16/02/2018 - The EFM has got off to a flying start for Gaumont, Wild Bunch, SBS, StudioCanal, Memento, MK2, Indie Sales, Versatile, Bac, Wide, Loco Films and Celluloid Dreams

Actress Isabelle Huppert and director Anne Fontaine, who will be working together on White as Snow

The European Film Market kicked off yesterday at the 68th Berlin Film Festival, accompanied by a slew of announcements by the ever-dynamic French international sales agents. Here is an overview of the main additions to the various line-ups. 

Gaumont began pre-sales for White as Snow [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile] (working title: Pure as Snow) by Anne Fontaine, which revisits Snow White by the Brothers Grimm in the form of a contemporary erotic comedy, starring Isabelle Huppert, Lou de Laâge, Benoît Poelvoorde, Vincent Macaigne, Charles Berling, Jonathan Cohen, Damien Bonnard and Pablo Pauly (set to be shot in the spring – produced by Mandarin and Ciné@). Another addition to the line-up is Edmond [+see also:
trailer
interview: Alexis Michalik
film profile] by Alexis Michalik (the film adaptation of his stage play of the same name), with Thomas Solivérès (in the role of Edmond Rostand, who wrote Cyrano de Bergerac in 1897), Belgium’s Olivier Gourmet and Mathilde Seigner among the cast (currently being filmed – production duties handled by Légende Films). 

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Wild Bunch has made a flurry of announcements, including for A Faithful Man [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Louis Garrel
film profile] by and starring Louis Garrel, who will perform alongside Laetitia Casta and Lily-Rose Depp in a story of complex, intertwined emotions, for which the actor-director co-penned the screenplay with Jean-Claude Carrière (principal photography about to get under way – staged by Why Not). Pre-sales are also kicking off for Losing It [+see also:
trailer
film profile], the feature debut by Audrey Diwan (toplined by Pio Marmaï and Céline Sallette – produced by Rectangle), the new offbeat comedy by Bruno Podalydès (Bécassine! [+see also:
trailer
film profile]), now in post-production, and several films aiming to hit the upcoming festival deadlines: Shoplifters by Japan’s Hirokazu Kore-eda, The Factory by Russia’s Yury Bykov, I Feel Good [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile] by Benoît Delépine and Gustave Kervern and Goliath [+see also:
trailer
film profile] by Sweden’s Peter Grönlund (Special Mention in the New Directors competition at San Sebastián in 2015 with Drifters [+see also:
trailer
film profile]). And that’s not to mention the previously announced movies that have already been sold based on their promo reels, such as High Life [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Claire Denis
film profile] by Claire Denis, the animated feature Dilili in Paris [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile] by Michel Ocelot, Long Day’s Journey by China’s Bi Gan and La quietud by Argentina’s Pablo Trapero.

SBS has launched pre-sales for its production Frankie [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Ira Sachs
film profile] (working title: A Family Vacation), which will be shot in Portugal next autumn by Ira Sachs, with a cast including Isabelle Huppert, Belgium’s Jérémie Renier and André Wilms, and US actors Marisa Tomei and Greg Kinnear.

StudioCanal, which boasts two titles being showcased in different sections of the Berlinale (The Silent Revolution [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile] by Germany’s Lars Kraume in the Berlinale Special Gala programme and Yardie [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile] by British director Idris Elba in Panorama Special) on its slate, is officially starting pre-sales for four titles in post-production: the eagerly awaited One Nation, One King [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Pierre Schoeller
film profile] by Pierre Schoeller, Mia and the White Lion [+see also:
trailer
film profile] by Gilles de Maistre (starring Mélanie Laurent, Daniah De Villiers and Langley Kirkwood – staged by Galatée Films), Holy Lands [+see also:
trailer
film profile] by Amanda Sthers (starring James Caan, Tom Hollander, Rosanna Arquette, Jonathan Rhys Meyers and Efrat Dor) and Bad Seeds [+see also:
trailer
film profile] by Kheiron (toplined by Catherine Deneuve, André Dussollier and the director himself).

Memento Films International (see the news on its line-up) has got started with pre-sales for two erotica-heavy movies: the French title Curiosa [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile] by Lou Jeunet and the feature Divine Love [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile] by Gabriel Mascaro (currently in production, after the director scooped a Special Jury Prize in Venice’s Orizzonti in 2015 with Neon Bull [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile]), which is being produced by Brazil’s Desvia, and co-produced by France’s House on Fire, Denmark’s Snowglobe, Norway’s Mer Film, Uruguay’s Malbicho Cine and Mexico’s Buenaventura.

MK2 (see the article) has added two feature debuts to its slate: Jessica Forever [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile] by French directors Caroline Poggi and Jonathan Vinel, a duo who won the Short Film Golden Bear at the Berlinale in 2014, and Sir [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile] by India’s Rohena Gera. Also standing out is Asako I & II [+see also:
trailer
film profile] by Japan’s Ryusuke Hamaguchi, presently in post-production.

Indie Sales has announced that a title in post-production, Real Love [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Claire Burger
film profile] by Claire Burger (starring Belgium’s Bouli Lanners), has been added to its line-up.

Versatile has got pre-sales under way for Pleasure [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Ninja Thyberg
film profile] by Sweden’s Ninja Thyberg (produced by Plattform Filmproduktion together with Film i Väst and the Netherlands’ Lemming Film), which will depict the misadventures of an uninhibited young Swedish woman striving to become a porn star and jetting off to Los Angeles.

Bac Films is knee-deep in pre-sales for several titles in post-production: Close Enemies [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: David Oelhoffen
film profile] by David Oelhoffen (toplined by Matthias Schoenaerts and Reda Kateb), Magical Nights [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile] by Italy’s Paolo Virzi and Passed by Censor [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Serhat Karaaslan
film profile] by Turkey’s Serhat Karaaslan. 

Wide Management has added the Indian film Garbage by Q (which will have its world premiere in the Panorama) to its already strong slate, which includes two features selected in the Generation 14plus programme: Denmark [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile] by Kasper Rune Larsen and The Pigeon [+see also:
trailer
film profile] by Turkey’s Banu Sıvacı. 

Loco Films (see the news) has been using a promo reel to launch pre-sales for the war film Living Afghanistan by Russia’s Pavel Lounguine, now in post-production. 

Celluloid Dreams has announced a new arrival on its line-up in the guise of the Canadian-Irish project Death of a Ladies’ Man by Matt Bissonnette, with Gabriel Byrne in the lead role. 

Lastly, we should mention the merger of the international sales teams of MPM Film and Premium Films, which have now become MPM Premium.

(Translated from French)