked with the studios. “It’s just more dangerous than it was before. Studios are trying to stay away from controversial movies. Their worst nightmare is their secrets coming out.”

The knock-on effect of the Sony hack is that it will inevitably focus each studio’s key decision-makers on whether they want to risk it happening to them. “Organisations and production companies start to think, ‘Do I really want to take on a subject like this with everything it brings with it?’” says Naik.

Despite growing awareness that the climate has changed, particularly at a studio level, large parts of the independent industry remain unencumbered. “If anything people feel emboldened to express more because they feel social responsibility,” argues Graham Taylor, head of WME Global. “The reality is that, on a worldwide basis in terms of

72 Screen International at Cannes May 14, 2015

‘You would never want to put something together that feels like the goal is to offend’ Graham Taylor, WME Global

Threat level Film festivals, which have long been considered important bastians for free speech, debate and the celebration of both, have felt the squeeze, however. Security at Cannes is expected to be among its highest levels, the only reaction possible given the climate in France. The attacks on Charlie Hebdo reaffirmed the stark reality that no platform is immune to terror attack.

“Festivals remain key arenas for free expression,” says Wild Bunch chief Vincent Maraval, who cites Mohammad Rasoulof ’s 2013 doc Manuscripts Don’t Burn — which he notes screened without credits to protect the film-makers — and Abderrahmane Sissako’s 2014 Competition entry Timbuktu — an African perspective on Islamic jihad — as examples of festivals flying the flag for free expression. “A festival’s first use is for showing films that are outside the formatted circuit of distribution. Thierry Frémaux and Pierre Lescure have proved over the years their courage in their festival activities,” he adds.

Government censorship has reared its head at other festivals. In April, Istanbul Film Festival was forced to cancel its competition after perceived state censorship of the lineup. A month earlier, Prishtina International Film Festival was cancelled, with organisers hinting that authorities disapproved of its LGBT strand. In a more nuanced censorship turn, a number of established film-makers have called on Locarno to drop a planned focus on Israel, which is organised with the state-backed Israeli Film Fund, something the festival has declined to do.

Radu Mihaileanu urges fellow directors and festivals not to be cowed by any such crackdowns. “Fundamentally, we mustn’t say, ‘I cannot say that because this guy will be angry,’ or ‘I cannot say this because a government will be angry,’” he says. “If you do that, there is no progress.” The director acknowledges the challenging climate but also sees hope. “Some industry might be frightened they won’t see a financial return on risky material. But there are also people out there who know how to turn us away s from censorship.” n Additional reporting by Jeremy Kay

loud speaker Parvez Sharma risked his life to make documentary A Sinner In Mecca Parvez Sharma takes selfies galore in A Sinner In Mecca, although it is a far more meaningful exploration of identity than the rash of narcissism du jour that Thierry Frémaux is keen to avoid on this year’s red carpet in Cannes. A high-profile gay Muslim after his 2007 documentary A Jihad For Love, Sharma has upped the ante in his new film and risked his life putting himself on camera.

A Haram Films production in association with Arte and ZDF, Sharma’s film centres on the US-based film-maker’s personal Hajj to Mecca. After his mother’s death triggered a crisis of confidence, Sharma wanted to reconcile being a good Muslim with his sexuality. Yet his goals were also political as he sought to bring attention to what he regards as Saudi Arabia’s “regressive” and doctrinaire version of Islam.

“This film is a call to action to challenge the Saudi project of exporting Wahhabi Islam to all corners of the Muslim world,” says Sharma, who slipped into the country armed with an iPhone and two small cameras in late 2011 after Saudi officials failed to take note of his reputation and granted a visa. Knowing he could be executed for being gay, the Sunni film-maker aroused constant suspicion among his Shiite tour group as he snapped himself on the Hajj and shot covert footage in defiance of the filming ban in Mecca.

The film stands as a testament to courage, particularly in the wake of the Charlie Hebdo massacre and the ongoing ISIS campaigns. Sharma has already received death threats. “I refuse to be silenced because I know there is a crisis in my religion and it’s affecting a large part of humanity today,” he says. “Some of our most bitter battles are being fought on this front line and it’s Muslims like me who can help transform our religion.”

The Film Sales Company is selling A Sinner In Mecca in Cannes.

Jeremy Kay

A Sinner In Mecca

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Screenings

Jury grid, page 96

Edited by Paul Lindsell paullindsell@gmail.com

» Screening times and venues are correct at the time of going to press but subject to alteration

Rohrig, Levente Molnar, Urs Rechn.

In the horror of 1944 Auschwitz, a prisoner forced to burn the corpses of his own people finds moral survival trying to save from the flames the body of a boy he takes for his son.

FestivaL

and press

08:30 THE ANARCHISTS

(France) 101mins.

Dir: Elie Wajeman.

Cast: Tahar Rahim, Adele Exarchopoulos.

Nineteenth century Paris.

An ambitious officer finds himself torn between desire and duty when he is charged with infiltrating an anarchist organisation.

Competition press Theatre Claude Debussy

17:00 SLEEPING GIANT See box, left

19:15 AN: SWEET RED BEAN PASTE

Critics’ Week Miramar

(Japan) 113mins. Dir: Naomi Kawase. Cast: Kirin Kiki, Masatoshi Nagase, Kyara Uchida.

MAD MAX: FURY ROAD

(US) 120mins. Dir: George Miller. Cast: Tom Hardy, Charlize Theron, Nicholas Hoult.

Post-apocalytpic action movie and the first new Mad Max in three decades.

Former policeman Max must transport a group known as the Five Wives across a vast desert and protect them from bandits at all cost.

Out of Competition press Grand Theatre Lumiere

09:00 IN THE SHADOW OF WOMEN

(France) 73mins. Dir: Philippe Garrel. Cast: Stanislas Merhar, Clotilde Courau, Lena Paugam.

Pierre and Manon make low-budget documentaries and live off odd jobs.

When Pierre meets a young trainee, Elisabeth, she becomes his mistress.

But Pierre doesn’t want to leave Manon — he wants to keep both women.

Directors’ Fortnight Theatre Croisette

11:00 AN: SWEET RED BEAN PASTE

(Japan) 113mins. Dir: Naomi Kawase. Cast: Kirin Kiki, Masatoshi Nagase, Kyara Uchida.

Sentaro runs a small bakery that serves dorayakis — pastries filled with sweet red bean paste.

When an old lady, Tokue, offers to help in the kitchen he reluctantly accepts. But

Festival & Press 11:30 & 17:00 SLEEPING GIANT

(Canada) 89mins.

Dir: Andrew Cividino.

Cast: Jackson Martin, Reece Moffett, Nick Serino, David Disher, Erika Brodzky, Rita Serino, Katelyn Mckerracher, Kyle Bertrand, Lorraine Philp.

Teenager Adam is spending his summer vacation with his parents

Tokue proves to have magic in her hands.

Un Certain Regard press Theatre Claude Debussy

11:30 SLEEPING GIANT See box, above

TALE OF TALES

(Italy) 125mins.

Dir: Matteo Garrone.

Cast: Salma Hayek, Vincent Cassel, Toby Jones, John C Reilly.

From the bitter quest of a jealous queen, to an Ogre thwarting the love of a young princess, to a mysterious woman provoking the passion of a king, these stories weave the beautiful with the grotesque, creating a stunning and unique work of gothic imagination.

Competition Grand Theatre Lumiere

74 Screen International at Cannes May 14, 2015

on Lake Superior. His dull routine is shattered when he befriends Riley and Nate, cousins who pass their ample free time with debauchery and reckless cliff jumping. The revelation of a hurtful secret triggers Adam to set in motion irreversible events that test the bonds of friendship.

Critics’ Week Miramar

12:00 STANDING TALL

(France) 120mins.

Dir: Emmanuelle Bercot.

Cast: Catherine Deneuve, Benoit Magimel, Sara Forestier, Rod Parodot.

The story of Malony as he moves through the juvenile justice system, and the tireless efforts of a judge and a counsellor to save him.

Out of Competition Salle du Soixantieme

13:00 L’ESPRIT DE L’ESCALIER

(Israel) 105mins. Dir: Elad Keidan. Cast: Itay Tiran, Uri Klauzner.

Haifa walks down Mount Carmel to catch a ship and forever leave all the things he loves to despise.

He’s evading military reserve service, thus

risking jail. Moshe is a crumbling man going up the mountain on yet another work day. Will this day mark his collapse?

Will the two collide or pass one another by? An existential comedy, where the overbearing mountain with its endless stairs takes control over their destinies.

Out of Competition press Salle Bazin

ORSON WELLES: SHADOWS AND LIGHT

(France) 56mins. Dir: Elisabeth Kapnist.

This year marks the 100th anniversary of Welles’ birth, a unique opportunity to pay tribute.

Cannes Classics Salle Bunuel

14:00 THE THIRD MAN

(UK) 104mins. Dir: Carol Reed. Cast: Orson Welles, Joseph Cotten, Trevor Howard.

Holly Martins arrives in Vienna after the death of friend Harry Lime, only to find things are not quite what they seem.

Cannes Classics Salle Bunuel

14:30 ONE FLOOR BELOW

(Romania) 95mins.

Dir: Radu Muntean.

Cast: Teo Corban, Iulian Postelnicu, Oxana Moravec.

After being the sole witness to a domestic quarrel that ends in murder, Patrascu finds himself at odds with two very close neighbours: one is the bizarre murderer; the other is his very own conscience.

Un Certain Regard press Theatre Claude Debussy

16:00

Un Certain Regard press Theatre Claude Debussy

19:30 IN THE SHADOW OF WOMEN

(France) 73mins. Dir: Philippe Garrel. Cast: Stanislas Merhar, Clotilde Courau, Lena Paugam.

Directors’ Fortnight Theatre Croisette

OUR LITTLE SISTER

MAD MAX: FURY ROAD

(Japan) 128mins. Dir: Hirokazu Kore-Eda. Cast: Haruka Ayase, Masami Nagasawa, Kaho, Suzu Hirose.

When three young women invite their shy teenage half-sister to live with them, a new life of joyful discovery begins for all four siblings.

(US) 120mins. Dir: George Miller. Cast: Tom Hardy, Charlize Theron, Nicholas Hoult.

Competition press Grand Theatre Lumiere

16:30 ELEVATOR TO THE GALLOWS

(Canada) 93mins. Dir: Louis Malle. Cast: Jeanne Moreau, Jean Wall, Maurice Ronet.

A murderer’s attempt to escape without leaving any clues goes immediately wrong when he is trapped in an elevator.

Cannes Classics Salle Bunuel

16:45 SON OF SAUL

(Hungary) 107mins. Dir: Laszlo Nemes. Cast: Geza

Out of Competition Grand Theatre Lumiere

PANIc

(France) 91mins. Dir: Julien Duvivier. Cast: Michel Simon, Viviane Romance.

A man is pursued for a crime.

Cannes Classics Salle Bunuel

20:00 THE ANARCHISTS

(France) 101mins.

Dir: Elie Wajeman.

