19/02/2020 - Shining bright on the French sales agent’s Berlinale line-up are My Salinger Year as the festival’s opening film and Persian Lessons as a gala screening, as well as the upcoming Asghar Farhadi movie

Tomorrow, the Memento Films International team, headed up by Emilie Georges and now managed by Mathieu Delaunay (with help from Alexandre Moreau), will spring into action at the European Film Market at the 70th Berlinale (20 February-1 March) in a very strong bargaining position.

Standing out on its line-up are two titles that will have their world premieres out of competition in the Official Selection: My Salinger Year [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile] by Quebec-born director Philippe Falardeau (nominated for the Oscar for Best Foreign-language Film in 2012 with Monsieur Lazhar), which will have the honour of opening the Berlinale, with US actresses Sigourney Weaver and Margaret Qualley starring in the lead roles (the film was staged by Canada’s micro_scope and co-produced by Ireland’s Parallel Films).

Meanwhile, Persian Lessons [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Leonie Benesch
film profile] by Russian-American filmmaker Vadim Perelman (who earned himself three Oscar nominations in 2004 with House of Sand and Fog) will enjoy a Berlinale Special gala screening on Saturday 22 February. Having already racked up some impressive pre-sales, the film, toplined by Argentina’s Nahuel Perez Biscayart (BPM (Beats Per Minute) [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Arnaud Valois
interview: Robin Campillo
film profile]) and Germany’s Lars Eidinger (Everyone Else [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Maren Ade
film profile]), kicks off in occupied France in 1942. Gilles (Perez Biscayart), a young Belgian man, is arrested by SS soldiers alongside other Jews and sent to a camp in Germany. He narrowly avoids immediate execution by swearing to the guards that he is not Jewish, but Persian. The movie was produced by Russia’s Hype Film and Germany’s LM Media, and co-produced by Berlin-based outfit One Two Films, with support from Belarusfilm.

At the EFM, Memento Films International is also certain to strike some lucrative deals as it kicks off pre-sales for the upcoming film by Iran’s Asghar Farhadi, A Hero [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Asghar Farhadi
film profile], based on its screenplay (which is being kept under wraps for the moment). The filmmaker, who will shoot the movie in his home country this summer, will also be taking care of production duties together with his regular collaborator Alexandre Mallet-Guy (of Memento Films Production). As a reminder, Farhadi’s filmography includes titles such as About Elly (Best Director Award at Berlin in 2009), A Separation (Golden Bear and Silver Bears for Best Actor and Best Actress at Berlin in 2011, Oscar for Best Foreign-language Film in 2012 and nominated for the Oscar for Best Screenplay) and two films that won awards at Cannes: The Past [+see also:
film review
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film profile] in 2013 (Best Actress Award in 2013) and The Salesman [+see also:
film review
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film profile] (Best Actor Award and Best Screenplay Award on the Croisette in 2016, before going on to scoop the Oscar for Best Foreign-language Film in 2017). He also opened the Cannes Film Festival in 2018 (in competition) with Everybody Knows [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile].

Lastly, as for the market screenings, it’s worth mentioning This Is Not a Burial, It's a Resurrection [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile] by Lemohang Jeremiah Mosese, which recently won the Special Jury Award for Visionary Filmmaking in the World Cinema Dramatic Competition at Sundance, How to Be a Good Wife [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Anamaria Vartolomei
film profile] by Martin Provost and Under the Stars of Paris [+see also:
trailer
film profile] by Claus Drexel. In addition, Memento Films International also has two other announcements up its sleeve that should set the EFM on fire.

(Translated from French)