Cast: Tahar Rahim, Adele Exarchopoulos.

Critics’ Week Miramar

21:00 THE TALL BLOND MAN WITH ONE BLACK SHOE

(France) 90mins. Dir: Yves Robert. Cast: Pierre Richard, Bernard Blier, » Jean Rochefort. www.screendaily.com

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AY D O T I NG N E E R SC

Festival & Press 22:30 TALE OF TALES

(Italy) 125mins. Dir: Matteo Garrone.

Cast: Salma Hayek, Vincent Cassel, Toby Jones, John C. Reilly.

From the bitter quest of a jealous queen, to an Ogre thwarting the love

An orchestra player becomes an unwitting pawn in government espionage.

Cinema on the Beach Plage Mace

21:30

of a young princess, to a mysterious woman provoking the passion of a king, these stories weave the beautiful with the grotesque, creating a stunning and unique work of gothic imagination.

Competition Grand Theatre Lumiere

Moffett, Nick Serino, David Disher, Erika Brodzky, Rita Serino, Katelyn Mckerracher, Kyle Bertrand, Lorraine Philp.

in vain to shelter him from the truth about his divine abilities and birth.

Critics’ Week Miramar

(Italy) Mk2. 121mins.

Dir: Paolo Taviani, Vittorio Taviani. Cast: Jasmine Trinca, Kim Rossi Stuart, Michele Riondino.

Florence, Italy, 1348. As the plague ravages the city dwellers of Tuscany, a group of young men and women takes shelter in a remote villa in the surrounding hills. Now living as a community, they decide to tell each other a story a day to take their minds off their precarious situation.

THE ROUND-UP

(Romania) 88mins. Dir: Miklos Jancso. Cast: Janos Gorbe, Zoltan Latinovits, Tibor Molnar.

Drama set in a 19th century prison camp, as guards attempt to turn prisoners on each other to reveal a band of guerillas hiding within them.

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76 Screen International at Cannes May 14, 2015

Cannes Classics Salle Bunuel

22:00 ONE FLOOR BELOW

(Romania) 95mins.

Dir: Radu Muntean.

Cast: Teo Corban, Iulian Postelnicu, Oxana Moravec.

Un Certain Regard press Theatre Claude Debussy

SON OF SAUL

(Hungary) 107mins. Dir: Laszlo Nemes. Cast: Geza Rohrig, Levente Molnar, Urs Rechn.

Competition press Salle Bazin

22:30 SLEEPING GIANT

(Canada) 89mins. Dir: Andrew Cividino. Cast: Jackson Martin, Reece

TALE OF TALES See box, above

Market screenings

09:15 BBOY IN A DREAM

(UK) RME Films.

150mins. Dir: Takako Imai.

Documentary based on real-life breakdancers and hip-hop artists.

Palais E

Palais C

WONDROUS BOCCACCIO

Palais J

09:30 A ROYAL NIGHT OUT

CHRIST THE LORD

(US) Hyde Park International. 110mins.

Dir: Cyrus Nowrasteh.

Tells the story of Jesus as a seven-year-old boy.

Although Mary and Joseph try their best to give Jesus a normal childhood, he inevitably begins to realise he is different and grapples to understand his miraculous gifts. Conflicted about placing a massive burden on the shoulders of such a young boy, Mary, Joseph and his relatives try

(UK) Hanway Films.

97mins. Dir: Julian Jarrold. Cast: Sarah Gadon, Jack Reynor.

London overflows with celebration and excess. Two teenage sisters are allowed out at night for the first time to join the party.

Star 3

ALBERT

(Denmark) Sola Media Gmbh. 80mins. Dir: Karsten Kiilerich.

The nice town Kellyville is too small to accommodate »

www.screendaily.com

KRISHA

Director: Trey Edward Shults Cast: Krisha Fairchild, Bill Wise (Boyhood)

GRAND JURY AWARD WINNER

A holiday celebration turns ugly when a troubled woman returns to the family she abandoned years ago, in an attempt to prove that she has changed.

“An extraordinary portrait of addiction and family strife.” – Indiewire “Intimate and unnerving (...) a ferociously impressive debut.” – Variety

AUDIENCE AWARD WINNER

“Exhilarating (...) a stunning central performance.”

– The Hollywood Reporter “An emotional gut punch of a film.” – Vanity Fair MARKET SCREENINGS: FESTIVAL SCREENINGS: May 17 / 16:00 / Riviera 3 (Buyers Only) May 20 / 11:30 / Miramar May 18 / 10:00 / Lerins 2 (Buyers Only) May 20 / 18:00 / Miramar

WINNER GRAND JURY & AUDIENCE AWARDS SXSW 2015

May 20 / 22:00 / Miramar May 21 / 8:30 / Miramar

JUST JIM

Director: Craig Roberts Cast: Emile Hirsch (Prince Avalanche, Into the Wild), Craig Roberts (Submarine) In a small Welsh town, a teenage outcast becomes the cool kid when an enigmatic American moves in next door and takes him under his wing.

“Absurdly hilarious (...) quirky, sad, and amusing.” – MxDwn “One of the best quirky coming-of-rage comedies.” – Hammer to Nail “A twisted sense of humor.” – Side One Track One “A certain neurotic charm about Roberts’ onscreen persona (...) shines through.” – Little White Lies MARKET SCREENINGS: May 15 / 12:00 / Riviera 1 May 18 / 14:00 / Lerins 2

I SMILE BACK

Director: Adam Salky (Dare) Cast: Sarah Silverman (Take This Waltz, The Sarah Silverman Program), Josh Charles (The Good Wife) A suburban housewife struggles to keep her family together as her secret life of drugs, alcohol, and infidelity spirals out of control.

“A gutsy performance by Sarah Silverman.” – The Hollywood Reporter “[Silverman is] terrific as a self-destructive housewife.” – The Guardian “A showcase for Silverman’s considerable prowess as a dramatic lead actress.” – Indiewire “[Silverman] delivers a vulnerable, raw performance.”

– Consequence of Sound

MARKET SCREENINGS: TODAY / 10:00 / Riviera 3 May 16 / 14:00 / Riviera 3

THE NYMPHETS

Director: Gary Gardner Cast: Kip Pardue (The Rules of Attraction, Remember the Titans) A well-to-do 30-something man invites two rowdy young girls to party in his loft, leading to a night of provocation and cruelty, all in the name of getting laid.

“Unpredictable, wonderfully awkward, sad and sexy.”

– Film School Rejects “Exhilarating (...) a joy to watch.” – Sound on Sight “As uncomfortable as they come, in the absolute best way possible.”

– Examiner “Bristling with energy.” – Silver Screen Riot MARKET SCREENINGS: TODAY / 14:00 / Lerins 2 May 15 / 14:00 / Riviera 3

Ryan Kampe rk@visitfilms.com +1 646 548 4700

Lorna-Lee Sagebiel lls@visitfilms.com +1 646 421 4574

CANNES OFFICE Lerins S8 +1 646 673 1344

www.visitfilms.com info@visitfilms.com

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IERE M E R ET P TODAY K R A M I NG N E E R SC

Market 09:30 MEADOWLAND

(US) K5 International. 85mins. Dir: Reed Morano. Cast: Juno Temple, Luke Wilson, Olivia Wilde. the world’s worst scoundrels, Albert and Egon, who decide to go out in the world.

Riviera 2

BITE

CK A B Y A W O N ’S E R E H T RE, E H E ’R U O Y W O N L L E t h 18 : 0 0 QUIET RIOT: W

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VMI 1419 WILCOX AVENUE LOS ANGELES, CA 90028 USA PHONE: 323.703.1115 FAX: 323.207.8024 SALES@VMIWORLDWIDE.COM WWW.VMIWORLDWIDE.COM

78 Screen International at Cannes May 14, 2015

(Canada) Breakthrough Entertainment. 90mins.

Dir: Chad Archibald.

Cast: Elma Begovic, Jordan Gray, Annette Wozniak.

While on her bachelorette party getaway, bride-to-be Casey gets a seemingly harmless bite from an unknown insect. After returning home with cold feet, Katie tries to call off her wedding but before she’s able to she starts exhibiting insect-like traits.

Palais B

DARK HORSE

(UK) Protagonist Pictures. 86mins. Dir: Louise Osmond.

An inspirational and lifeaffirming rags-to-riches true story of a barmaid who bred a champion racehorse Olympia 3

THE FAITH OF ANNA WATERS

(US) Highland Film Group. 100mins.

Dir: Kelvin Tong.

Cast: Elizabeth Rice, Matthew Settle.

When the young and successful reporter Jamie finds out that her sister has died in mysterious circumstances, she travels

In the wake of her son’s disappearance, a mother goes down a dangerous path towards acceptance and her healing process takes an unforeseen turn.

Arcades 3

to Singapore to uncover the truth. There she discovers multiple deaths linked to her sister’s husband in order to defeat a demonic entity that is using new technology to complete an ancient mission.

Gray 2

IXCANUL VOLCANO

(Guatemala) Film Factory Entertainment.

90mins. Dir: Jayro Bustamante. Cast: Maria Mercedes Coroy, Maria Telon, Justo Lorenzo.

Maria is a 17-year-old living and working on the slopes of an active volcano in Guatemala. A snakebite forces her into the modern world, about which she has dreamt so much. It saves her life, but at too high a cost.

Palais F

MEADOWLAND See box, above

OUR FUTURES

(France) Gaumont.

91mins. Dir: Remi Bezancon. Cast: Pierre Rochefort, Pio Marmai.

After contacting a childhood friend, a man stuck in the routine of adult life will rediscover the optimism and lightheartedness of his teens.

Arcades 1

PURE LIFE

(France) Artedis-Cinema Arts. 93mins. Dir: Jeremy Banster. Cast:

Stany Coppet, Aurelien Recoing, Alex Descas.

A French explorer goes on a solitary expedition to the Amazon forest. He leaves behind him a diary that reflects the meaning of life and his encounters but leaves the mystery of his own disappearance unsolved.

Palais H

THE SIGHTING

(US) Expression Entertainment. 90mins.

Dir: David Blair, Adam Pitman. Cast: Adam Pitman, Nathaniel Peterson, Gill Gayle, Kent Harper.

Palais D

SUMMER CAMP

(Spain) Filmax International. 84mins.

Dir: Alberto Marini. Cast: Jocelin Donahue, Diego Boneta, Maiara Walsh, Andres Velencoso.

Looking for fun and new experiences as counsellors at a camp in Europe, four young Americans never suspect that their first summer abroad could be their last.

Lerins 1 invitation only

THEEB

(Jordan) Fortissimo Films. 100mins. Dir: Naji Abu Nowar. Cast: Jacir Eid, Hassan Mutlag, Hussein Salameh.

Set in the southern Jordanian desert of Wadi Rum, 1916. Theeb, a young and mischievous »

www.screendaily.com

Screening Room: Palais B Date: Thursday, May 14th Time: 11:30am

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RROW O M O I NG T N E E SCR

Market 10:00 ASHBY

(US) Bankside Films. 90mins.

Dir: Tony Mcnamara. Cast: Mickey Rourke, Nat Wolff, Emma Roberts, bedouin boy, unwittingly embarks on a dangerous, life-altering journey to discover his survival depends on the stranger who murdered his brother.

BLACK DEATH

Olympia 6

Palais I

09:45 SERENADE

SOA

H C A E L B K ED IN

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G22G: E T I U DIN S ES ATTEN A R E XECUTIV , PRESIDENT E I M ELIS RIV ANDRE RELIS@VMIWORLDWIDE.CO AR UTIVE F J.D. BE AU

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VMI 1419 WILCOX AVENUE LOS ANGELES, CA 90028 USA PHONE: 323.703.1115 FAX: 323.207.8024 SALES@VMIWORLDWIDE.COM WWW.VMIWORLDWIDE.COM

(Japan) Mirovision.

110mins. Dir: Keinosuke Hara. Cast: Risa Sudo, Izumi Fujimoto, Ken Yasuda.

Manami runs Snack Bar Sayoko. She raised her daughter Sayoko alone.

Sayoko’s father is known as Angel and works as a drag queen dancer.

Sayoko doesn’t know Angel is her father.

After graduating from high school, Sayoko moves to Tokyo but after experiencing several failed romances she returns to her mother. Aware her snack bar is having financial difficulties and may shut down, she decides to open a drag queen bar and asks her mother’s longtime friend Angel for help.

Gray 3

10:00 ADAMA

(France) Picture Tree International. 82mins.

Dir: Simon Rouby.

A boy’s poetic journey to the land beyond the cliffs.

Palais G

ASHBY See box, above

80 Screen International at Cannes May 14, 2015

Sarah Silverman, Adam Aalderks.

A high-school student strikes up an unlikely friendship with his next-door neighbour, an ex-CIA assassin.

Star 2

(Thailand) Sahamongkolfilm International Co. 100mins.

Only the undead survive.

BOONIES BEARS — A MYSTICAL WINTER

(China) All Rights Entertainment. 96mins.

Dir: Leon Ding.

This new installment of the successful Boonie Bears franchise takes us back to their childhood and the deeper history that the Bear Brothers share with Logger Vick, from playmates to adversaries.

During a particularly heavy snowstorm on Pine Tree Mountain that places everything under its frozen spell, a mysterious creature appears causing Bramble’s memories of childhood to come back.

Palais K

I SMILE BACK

(US) Visit Films. 85mins.

Dir: Adam Salky. Cast: Sarah Silverman, Josh Charles, Thomas Sadoski.

A suburban housewife struggles to keep her family together as her secret life of drugs, alcohol and infidelity spirals out of control.

Riviera 3

IT’S ONLY MAKE BELIEVE

(Norway) Princ Films.

91mins. Dir: Arild Ostin Ommundsen. Cast: Vegard Hoel, Fredrik

Hana, Silje Salomonsen.

This is the story of murder that never should have happened, about friends that never should have been trusted and debt that can never be paid. During a robbery Jenny tells her boyfriend Frank, a small-time criminal, that she is pregnant. Frank is overjoyed and proposes to her on the spot. But the robbery is a disaster and they are caught in a chaotic gunfight.

Gray 5

KILL YOUR FRIENDS

(UK) Altitude Film Sales.

100mins. Dir: Owen Harris. Cast: Nicholas Hoult, Rosanna Arquette, James Corden.

London, 1997; A&R wunderkind Steven Stelfox’s career is on the ascent. But when the hits dry up, the concept of killer tunes takes on a whole new meaning.

Olympia 1

MENU FOR TWO

(Spain) Cinema Republic. 88mins. Dir: Robert Bellsola. Cast: Adria Collado, Andoni Agirregomezkorta, Carolina Bang.

Oscar, a smart stockbroker from the big city, and Dan, a goofy slacker from hicksville, get some big news: they’re brothers.

Now they’re stuck sharing their deceased father’s estate, Can Pitu, a failing country-style restaurant »

www.screendaily.com

@ CANNES 2015 | RIVIERA B11-C12

Seduce a tyrant king to conquer the world

From the director of All About My Wife and Antique I May 21, 2015 I * Europe Sales − Finecut

Comedy, Romance I April 29, 2015

WORLD SALES

Mystery, Thriller I June 2015

War, Drama I 3Q 2015

SEOUL OFFICE

CONTACT

4F. Lotte Castle Gold, 269 Olympic-Ro, Songpa-Gu, Seoul, Korea 138-727

T + 82-2- 3470 - 3540 E international@lotte.net W www.lotteent.com

SCREENINGS

in the middle of nowhere.

11:30

Palais C

3 1/2 MINUTES TRUSTNORDISK PROMO REEL

(Denmark) Trustnordisk.

20mins.

Star 1 invitation only, no press

WORMS

(Brazil) Free Dolphin International. 80mins.

Dir: Paolo Conti, Arthur Nunes.

When Junior, an overprotected preteen worm, is accidentally brought up to the surface, he must face a risky journey back home, while learning the great powers of self-respect, trust and true friendship.

Gray 4

10:45 TRUSTNORDISK PROMO REEL

(Denmark) Trustnordisk.

20mins.

Star 1 invitation only, no press

(US) Dogwoof. 98mins.

Dir: Marc Silver.

On Black Friday 2012, four middle-class AfricanAmerican law-abiding teenagers stopped at a gas station to buy gum and cigarettes. One of them, Jordan Davis, argued with Michael Dunn, a white man parked beside them, over the volume of music playing in their car.

The altercation turned to tragedy when Dunn fired 10 bullets at the unarmed boys, killing Davis almost instantly.

expecting. At a dinner with Betta and Sandro, the refined and literate couple, and Claudio, the eccentric musician, one question will lead to an argument that will shake up the night: the name of Paolo and Simona’s son.

Riviera 4

BAD LUCK

(Austria) Eastwest Filmdistribution. 80mins.

Dir: Thomas Woschitz.

A lovingly made, tragiccomic film about wrong decisions, chance and the search for happiness.

Olympia 6

Palais H

LA BOHEME BREATHE UMPHEFUMLO

AN ITALIAN NAME

(South Africa) Fortissimo Films. 90mins. Dir: Mark Donford-May. Cast: Pauline Malefane, Mhlekazi Mosiea, Busisiwe Ngejane.

Inspired by the opera La Boheme, the action moves from 19th century Paris to

(Italy) Films Distribution.

94mins. Dir: Francesca Archibugi. Cast: Alessandro Gassman, Valeria Golino, Luigi Lo Cascio.

The extrovert Paolo and the beautiful Simona are

21st century Khayelitsha, South Africa where struggling artists, writers and actors are surviving through their wits on the margins of society.

Danny A Abeckaser.

Based on true events, a nightclub promoter tries to make a name for himself in New York City.

Palais D

Arcades 3

BUNKER OF THE DEAD 3D

DEEP WEB: THE HUNT FOR DREAD PIRATE ROBERTS

(Germany) Wtfilms.

77mins. Dir: Matthew O. Oaks. Cast: Patrick Jahns, Esther Maass, Andreas Pape.

In the picturesque Bavarian town of Oberammergau, two friends, Markus and Thomas, are using the instructions found in an old Jewish diary to gain access to a Second World War underground military base formerly codenamed Cerusit.

(US) Content Media Corporation. 91mins.

Dir: Alex Winter. Cast: Keanu Reeves.

Explores the hidden underbelly of the internet, the man that might have created an empire, the scary reality about what depraved things are just a mouse click away, and the struggle for digital freedom.

Olympia 7

(France) Pyramide International. 85mins.

Dir: Emilie Cherpitel.

Cast: Clotilde Hesme, Florian Lemaire, Clotilde Courau.

Thirty-five-year-old Eva is unpredictable, charmingly

CLUB LIFE

(US) Bleiberg Entertainment. 88mins.

Dir: Fabrizio Conte.

Cast: Jerry Ferrara, Jessica Szohr,

Olympia 9

EVA & LEON

immature and has no children. Leon is 10, he’s got the seriousness and reasoning of an adult and has no parents. Eva is bored in her privileged life as well as in her love life. Leon has just run away to try to find his mother. They weren’t meant to meet but yet will spend five unforgettable days together. He will teach her to grow up, and she will teach him to become a child again.

Palais J

FRENCH BLOOD

(France) Indie Sales.

97mins. Dir: Diasteme.

Cast: Alban Lenoir, Samuel Jouy, Patrick Pineau, Paul Hamy.

The story of a Frenchman, born in 1965, on the outskirts of Paris. The story of a skinhead, who hates Arabs, Jews, blacks, communists and gays. An anger that will take 30 years to die out.

Star 3

www.reelsuspects.com

MARKET SCREENINGS TODAY // 08:00 PM // PALAIS D 19.05 // 01:30 PM // STAR 4

office in cannes LERINS R5 M. + 33 6 14 45 62 78 REEL SUSPECTS | INTERNATIONAL SALES & CO-PRODUCTIONS 42, rue René Boulanger | 75010 - Paris | France | T : + 33 1 58 51 42 95 | M : + 33 6 14 45 62 78

LOVEMILLA »

82 Screen International at Cannes May 14, 2015

www.screendaily.com

SCREENINGS

beautiful wife, Isabelle.

Beneath the perfect surface of their lives, dark secrets lurk. Into this paradise comes Lucas — a dangerous ex-lover hell bent on revenge. His aim? To destroy their marriage and blackmail Isabelle into returning his inheritance — a fortune that his wealthy father had bequeathed to her instead of him.

IT’S ALREADY TOMORROW IN HONG KONG

(Hong Kong (China)) Red Sea Media. 78mins.

Dir: Emily Ting. Cast: Jamie Chung, Bryan Greenberg.

An attraction forms when a Chinese-American girl visiting Hong Kong for the first time meets an American expat who shows her the way, but timing may not quite be on their side.

Gray 3

Palais B

CRIMINAL ACTIVITIES LATIN LOVER

(Italy) Rai Com. 105mins.

Dir: Cristina Comencini.

Cast: Jordi Molla, Marisa Paredes, Virna Lisi.

A romcom about an actor who had five daughters with five women.

Market 11:30

Palais F

THE NEXT GENERATION: PATLABOR — TOKYO WAR

MOONWALKERS

(Japan) Tohokushinsha Film Corporation.

93mins. Dir: Mamoru Oshii. Cast: Erina Mano, Rina Ohta, Seiji Fukushi.

It is 2013, Tokyo.

SV2 Division 1 has

(France) Kinology.

93mins. Dir: Antoine Bardou Jacquet. Cast: Ron Perlman, Rupert Grint, Robert Sheehan.

A CIA agent and a rock manager team up to help Stanley Kubrick fake the moon landings.

Star 4

THE NEXT GENERATION: PATLABOR — TOKYO WAR See box, above

THE PACK

(Australia) Lightning Entertainment. 90mins.

Dir: Nick Robertson.

Cast: Jack Campbell, Anna Lise Phillips, Kate Moore.

You can’t outrun them.

You can’t hide from them.

Lerins 1

THE SWEET ESCAPE

(France) Wild Bunch.

105mins. Dir: Bruno Podalydes. Cast: Bruno Podalydes, Agnes Jaoui, Sandrine Kiberlain.

A mid-life crisis propels graphic designer Michel into a newfound passion for kayaking and a pastoral adventure sparkling with good humour and lighthearted charm.

Arcades 1 priority badges only

Leone’s spaghetti westerns. disbanded. The third generation Division 2 is barely surviving.

When a terrorist organisation attacks the capital city with the “invisible” stealth helicopter, SV2 is commanded to stand up against the threat.

Gray 2

TWICE UPON A TIME IN THE WEST

(Bulgaria) Bulgarian National Film Center.

100mins. Dir: Boris Despodov. Cast: Claudia Cardinale, Alex Brendemohl, Diana Paskalieva.

A bride on the run from her murderous husbandto-be stumbles upon a ghost town in the middle of the desert, a surreal landscape that once served as the setting for Sergio

Gray 4

WOLF WARRIOR

(China) Arclight Films.

100mins. Dir: Jing Wu. Cast: Jing Wu, Scott Adkins, Nan Yu. A Chinese special forces soldier with extraordinary marksmanship is confronted by a group of deadly foreign mercenaries who are hired by a vicious drug lord to assassinate him.

Riviera 2

12:00 BLOOD ORANGE

(UK) Carnaby International. 89mins.

Dir: Toby Tobias.

Cast: Kacey Barnfield, Iggy Pop, Antonio Magro, Ben Lamb.

Set in the hills of southern Spain, home to an ageing rock star, Bill, and his much younger very

(US) Diamond Pictures.

94mins. Dir: Jackie Earle Haley. Cast: John Travolta, Michael Pitt, Dan Stevens.

When four young men reunite at an ex-classmate’s funeral, one of them offers up some inside information on a stock that’s guaranteed to make them all instant millionaires.

They agree to formalise a partnership before the night’s end to invest in what they believe to be a sure thing.

Palais I

DESPITE THE FALLING SNOW

(UK) 6 Sales. 113mins.

Dir: Shamim Sarif.

Cast: Rebecca Ferguson, Charles Dance, Sam Reid, Antje Traue.

In 1950s Moscow, Communist Katya secretly spies for the Americans in the Cold War arms race.

When she lands her biggest assignment, stealing secrets from rising government star Alexander, the last thing she expects is to fall in love with him. When Alexander

unwittingly closes the net around his own wife, Katya decides to make the ultimate sacrifice to protect him — a sacrifice that Alexander only uncovers 40 years later.

Gray 1

EILEEN GRAY PROJECT — “GRAY MATTERS” (DOC) AND “THE PRICE OF DESIRE” (PROMO)

(Ireland) The Little Film Company. 102mins.

Dir: Marco Orsini, Mary McGuckian.

Riviera 1

EISENSTEIN IN GUANAJUATO (Mexico)

Films Boutique. 105mins.

Dir: Peter Greenaway.

In 1931, following the success of the film “Battleship” Potemkin, Soviet film-maker Sergei Eisenstein travels to the city of Guanajuato, Mexico, to shoot a new film. Freshly rejected by Hollywood, Eisenstein soon falls under Mexico’s spell. Chaperoned by his guide Palomino Canedo, the director opens up to his suppressed fears as he embraces a new world of sensual pleasures and possibilities that will shape the future of his art.

Olympia 4

THE EMPEROR’S NEW CLOTHES

(UK) Studiocanal.

96mins. Dir: Michael Winterbottom. Cast: Russell Brand.

A look at the growing disparity between different economic classes.

Arcades 2

»

84 Screen International at Cannes May 14, 2015

www.screendaily.com

@ Lerins Stand R7

The Harder They Come

A Fish Story

Director: Perry Henzell Starring Jimmy Cliff Screening @ PALAIS D Thursday 14 May 15:30

Director: Matt Birman Starring Eddie McClintock, Jayne Heitmeyer Screening @ PALAIS B Thursday 14 May 13:30

Strike One

The Hero Chiyou

Director: David Llauger Meiselman Starring Danny Trejo, Johnny Ortiz Screening @ PALAIS E Saturday 16 May 16:00

www.californiapicturesinc.com

Director: Jian Zhao Starring Kai Tan, Dong Han, Xiaoyu Zhu See us in Lerins R7

The Daniel Connection

Director: Stewart Menelaws Starring Caroline Goodall, Gray O’Brien Morgan Canberry Screening @ PALAIS E Friday 15 May 16:00

Dark Hearts Director: Rudolf Buitendach Starring Lucas Till, Goran Visnjic, , Sonja Kinski Kyle Schmid,Rachel Blanchard Screening @ PALAIS B Sunday 17 May 15:30 President Steven Istock 1 (310) 466-5106 SVP Sales Monique R. Nayard 1 (323) 891-4269 VP Sales Kevin McMahon 1 (310) 995-3909

@ Lerins Stand R7

The Hero Chiyou Director: Jian Zhao

Strike One Director: David Llauger Meiselman Starring Danny Trejo, Johnny Ortiz

Starring Kai Tan, Dong Han, Xiaoyu Zhu

Screening @ PALAIS E Saturday 16 May 16:00

Screening @ PALAIS D Sunday 17 May 13:30

Dark Hearts Director: Rudolf Buitendach Starring Lucas Till, Goran Visnjic, , Sonja Kinski Kyle Schmid, Rachel Blanchard

The Daniel Connection Director: Stewart Menelaws

Screening @ PALAIS B Sunday 17 May 15:30

www.californiapicturesinc.com

Starring Caroline Goodall, Gray O’Brien Morgan Canberry

Screening @ PALAIS E Friday 15 May 16:00

President Steven Istock 1 (310) 466-5106 VP Sales Kevin McMahon 1 (310) 995-3909

SVP Sales Monique R. Nayard 1 (323) 891-4269

SCREENINGS

an acclaimed musician and the subject of her latest biography, when she meets Andrew, a brash writer from New York, who has a different take on her husband’s life — and death.

The unlikely pair must collaborate to put together the famous singer’s story and begin to write the next chapter in their lives.

Olympia 5

13:30 A FISH STORY

(Canada) California Pictures. 80mins. Dir: Matt Birman. Cast: Eddie McClintock, Jayne Heitmeyer, Jordyn Negri, George A Romero.

Sometimes catch and release isn’t just about fishing.

Palais B

Market 12:00 PAPA

(US) Premiere Entertainment Group.

90mins. Dir: Bob Yari.

Cast: Adrian Sparks, Giovanni Ribisi, Minka Kelly, Joely Richardson.

FROG KINGDOM

(China) Golden Network Asia. 86mins. Dir: Nelson Shin.

A street vendor trains for the Froglympics, unaware that he is competing with the runaway Frog Princess, who has disguised herself as a male frog.

ATLANTIC

Based on a true story, “Papa” follows journalist Ed Myers on his adventure to Cuba in 1959, on a mission to meet his idol, the legendary writer Ernest Hemingway.

Lerins 2

boxer Jake LaMotta as he struggles to get to the top of his game. Success isn’t everything though, and even after becoming a world middleweight boxing champ, LaMotta’s personal life continues to spiral tumultuously downward.

Palais G

Riviera 3

LAST SHIFT HALF SISTER, FULL LOVE

(France) Le Pacte. 95mins.

Dir: Marion Vernoux. Cast: Virginie Efira, Geraldine Nakache, Gregoire Ludig.

Pierre is invited by his best friend Tessa into her family home, where he encounters her sister Mary. After a particularly drunken night and Tessa’s unforeseen arrival, the trio will go through awkward situations and unexpected revelations.

Palais C

Palais E

PAPA See box, left

PARTISAN

(Australia) Protagonist Pictures. 98mins. Dir: Ariel Kleiman. Cast: Vincent Cassel, Jeremy Chabriel, Florence Kolb.

Gregori’s eldest child, Alexander, is like any other kid: playful, curious and naive. He is also a trained assassin. As Alexander approaches his 12th birthday, he begins to question Gregori’s teachings. Tensions bulid as Gregori’s idyllic world begins to unravel and a creeping fear takes shape: his favourite son may not love him anymore.

Palais K

TOGETHER ALONE

(Canada) The Open Reel.

78mins. Dir: Mateo Guez.

Cast: Jon Rhys, Toni Evangelista, Lucas Chan.

Will is back home after a long trip. He is tired, in distress and is carrying a heavy secret.

Olympia 8 priority badges only

MORTADELO & FILEMON: MISSION IMPLAUSIBLE

Gray 5

LAMOTTA : THE BRONX BULL

(Spain) Film Factory Entertainment. 89mins.

Dir: Javier Fesser.

Mortadelo and Filemon are the most valuable superspies in the TIA (the secret government agency), charged with solving the crimes that no other spy can...or rather,

TUMBLEDOWN

(US) Highland Film Group. 93mins. Dir: Martin Guigui. Cast: Cloris Leachman, Joe Mantegna, Natasha Hentsridge.

Based on true events, this epic rags to riches tale tells the story of young 86 Screen International at Cannes May 14, 2015

(US) Archstone Distribution. 85mins. Dir: Anthony Diblasi. Cast: Juliana Harkavy, Joshua Mikel, J. Larose.

A rookie cop’s first shift in the last night of a closing police station alone turns into a living nightmare. The plot echoes John Carpenter’s “Assault on Precinct 13” but with a supernatural twist.

bungling situations like no one else can.

(US) Sierra/Affinity.

105mins. Dir: Sean Mewshaw. Cast: Rebecca Hall, Jason Sudeikis, Dianna Agron.

Hannah is beginning to move on with her life after the death of her husband,

(Netherlands) Fortissimo Films. 94mins. Dir: JanWillem Van Ewijk. Cast: Boujmaa Guilloul, Hassna Souidi, Soufyan Sahli, Wisal Hatimi, Driss Hakimi.

After watching European tourists come and go for many years, Fettah takes off on an epic ocean journey along the Moroccan Atlantic coast to Europe on a windsurf board.

Arcades 3

CHLORINE

(Italy) Rai Com. 94mins. Dir: Lamberto Sanfelice. Cast: Sara Serraiocco, Piera Degli Esposti, Giorgio Colangeli, Ivan Franek, Anatol Sassi, Andrea Vergoni.

Jenny is 17 and dreams of becoming a synchronised swimmer, but her carefree adolescent life in Ostia, a seacoast town near Rome, is shaken by the sudden death of her mother.

Star 3

THE CHRONICLES OF EVIL

(South Korea) Cj E&M Corporation/Cj Entertainment. 102mins.

Dir: Baek Woon-Hak. Cast: Son Hyun-Joo, Daniel Choi, Park Seo-Jun. A decorated detective involved in a taxi driver’s death realises he is caught in a trap and must untangle past mistakes to figure out why he was targeted in the first place.

Lerins 1

THE CLEARSTREAM AFFAIR

(France) Films Distribution. 110mins.

www.screendaily.com

»

SCREENINGS

Dir: Vincent Garenq.

Cast: Gilles Lellouche, Charles Berling, Laurent Capelluto, Florence Loiret Caille.

Journalist Denis Robert sets the world of finance ablaze when he exposes Clearstream Banking’s opaque operations. In his search for the truth and his attempt to reveal the “affair of all affairs”, he ends up crossing paths with Judge Renaud Van Ruymbeke, well-known for his commitment to the fight against corruption, and in charge of the investigation for the Taiwan Frigate Affair.

Riviera 4

FEED THE DEVIL

(Canada) Jinga Films.

95mins. Dir: Max Perrier.

Cast: Ardis Barrow, Jared Cohn.

A small-time drug dealer, his girlfriend and her sister travel to a remote forest location in search of a valuable drugs stash but their quest for easy money soon becomes a journey into the heart of darkness as they are confronted by a mythical Indian tribe.

an American and living in Miami. Soon we’ve rewound several weeks to follow the events leading up to Claude’s trip.

Star 2

THE MARTIAL ARTS KID

(US) Gorilla Pictures.

93mins. Dir: Michael Baumgarten. Cast: Don “The Dragon” Wilson, Cynthia Rothrock, Jansen Panettiere, Kathryn Newton.

Love conquers all... bullies beware Gray 3

MISS HOKUSAI

13:30 WINDSTORM 2

(Germany) Attraction Distribution. 106mins.

Dir: Katja Von Garnier.

Cast: Hanna Hoppner, Jannis Niewohner, Tilo Pruckner, Cornelia Froboess.

Mika is thrilled to be back at her grandmother’s stable for yet another summer vacation spent in the company of her

WINDSTORM 2

beloved horse Windstorm.

But the Kaltenbach stable faces great financial distress and Mika reluctantly offers her help by participating in lucrative tournaments.

Windstorm is strangely distracted during the training sessions and flees into the woods. Mika finds out why: Windstorm is in love.

Palais F

Palais D

HELL & BACK

(US) The Exchange.

100mins. Dir: Tom Gianas, Ross Shuman.

Cast: Mila Kunis, Danny McBride, Bob Odernick.

Two best friends set out to rescue their pal after he’s accidentally dragged to hell.

Olympia 9

KIDNAP

(Netherlands) Dutch Features Global Entertainment. 87mins.

Dir: Diederik Ebbinge.

Cast: Martin Van Waardenberg, Steven Van Watermeulen, Katrien Van Beurden.

Bo is the only child of rich parents and goes to the best international boarding school in Europe. When the holiday starts, he is kidnapped and his rich, safe and secluded world is turned upside down.

Palais H

MARTYRS

(US) Wild Bunch.

81mins. Dir: Michael Goetz, Kevin Goetz.

Edward James Olmos, Erik Estrada, Kate Del Castillo.

Cuco is a Mexican boy parrot that would rather imitate the crazy stunts of his TV super-parrot hero, El Americano, than help with his chores at the family bird circus.

(Japan) Production I.G. 90mins. Dir: Keiichi Hara. Cast: Kumiko As0, Anne Watanabe, Kengo Kora.

The untold story of Master Hokusai’s daughter: a lively portrayal of a freespirited, utterly outspoken and highly talented woman unfolding through the changing seasons.

Riviera 3

Palais E

EVOLUTION MAN 3D

MUCH LOVED

(France) Pathe International. 100mins.

Dir: Jamel Debbouze.

Cast: Jamel Debbouze, Melissa Theuriau.

Two million years ago, just after lunch, a young ape-man called Edouard falls out of his tree and breaks one of his forelegs.

To survive, Edouard stands upright and invents walking on two feet. But he is alone, surrounded by the dangers of the savannah. To convince his fellow ape-men to join him, Edouard redoubles his ingenuity and invents fire, hunting, modern dwellings, love and hope.

(France) Celluloid Dreams/Nightmares.

108mins. Dir: Nabil Ayouch. Cast: Loubna Abidar, Asmaa Lazrak, Halima Karaouane.

Marrakech today: Noha, Randa, Soukaina, and Hlima live a life of “love for sale”. They’re whores, objects of desire, flashes of flesh. In the heat of the night money flows freely, to the rhythms of pleasures and humiliations suffered.

But united in their womanhood, they’re queens of their kingdom.

Full of light, dignity and joy, they manage to keep their spirits and dreams alive. They’re loved, they’re unloved, they’re too much loved.

Market

Cast: Bailey Noble, Troian Bellisario, Kate Burton, Blake Robbins.

A survivor of childhood torture faces a martyr’s fate.

Arcades 1 priority badges only

NO STRANGER THAN LOVE

(US) Expression Entertainment. 89mins.

Dir: Nick Wernham.

Cast: Alison Brie, Colin Hanks, Justin Chatwin.

What is stranger than the big hole that opens up in Lucy Sherrington’s living room floor? As it turns out, love.

Riviera 2

ODYSSEO 3D MOVIE

(South Korea) 9ers Entertainment. 100mins.

Dir: Jung Sung-Bok. Olympia 7 press allowed

SAVVA: HEART OF THE WARRIOR

(Russia) Highland Film Group. 85mins.

Dir: Max Fadeev. Cast: Milla Jovovich, Whoopi Goldberg, Joe Pesci.

Once protected by regal

88 Screen International at Cannes May 14, 2015

white wolves, the village of 10-year-old Savva has fallen prey to a gang of ruthless hyenas led by the evil three-headed monkey queen, Mom Jozee. One day, Savva manages to escape to the woods, where he befriends Angee, one of the remaining white wolves.

Palais J

See box, left

14:00 1944

(Estonia) Estonian Film Institute. 100mins.

Dir: Elmo Nuganen.

The last year of war on Estonian turf. Men are fighting on the Russian border. Some have been taken to the Red Army, some to Waffen SS. Today, 70 years on, the filmmakers try to show the hopes, aims and drama of these men as objectively as possible.

Palais C

DEATH OF A FISHERMAN

(Spain) Latido. 96mins.

Dir: Gerardo Herrero.

Cast: Carmelo Gomez, Antonio Garrido, Luis Zahera, Celso Bugallo.

How can you solve a crime when nobody talks?

Riviera 1

WILD HORSES

(US) Voltage Pictures.

104mins. Dir: Robert Duvall. Cast: James Franco, Josh Hartnett, Robert Duvall.

When a Texas Ranger, Samantha Payne, is asked to reopen a 15-year-old missing persons case, she begins to believe that the boy was murdered by wealthy family man Scott Briggs after discovering his son, Ben, was having a relationship with the boy. Samantha stops at nothing to discover the truth of the boy’s whereabouts, putting her life in jeopardy in order to do so.

Olympia 3

THE DRIFTLESS AREA

(US) Radiant Films International. 106mins.

Dir: Zachary Sluser. Cast: Anton Yelchin, Zooey Deschanel, John Hawkes.

Tells the tale of an unconventional romance about death, love and fate. Pierre’s life is saved by a beautiful stranger, and their pasts catch up with them in a violent and transcendent finale.

Palais I

EL AMERICANO 3D: THE MOVIE

(Mexico) Filmsharks International. 90mins.

Dir: Mike Kunkel, Ricardo Arnaiz. Cast:

Star 1

FLORIDA

(France) Gaumont.

110mins. Dir: Philippe Le Guay. Cast: Jean Rochefort, Sandrine Kiberlain.

At over 80, Claude Lherminier has lost none of his charm and presence. Dressed in a white linen suit and a colourful cravat, we meet him on a plane bound for Florida. On a whim, Claude has decided to visit his youngest daughter, Alice, who is married to

Olympia 5 priority badges only

NEWCOMER

(US) Content Media Corporation. 101mins.

Dir: Kai Barry. Cast: James Floyd, Noemie Merlant, Anthony Lapaglia.

Follows in the tradition of a young Bourne or Bond and introduces the world to a new covert operative who learns to use his quick wits and stellar intuition »

www.screendaily.com

Because Our Audience Makes All the Difference TIFF Industry would not be what it is without the people it attracts.

Last year alone we welcomed over 5,000 delegates from 80 countries, and more than 2,000 buyers. We hosted 71 professional development sessions and over 250 speakers, presented 1,200 screenings, and much more.

facebook.com/TIFFIndustry twitter.com/TIFF_Industry tiff.net/industry

™ Toronto International Film Festival Inc.

Early-bird registration opens May 5, 2015.

SCREENINGS

to beat the best in the business at their own game.

PALIO

(UK) Altitude Film Sales.

90mins. Dir: Cosima Spender. Cast: Gigi Bruschelli, Giovanni Atzeni, Silvano Vigni.

Taking bribes and making deals is as essential as being a good rider in the Palio, the world’s oldest horse race. Giovanni, a young jockey, is up to the challenge when he faces his former mentor on the track.

What ensues is a thrilling battle that is at the centre of Italian tradition.

Olympia 4

THE NYMPHETS

(US) Visit Films. 75mins.

Dir: Gary Gardner. Cast: Kip Pardue, Annabelle Dexter-Jones, Jordan Lane Price.

A well-to-do 30-something man invites two rowdy young girls to party in his loft, leading to a night of provocation and cruelty, all in the name of getting laid.

Lerins 2

OEDO NO CANDY

(Japan) Gold View Co. 79mins. Dir: Leona Hirota. Cast: Akihiro Mayama, Hiromu Takahashi.

A love story between two beautiful men. Based on ballet “Swan Lake”.

Gray 4

Arcades 1

Market 15:30 RAGING ROSE

(France) Alpha Violet.

80mins. Dir: Jula Kowalski. Cast: Liv Henneguier, Yoann Zimmer, Andrzej Chyra, Artur Steranko.

Jozef, a blue-collar Pole, arrives in France to work

PATRICK’S DAY

in construction, but also to find his son Roman, whom he abandoned 15 years earlier. His boss’s daughter, Rose, a teenager in the tumult of sexual awakening, offers to help him in his search. She ends up falling in love.

Palais J

THE PEARL BUTTON

(France) Pyramide International. 82mins.

Dir: Patricio Guzman.

A story about water, the cosmos and us. It all starts with the discovery of two mysterious buttons deep in the Pacific Ocean, off the Chilean coast.

Palais K

ROAD TO YOUR HEART

(South Africa) Princ Films. 115mins. Dir: Jaco Smit. Cast: Ivan Botha, Donnalee Roberts, Marius Weyers.

A successful young businessman, Basson, has to get to Cape Town in five days for his father’s funeral. In order to inherit the family’s company he has to complete certain tasks that his father assigned to him in his will. His journey doesn’t start well and on his first stop he loses his car and he must accept the help of a free-spirited young woman, Amory.

Gray 5

are always dangerous, The Survivalist lives off the grid, and by his wits. Until two starving women, a mother and her daughter, find his forest refuge.

Gray 4

FILMS DISTRIBUTION PROMO REEL

ULYANA LOPATKINA

(France) Films Distribution. 35mins.

Palais G

15:30 BRAND: A SECOND COMING

(UK) Myriad Pictures.

105mins. Dir: Ondi Timoner. Cast: Russell Brand.

Follows comedian/author/ activist Russell Brand as he dives headlong into drugs, sex and fame in an attempt to find happiness, only to realise we have all been nurtured on bad ideas and empty celebrity idols.

Olympia 7

THE SURVIVALIST

(UK) K5 International.

112mins. Dir: Stephen Fingleton. Cast: Martin Mccann, Mia Goth, Andrew Simpson, Olwen Fouere, Barry Ward.

In a dystopian, kill-or-bekilled world where strangers

community service working in a prayer request call centre.

Arcades 2

(France) Wide House.

90mins. Dir: Marlene Ionesco.

The divine Ulyana Lopatkina.

DIAL A PRAYER

(US) Vmi Worldwide.

90mins. Dir: Maggie Kiley. Cast: William H Macy, Brittany Snow, Glenne Headly.

A young woman named Cora is sentenced to

90 Screen International at Cannes May 14, 2015

(Ireland) The Little Film Company. 95mins. Dir: Terry Mcmahon. Cast: Kerry Fox, Moe Dunford, Catherine Walker.

Patrick, a warm 26-yearold virgin schizophrenic, falls in love with Karen, who has no idea where their relationship will lead.

Patrick’s obsessive mother, Maura, tries everything to pull them apart.

Olympia 6 priority badges only

Dir: Sebastian Silva.

Cast: Kristen Wiig, Sebastian Silva, Tunde Adebimpe.

Centres on a Brooklyn couple, Freddy and his boyfriend Mo, who are trying to have a baby with the help of their best friend, Polly. The film follows the trio as they navigate the idea of creating life while confronted by growing harassment from a menacing local known as “The Bishop”.

Star 3

See box, above left

MUSICAL CHAIRS

THE NOTE

SUMMER SOLSTICE

(France) Bac Films.

82mins. Dir: Marie Belhomme. Cast: Isabelle Carre, Philippe Rebbot, Carmen Maura.

Perrine, a 30-something woman, is a child at heart.

When she accidentally makes a man fall in a dumpster, she runs away after calling for help. But upon learning he is in a coma, she starts visiting him every day and does everything in her power to wake him up.

(Malaysia) Creative Content Association Malaysia. 95mins. Dir: Yasu Tanaka. Cast: Hans Isaac, Maya Karin, Ramli Hassan, Rin Izumi.

A childless couple, Kamal and Erin, going through a midlife crisis, try to rekindle their relationship with a trip to Bako National Park. When Erin discovers a secret note written by Kamal and later finds out he’s been unfaithful she takes drastic action.

(Poland) Wide. 95mins.

Dir: Michal Rogalski.

Cast: Filip Piotrowicz, Jonas Nay, Urszula Bogucka.

Beginning of summer, end of innocence.

Olympia 3

Gray 2

MY NAME IS MAYA

ODDBALL

(Italy) Intramovies.

90mins. Dir: Tommaso Agnese. Cast: Matilda Lutz, Valeria Solarino, Carlotta Natoli.

When mom dies in an road accident, two young sisters, same mom but different fathers, are put in the care of social services.

Determined as they are not to be separated, they decide to run away.

NASTY BABY

(Australia) Global Screen.

93mins. Dir: Stuart Mcdonald. Cast: Shane Jacobson, Sarah Snook, Alan Tudyk, Coco Jack Gillies.

With persistent fox attacks threatening to close down the main tourist attraction of a small town in southern Australia, an island of Fairy Penguins, an eccentric chicken farmer teams up with his granddaughter to save the penguins.

(US) Versatile. 100mins.

Lerins 1

MONKEY KING RELOADED

Riviera 2

THE HARDER THEY COME

(Jamaica) California Pictures. 105mins. Dir: Perry Henzell. Cast: Jimmy Cliff, Janet Bartley, Carl Bradshaw.

Wishing to become a successful reggae singer, a young Jamaican man finds himself tied to corrupt record producers and drug pushers, and must fight with the police, the corrupt music industry and rivals in the ganja trade while he rises to the top of the pop charts and the most-wanted lists.

Palais D

LITTLE BOY

(US) Good Universe.

106mins. Dir: Alejandro Monteverde. Cast: Jakob Salvati, Emily Watson, Tom Wilkinson.

A boy is willing to do whatever it takes to bring his dad home from the Second World War alive.

Arcades 3

(Hong Kong (China)) Media Asia Film. 85mins.

Dir: Wai Ching Yip. 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.

Palais F

Palais B

RAGING ROSE

Palais H

TEANA: 10000 YEARS LATER 3D

(China) Arclight Films.

100mins. Dir: Yi Li. Tibet, 10,000 years postapocalypse. Civilisation has brought humanity to its knees. A cruel overlord has unleashed his tyranny over Earth’s remaining tribes to harness what’s left of the world’s resources but one girl, with the help of a band of fearless fighters, is destined to save her land and people and finally put an end to the overlord’s reign of terror.

Riviera 4

WOLF TOTEM 3D

(China) Wild Bunch.

118mins. Dir: JeanJacques Annaud. Cast: Ankhnyam Ragchaa, Shawn Dou, William Feng.

www.screendaily.com

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REMERCIE POUR LEUR CONFIANCE

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MARKET SCREENINGS FRI 15th 12.00 OLYMPIA 8 SUN 17th 18.00 OLYMPIA 8

SCREENINGS

revolutionary terrorist group from the 1970s.

A young man discovers the mystical bond between herdsman and wolf in the beautiful wilderness of Inner Mongolia.

Palais B

BREAKING THE BANK

Star 4 press allowed

16:00 BAAHUBALI

(India) Arka Mediaworks.

145mins. Dir: Rajamouli Sri Sailasri. Cast: Prabhas Uppalapati, Rana Daggubati, Tamannaah Bhatia, Anushka Shetty.

A mother chooses an adopted nephew over her own son to be the new king. The young king spurns the throne for love. But treachery and betrayal lead to his vile murder, leaving behind an ostracised wife. Their rescued infant child, raised by tribals, returns to avenge his parents.

Palais K

BANJO

(UK) Cincest Films.

108mins. Dir: Liam Regan. Cast: Laurence R Harvey, Dan Palmer, James Hamer-Morton.

A young man becomes manipulated by his imaginary friend to exact revenge on his tormenting co-workers.

Market 17:30 THE RUNNER

(US) Fortitude International. 100mins.

Dir: Austin Stark. Cast: Nicolas Cage, Connie Nielsen, Sarah Paulson, Walton Goggins.

A brilliant, near-suicidal artist, Thomas, attempts to escape his privileged existence into the desert only to encounter a homicidal, chameleon-like drifter.

Gray 1

Gray 5

OPERATOR FOU D’AMOUR

(France) Alfama Films.

106mins. Dir: Philippe Ramos. Cast: Melvil Poupaud, Dominique Blanc, Jean-Francois Stevenin.

Guilty of a double-murder, a man is beheaded. At the bottom of the basket that just welcomed it, the head of the dead man tells his story.

Arcades 2

HELLIONS

(Canada) Jinga Films.

82mins. Dir: Bruce McDonald. Cast: Chloe Rose, Robert Patrick.

Teenage Dora Vogel must survive a Halloween night from hell when malevolent trick-or-treaters come knocking at her door.

Palais G

MOJAVE

(US) Relativity International. 92mins. Dir: William Monahan. Cast: Garrett Hedlund, Oscar Isaac, Louise Bourgoin,

(US) Cinema Management Group.

86mins. Dir: Obin Olson, Amariah Olson.

Cast: Luke Goss, Mischa Barton, Ving Rhames, Michael Pare.

When the daughter of a veteran 911 call centre operator and a senior police officer is kidnapped and held hostage, they are left desperate, with no choice but to follow the kidnapper’s rules.

TRIPLE TROUBLE

Peter Fonda.

An idealistic politician is forced to confront his dysfunctional past after his career is destroyed in a sex scandal.

Olympia 7 press allowed

Dir: Jose Luis Lopez Linares. Cast: Josep Roca, Paco Perez, Eduardo Ojeda.

Jerez, where wine has been made for the past 3,000 years, is a place of stories, legendary tales, and, most of all, mysteries.

UMRIKA SONG OF LAHORE

Autlook Filmsales.

82mins. Dir: Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy, Andy Schocken.

Follows several Pakistani musicians, and asks if there is still room for them in a society roiled by conflict.

Riviera 3

SWEET HOME

SHERRY & THE MySTERY OF PALO CORTADO

(Spain) Latido. 88mins.

Palais E

THE PARISIAN BITCH

(France) Gaumont.

82mins. Dir: Eloise Lang, Noemie Saglio. Cast: Camille Cottin.

Camilla, 30 years old and a born bitch, realises she deserves a better life, and decides that the only fate suitable for her is that of a Royal Highness.

Star 2

92 Screen International at Cannes May 14, 2015

Palais C

Riviera 1

(Spain) Filmax International. 80mins.

Dir: Rafael Martinez.

Cast: Ingrid GarciaJonasson, Bruno Sevilla.

Alicia has a surprise to celebrate her boyfriend Simon’s birthday: a romantic dinner for two in one of the almost uninhabited buildings she inspects as part of her job. The evening starts out perfectly, but the couple soon make the startling discovery that they are not the only intruders in the building that night.

Lerins 2

(Netherlands) Attraction Distribution. 67mins.

Dir: Albert ‘T’ Hooft, Paco Vink. Cast: Hans Sommers, Georgina Verbaan, Reinder Van Der Naalt.

It will soon be the holiday season. Children around the globe are expecting gifts from Santa Claus.

What about animals?

They feel left out. Meet three intrepid friends, brave little bird Kari, smart insect Walker and super ferret Freddy.

(India) Beta Cinema.

100mins. Dir: Prashant Nair. Cast: Suraj Sharma, Tony Revolori, Smita Tambe.

When Udai Bhai abandons his native Jitvapur for a bigger and better life in America, young Ramkant must follow in his footsteps to find out what truly happened to him.

Palais I

17:00 BAAHUBALI

(India) Arka Mediaworks.

145mins. Dir: Rajamouli Sri Sailasri. Cast: Prabhas Uppalapati, Rana Daggubati, Tamannaah Bhatia.

Palais K

17:30 A GERMAN YOUTH

(France) Films Boutique.

93mins. Dir: JeanGabriel Periot.

Tells the history of the Red Army Faction, a German

(UK) The Exchange.

104mins. Dir: Vadim Jean. Cast: Kelsey Grammer, Tasmin Greig, John Michael Higgins.

Charles Bunbury is the bumbling, affable chairman of Tuftons, a historic bank in London.

Bunbury married into the position and spends most of his time on the golf course. But when a rogue trader leaves Tuftons skating on thin ice, Charles must transform himself from a labrador of Liverpool Street into the wolf of Wall Street.

Palais F

CJ ENTERTAINMENT PRIVATE SCREENING

(South Korea) Cj E&M Corporation/Cj Entertainment. 110mins.

Palais J invitation only

HELIOS

(Hong Kong (China)) Media Asia Film.

119mins. Dir: Longman Leung, Sunny Luk. Cast: Jacky Cheung, Nick Cheung, Shawn Yue. Olympia 3

LOVE & PEACE

(Japan) WTFilms.

117mins. Star 3 LOVE AT FIRST CHILD

(France) Tf1 International.

95mins. Dir: Anne Giafferi. Cast: Patrick Bruel, Isabelle Carre.

An unexpected romcom about being unable to resist the laws of attraction.

Arcades 1

PERSONA NON GRATA

(Japan) Nippon Television Network Corp. ( Ntv). 135mins.

Dir: Cellin Gluck. Cast: Toshiaki Karasawa, Koyuki, Borys Szyc, Agnieszka Grochowska.

Palais D invitation only

DRAGON BLADE

(China) Golden Network Asia. 103mins. Dir: Daniel Lee. Cast: Jackie Chan, John Cusack, Adrien Brody.

Two thousand years ago, a mysterious legion of troops — with deep-set eyes and arched noses — galloped along the Silk Road.

Dressed in exquisitely carved amour with red manes on their helmets, the legion employed weapons and battle formations never before witnessed on the plains of China. The soldiers were a Roman legion led

by General Luciu. He led his men east to protect Publius, the youngest son of Consul Crassus, from his vicious brother Tiberius.

Riviera 4 invitation only

THE GREAT BRITISH MORTGAGE SWINDLE

(UK) Afp. 110mins. Dir: Michael O’Bernicia, Michael O’Deira.

A shockumentary film about banking crimes, the arrogant complicity of the legal professions and Her Majesty’s judiciary; and five pioneering lay litigants fighting for justice.

Gray 4

PROPHECY

(Japan) Tbs (Tokyo Broadcasting System Television). 119mins. Dir: Yoshihiro Nakamura.

Cast: Toma Ikuta, Erika Toda.

Lerins 1

THE RUNNER See box, above

STEVE MCQUEEN: THE MAN & Le MANS

(UK) Content Media Corporation. 112mins.

Dir: Gabriel Clarke, John Mckenna. Cast: Steve McQueen.

Interweaves stunning newly discovered footage and voice recordings with original interviews. It is the true story of how a cinema legend would risk almost everything in pursuit of his dream.

Olympia 9 priority badges only

THE UNFOLDING

(UK) Robin Films.

91mins. Dir: Eugene McGing. Cast: Robert Daws, Kitty Mcgeever, Lachlan Nieboer.

A young researcher in psychical events, together with his girlfriend, travel to the legendary wilds of Dartmoor, England, to

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SCREENINGS

A professor frantically searches for his son who was abducted during a Halloween parade.

investigate a rambling, centuries-old building — here they find themselves drawn into a murder mystery from the past, a mortal confrontation with pure evil, and a fight for their very survival.

Olympia 4

QUIET RIOT: WELL NOW YOU’RE HERE, THERE’S NO WAY BACK

Palais H

(US) Vmi Worldwide.

104mins. Dir: Regina Russell. Cast: Steven Adler, Frankie Banali, Eric Buarque.

An unlikely and surprisingly personal narrative to conquer the loss of a friend emerges from an odyssey about the rise, fall and resurrection of an ’80s metal band.

17:45 STRANGERLAND

(Australia) Wild Bunch.

110mins. Dir: Kim Farrant. Cast: Nicole Kidman, Joseph Fiennes, Hugo Weaving.

Newcomers to a remote Australian desert town, Catherine and Matthew Parker are pushed to the brink after the mysterious disappearance of their two teenage kids.

Gray 5

SHEEP AND WOLVES

Star 4 press allowed

18:00 AMEEN

(Thailand) Handmade Distribution. 130mins.

Dir: Hamisi Akhi-Rath.

Cast: Ray MacDonald, Suchao Pongwilai.

Palais I

AT GUN POINT — TEASER

(France) Humancorp Films. 11mins. Dir: Laure Hassan. Cast: Harvey Keitel, Alice Taglioni, Beatrice Dalle.

Following a deadly armed robbery, a shotgun passes through the hands of a series of characters, intertwining their destiny and giving each of them the brief opportunity to forever change their existence.

Gray 1

BLUE BLOOD

(Brazil) Picture Tree International. 119mins.

Dir: Lirio Ferreira. Cast: Daniel De Oliveira, Caroline Abras, Sandra Corveloni, Romulo Braga.

Living in an idyllic island paradise, 10-year-old Pedro is separated from his sister Raquel because their mother fears a forbidden attraction between the siblings. Against his will, the boy is sent away to the mainland where he joins a travelling circus.

Palais C press allowed

BUS 657

(US) Hannibal Classics.

90mins. Dir: Scott Mann.

Cast: Robert De Niro, Jeffrey Dean Morgan,

Market 20:00 SUSPENSION

(Canada) Shoreline Entertainment. 86mins.

Dir: Jeffery Lando.

Cast: Ellen Mcnevin, Taylor Russell, Sage Brocklebank.

Emily is a highschool student with a penchant for drawing gruesome pictures in her Kate Bosworth.

Commuter BUS 657 is hijacked during a bungled casino robbery. But as the situation escalates we begin to understand a much larger plan is at play and the hijacking was no accident.

sketchbook. There’s a reason for her obsession: her father Tom went on a murder spree and now resides in a mental hospital. On a night she is babysitting her mute little brother, Tom escapes and targets Emily and her friends during a killing rampage.

Palais H

anti-aircraft artillery unit of corporal Vaskov and five young women in training.

Palais E

FINECUT PROMO REEL

Finecut Co. 60mins.

Lerins 2 invitation only

Palais K

MUSTANG THE DAWNS HERE ARE QUIET

(Russia) Expocontent.

120mins. Dir: Renat Davletyarov.

It is late spring of 1942, and the Great Patriotic War is in full swing. A long way off from the frontline, at some Godforgotten junction, the Germans attempt to get through to the Kirov railway and the White Sea — the Baltic Sea Canal.

These aren’t just ordinary paratroopers. This is a team of seasoned and highly trained infiltrators, the elite of the Waffen-SS, superhumans. The only thing in their way is an

94 Screen International at Cannes May 14, 2015

(France) Kinology.

94mins. Dir: Deniz Gamze Erguven. Cast: Gunes Sensoy, Doga Zeynep Doguslu, Tugba Sunguroglu.

In a remote Turkish village, five vivacious girls led by the youngest — rebellious 13-year-old Lale — grow out of childhood in a family obsessed with tradition and, specifically, the girls’ virtue.

Arcades 2

PAY THE GHOST

(US) Voltage Pictures.

91mins. Dir: Uli Edel.

Cast: Nicolas Cage, Sarah Wayne Callies, Veronica Ferres.

(Russia) Wizart Animation. 80mins.

Dir: Maxim Volkov, Andrey Galat.

Sheep happens.

Riviera 3

STANDING TALL

(France) Elle Driver.

120mins. Dir: Emmanuelle Bercot.

Cast: Catherine Deneuve, Benoit Magimel, Sara Forestier, Rod Parodot.

The story of Malony as he moves through the juvenile justice system, and the tireless efforts of a judge and a counsellor to save him.

Olympia 1

abandoned their teenage dreams. One day they learn that the most serious of the group has decided to set sail around the world.

When they uncover the true reason for this sudden decision, they begin to question themselves, awakening all those old dreams.

Star 2

20:00 BREAKTHROUGH FOR CHANGE

(Japan) Studio Wave.

110mins. Dir: Daisuke Matsuda.

Gray 5

I AM THE PEOPLE

(France) Acid. 111mins.

Dir: Anna Roussillon.

Cast: Farraj Abdelwahid .

Far from Tahrir Square, Farraj, a South Egyptian farmer, strives to keep up with the events occurring in his country as the revolution unfolds.

Arcades 1

LOVEMILLA

(Finland) Reel Suspects.

98mins. Dir: Teemu Nikki, Rami Rusinen.

Cast: Milka Suonpaa, Joel Hirvonen, Mari Rantasila.

A story about love, robots and bodybuilding.

Palais D

SUSPENSION See box, above

TAG

(Japan) Shochiku Co. 85mins. Dir: Sion Sono.

Cast: Reina Triendl, Mariko Shinoda, Erina Mano.

No men in sight, only women... and something unthinkable is girls killing girls. This is Sion Sono at his best and craziest.

A film that depicts young women’s fragile and sometimes dangerous emotional turbulence and their fear of being chased by the unknown.

Gray 3

20:30 KULDIP PATWAL: I DIDN’T DO IT!

(India) Rectangle Media.

135mins. Dir: Remy Kohli. Cast: Deepak Dobriyal, Raima Sen, Gulshan Devaiah, Parvin Dabas.

A common man, Kuldip Patwal, has been wronged by the local minister all his life. Now — according to reports — he has allegedly killed the chief minister in front of tens of eyewitnesses.

Palais K press allowed

WE WERE YOUNG

(France) Gaumont.

91mins. Dir: Philippe Guillard. Cast: Kad Merad, Benoit Magimel, Vincent Moscato, Charles Berling.

Five guys who have been friends for more than 30 years have long ago

PIETA IN THE TOILET

(Japan) Shochiku Co. 120mins. Dir: Daishi Matsunaga. Cast: Yojiro Noda, Hana Sugisaki, Lily Franky, Rie Miyazawa.

Hiroshi Sonoda is a job hopper. He has led a

freewheeling life in an apartment since he was an art student. He has not painted for more than three years because he has given up his dream of being a painter. One day, he is diagnosed with terminal cancer and with only three months to live realises he doesn’t want to die unless he achieved his objective. He begins painting on the ceiling in the toilet.

Palais C

RESTRICTED AREA (BARON PALACE)

(Egypt) Digital Eye. 90mins. Dir: Mohamed Fikry. Cast: Yasmien Omar, Tarek Obied, Mohamed Fikry.

Arcades 3

RYUZO AND HIS SEVEN HENCHMEN

(Japan) Celluloid Dreams/Nightmares.

110mins. Dir: Takeshi Kitano. Cast: Masaomi Kondo, Akira Nakao, Beat Takeshi.

Retired former yakuza boss Ryuzo is living a bored life. Together with his former righthand man, after one too many sake, they come up with the crazy idea of creating a team of old yakuzas — but what started as a laughing stock gradually becomes a confrontation between the old and the young yakusas leading to a showdown.

Olympia 8

TANGERINE

(US) Magnolia Pictures & Magnet Releasing.

87mins. Dir: Sean Baker. Cast: Kitana Kiki Rodriguez, Mya Taylor, Karren Karagulian.

It’s Christmas Eve in Tinseltown and Sin-Dee is back on the block. Upon hearing that her pimp boyfriend hasn’t been faithful during the 28 days she was locked up, the working girl and her best friend, Alexandra, embark on a mission to get to the bottom of the scandalous rumour. Their rip-roaring odyssey leads them through various subcultures of Los Angeles, including an Armenian family dealing with their own repercussions of infidelity.

Olympia 2

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★★★

Good

average

screen international

Excellent

Kong Rithdee Bangkok Post, Thailand

Paul Byrnes Sydney Morning Herald and The Age, Australia

Stephanie Zacharek The Village Voice, US

Fabio Ferzetti Il Messaggero, Italy

Jan Schulz-Ojala Der Tagesspiegel, Germany

Julien Gester, Didier Peron Liberation, France

Michel Ciment Positif, France

★★★★

Kate Muir, Wendy Ide The Times, UK

The Screen jury at Cannes

Nick James Sight & Sound, UK

Jury Grid

Our Little Sister (Jap) Hirokazu Kore-eda

Our Little Sister is an adaptation of a graphic novel by Akimi Yoshida in which three sisters discover they have a ★★★★ ★★★★ ★★★★ ★★★★ ★★★★ ★★★★ ★★★★ ★★★★ ★★★★ ★★★★ younger half-sister while attending their father’s funeral. Haruka Ayase, Masami Nagasawa, Suzu Hirose and Kaho star.

Tale of Tales (It-Fr-UK) Matteo Garrone

★★★★ ★★★★ ★★★★ ★★★★ ★★★★ ★★★★ ★★★★ ★★★★ ★★★★ ★★★★ Neapolitan author Giambattista Basile. Salma Hayek, Vincent Cassel, Toby Jones and John C Reilly star.

The Lobster (Ire-Gr-FrNeth-UK) Yorgos Lanthimos

★★★★ ★★★★ ★★★★ ★★★★ ★★★★ ★★★★ ★★★★ ★★★★ ★★★★ ★★★★ 45 days to find a mate. Colin Farrell, Rachel Weisz, Ben Whishaw and Léa Seydoux star in this Ireland-shot film. 0.0

Son of Saul (Hung) Laszlo Nemes

★★★★ ★★★★ ★★★★ ★★★★ ★★★★ ★★★★ ★★★★ ★★★★ ★★★★ ★★★★ be that of his young son, he sets out to find a rabbi to bury him. Geza Rohrig and Levente Molnar star.

0.0

An opulent English-language fantasy/horror feature based on three fairy tales from a collection by the 17th century

0.0

A love story set in the near future, when single people are arrested and transferred to The Hotel, where they are given

A Hungarian prisoner is assigned to work in one of the crematoria at Auschwitz. When he finds a body he believes to

0.0

A film director shoots a film with a troublesome US actor (John Turturro), while away from the shoot she must hold her

My Mother (It-Fr) Nanni Moretti

★★★★ ★★★★ ★★★★ ★★★★ ★★★★ ★★★★ ★★★★ ★★★★ ★★★★ ★★★★ 0.0 life together during her mother’s illness and her daughter’s adolescence. Margherita Buy stars alongside Moretti.

The Sea of Trees (US) Gus Van Sant

★★★★ ★★★★ ★★★★ ★★★★ ★★★★ ★★★★ ★★★★ ★★★★ ★★★★ ★★★★ but has a change of mind when he encounters Ken Watanabe. Naomi Watts co-stars.

Mon Roi (Fr) Maïwenn

★★★★ ★★★★ ★★★★ ★★★★ ★★★★ ★★★★ ★★★★ ★★★★ ★★★★ ★★★★ (Vincent Cassel) of her child. Louis Garrel and director Maïwenn’s sister, Isild Le Besco, co-star.

Carol (US-UK) Todd Haynes

★★★★ ★★★★ ★★★★ ★★★★ ★★★★ ★★★★ ★★★★ ★★★★ ★★★★ ★★★★ in Haynes’ adaptation of the Patricia Highsmith novel The Price Of Salt, once a mainstay of lesbian fiction.

Matthew McConaughey plays a widower who makes the decision to travel to Japan’s Aokigahara, or suicide forest,

Emmanuelle Bercot stars as a woman in hospital who looks back on a difficult relationship with the father

0.0 0.0

1952 New York, and a department store clerk (Rooney Mara) falls in love with wealthy, married Carol (Cate Blanchett)

0.0

Vincent Lindon continues his collaboration with Brizé (Mademoiselle Chambon, A Few Hours Of Spring) with the story

★★ Average ★ Poor

✖ Bad

Screen office Majestic Barriere, 1st floor, Suites Joy and Alexandre, 10 Boulevard De La Croisette, 06400 Cannes E-mail: firstname.lastname@ screendaily.com (unless stated) Editorial Tel +33 4 9706 8457 Editor Matt Mueller News editor Michael Rosser US editor Jeremy Kay (jeremykay67@gmail.com) Asia editor Liz Shackleton (lizshackleton@gmail. com) Chief critic and reviews editor Fionnuala Halligan Chief reporter Andreas Wiseman Reporters Melanie Goodfellow (melanie. goodfellow@btinternet.com) Geoffrey Macnab (geoffrey@macnab. demon.co.uk) Diary editor Wendy Mitchell Group head of production and art Mark Mowbray Sub-editors Paul Lindsell, Eva Peaty, Adam Richmond, Chris Young, Richard Young Screenings Kelly Gibbens, Ben Sillis Contributing reporter Tiffany Pritchard

The Measure of a man (Fr) Stéphane Brizé

★★★★ ★★★★ ★★★★ ★★★★ ★★★★ ★★★★ ★★★★ ★★★★ ★★★★ ★★★★ guard. of a 50-year-old unemployed man who faces a moral crisis when he finally finds a job as a supermarket security0.0

Advertising and publishing Tel +33 4 9706 8495

Louder Than Bombs (Nor-Fr-Den) Joachim Trier

★★★★ ★★★★ ★★★★ ★★★★ ★★★★ ★★★★ ★★★★ ★★★★ ★★★★ ★★★★ 0.0 While mounting a retrospective of her work after her death, they must confront their very different memories of her.

Gabriel Byrne, Jesse Eisenberg and Devin Druid play the husband and sons of a late war photographer (Isabelle Huppert).

Commercial director Nadia Romdhani +44 7540 100 315

Sicario (US) Denis Villeneuve

A showcase role for Emily Blunt as an FBI agent who becomes embroiled in a CIA mission to take down the boss of a ★★★★ ★★★★ ★★★★ ★★★★ ★★★★ ★★★★ ★★★★ ★★★★ ★★★★ ★★★★ Mexican drug cartel. Sicario co-stars Josh Brolin and Benicio del Toro, who plays a mysterious CIA operative.

0.0

Marguerite and Julien (Fr) Aristocratic siblings Julien and Marguerite de Ravalet (Jérémie Elkaïm and Anaïs Demoustier) have loved each other ★★★★ ★★★★ ★★★★ ★★★★ ★★★★ ★★★★ ★★★★ ★★★★ ★★★★ ★★★★ since childhood. But as their affection veers toward voracious passion, they are hounded by society and are forced to flee.

Valérie Donzelli

0.0

Michael Caine is a semi-retired composer on holiday in the Alps with his daughter (Rachel Weisz) and his film director

Youth (It-Switz-Fr-UK) Paolo Sorrentino

★★★★ ★★★★ ★★★★ ★★★★ ★★★★ ★★★★ ★★★★ ★★★★ ★★★★ ★★★★ friend (Harvey Keitel), when he receives a summons to play one final concert for the Queen of England.

Mountains May Depart (Chi) Jia Zhangke

★★★★ ★★★★ ★★★★ ★★★★ ★★★★ ★★★★ ★★★★ ★★★★ ★★★★ ★★★★ in 1999 to Australia in 2025, with the latter section unfolding in English.

Dheepan (Fr) Jacques Audiard

★★★★ ★★★★ ★★★★ ★★★★ ★★★★ ★★★★ ★★★★ ★★★★ ★★★★ ★★★★ 0.0 asylum in France more solid. But life is also difficult in the slums of Paris, and he will need his warrior’s instinct to survive.

The Assassin (Tai-Chi) Hou Hsiao Hsien

★★★★ ★★★★ ★★★★ ★★★★ ★★★★ ★★★★ ★★★★ ★★★★ ★★★★ ★★★★ Taiwanese auteur Hou, who unexpectedly turns his hand to the wuxia action genre. Chang Chen co-stars.

0.0

Zhao Tao and Sylvia Chang star in an unusual departure for Jia, a family drama set over three time periods from China

0.0

A Tamil Tiger in Sri Lanka flees with a makeshift ‘family’ — a woman and a girl — in the hope they will make his claim for

Shu Qi plays an assassin ordered to kill the cousin she loves, in a 9th century Tang Dynasty China brought to life by

0.0

Tim Roth stars in writer-director Franco’s English-language debut as David, a troubled nurse who helps terminally ill

Chronic (US-Mex) Michel Franco

★★★★ ★★★★ ★★★★ ★★★★ ★★★★ ★★★★ ★★★★ ★★★★ ★★★★ ★★★★ patients and tries to reconnect with his own estranged family.

Valley of Love (Fr) Guillaume Nicloux

★★★★ ★★★★ ★★★★ ★★★★ ★★★★ ★★★★ ★★★★ ★★★★ ★★★★ ★★★★ 0.0 posthumously by him to Death Valley, California, where he promises to reappear. Despite obvious reservations, they go.

Macbeth (UK) Justin Kurzel

★★★★ ★★★★ ★★★★ ★★★★ ★★★★ ★★★★ ★★★★ ★★★★ ★★★★ ★★★★ 0.0 crown in the bloodiest-possible manner, urged on by his scheming wife (Marion Cotillard) in Shakespeare’s brutal play.

0.0

Isabelle Huppert and Gérard Depardieu play actors who had a son 25 years ago. After his death, they are summoned

Sales manager Scott Benfold + 44 7540 100 315 International account managers Ingrid Hammond +39 348 5165 631 (ingridhammond@mac.com) Gunter Zerbich +44 7540 100 254 VP business development, North America Nigel Daly +1 213 447 5120 (nigeldalymail@gmail.com) US sales and business development executive Nikki Tilmouth +1 323 868 7633 (nikki.screeninternational@gmail.com) Production manager Jonathon Cooke +44 7584 335 148 (jonathon.cooke@mb-insight.com) Production assistant Neil Sinclair (neil.sinclair@mb-insight.com) Festival manager Jessica Stacey +44 7468 707 867 (jessica.stacey@mb-insight.com) Group commercial director Alison Pitchford Chief executive, MBI Conor Dignam Printer Riccobono Imprimeur ZA Les Ferrieres, 83490 Le Muy Screen International, London Zetland House, 5-25 Scrutton Street, London EC2A 4HJ Subscription enquiries Tel +44 1604 828 706 help@subscribe.screendaily.com

General Macbeth (Michael Fassbender) receives a prophecy from three witches and goes about securing the Scottish

96 Screen International at Cannes May 14, 2015

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The Department of International Trade Promotion Ministry of Commerce, THAILAND

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would like to congratulate Award-winning Director Apichatpong Weerasethakul on the completion of his latest film 'Cemetery of Splendour' Competing in 'Un Certain Regard'

Find out more about

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Thai Night, Friday 15th May 2015 - 7 pm Salon Croisette, Hotel Majestic Barrière

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And please visit Thailand's top film studios, production companies, and distributors in the Palais level 01 at booth 20.02-22.01.

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