Pyramide International has acquired world sales (excluding France), to the upcoming Cannes Un Certain Regard title “Việt and Nam” by Vietnamese auteur Trương Minh Quý. Shot on 16mm stock, the film is a drama about two young miners who must complete a mission before fate pulls them apart.
“In the depths of the underground coal mines, where danger awaits and darkness prevails, Nam and Việt, both young miners, cherish fleeting moments, knowing that one of them will soon leave for a new life across the sea. But the departure cannot happen as, lying somewhere deep within the earth, in the far-off forest is Nam’s father, a soldier, whose remains they’re compelled to find. Together, following the mysteries of memories and dreams, they retrace the path to the past,” reads a synopsis supplied by lead producer Epicmedia of The Philippines.
Trương Minh Quý made a splash by taking part...
“In the depths of the underground coal mines, where danger awaits and darkness prevails, Nam and Việt, both young miners, cherish fleeting moments, knowing that one of them will soon leave for a new life across the sea. But the departure cannot happen as, lying somewhere deep within the earth, in the far-off forest is Nam’s father, a soldier, whose remains they’re compelled to find. Together, following the mysteries of memories and dreams, they retrace the path to the past,” reads a synopsis supplied by lead producer Epicmedia of The Philippines.
Trương Minh Quý made a splash by taking part...
- 4/11/2024
- by Patrick Frater and Naman Ramachandran
- Variety Film + TV
M-Appeal has closed distribution deals in key territories for “Sex,” which had its world premiere in the Berlinale’s Panorama section.
The film, the first part of the “Sex Dreams Love” trilogy by Norway’s Dag Johan Haugerud, has garnered attention for its thought-provoking exploration of sexuality and gender roles.
All rights for the film have been sold to Pyramide Distribution for France, JinJin Pictures for South Korea and Cinobo for Greece.
“Sex” follows two men in heterosexual marriages, who have an unexpected experience that challenges them to reconsider their understanding of sexuality, gender and identity. One has a sexual encounter with another man, without considering it either as an expression of homosexuality or infidelity and discusses it with his wife afterwards. The other finds himself in nocturnal dreams where he is seen as a woman, stirring confusion and leading him to question how much his personality is shaped by the gaze of others.
The film, the first part of the “Sex Dreams Love” trilogy by Norway’s Dag Johan Haugerud, has garnered attention for its thought-provoking exploration of sexuality and gender roles.
All rights for the film have been sold to Pyramide Distribution for France, JinJin Pictures for South Korea and Cinobo for Greece.
“Sex” follows two men in heterosexual marriages, who have an unexpected experience that challenges them to reconsider their understanding of sexuality, gender and identity. One has a sexual encounter with another man, without considering it either as an expression of homosexuality or infidelity and discusses it with his wife afterwards. The other finds himself in nocturnal dreams where he is seen as a woman, stirring confusion and leading him to question how much his personality is shaped by the gaze of others.
- 2/20/2024
- by Leo Barraclough
- Variety Film + TV
Anne-Cécile Rolland has been appointed to the role and start in February.
Anne-Cécile Rolland has been named head of acquisitions for France’s Pyramide Distribution and Pyramide International, taking over for Christine Ravet who will step down from her position at the end of the year.
Ravet is retiring after a more than 40-year career in auteur cinema. Before joining Pyramide, she was director of acquisitions at mk2 Films and a member of the selection committee for Cannes’ Directors’ Fortnight.
She was notably behind Pyramide’s acquisitions of Laura Poitras’ Venice-winning All The Beauty And The Bloodshed, Amjad Al Rasheed...
Anne-Cécile Rolland has been named head of acquisitions for France’s Pyramide Distribution and Pyramide International, taking over for Christine Ravet who will step down from her position at the end of the year.
Ravet is retiring after a more than 40-year career in auteur cinema. Before joining Pyramide, she was director of acquisitions at mk2 Films and a member of the selection committee for Cannes’ Directors’ Fortnight.
She was notably behind Pyramide’s acquisitions of Laura Poitras’ Venice-winning All The Beauty And The Bloodshed, Amjad Al Rasheed...
- 11/28/2023
- by Rebecca Leffler
- ScreenDaily
Jerzy Skolimowski’s Eo Wins Arab Critics’ Awards For European Films
Veteran Polish director Jerzy Skolimowski’s Eo, exploring the world through the eyes of a donkey, has won the fourth edition of the Arab Critics’ Awards For European Films, in which 76 critics hailing from 15 Arab-language territories voted on their favorite film out of Europe to have premiered on the festival circuit over the course of this year. The prize was announced at the Cairo International Film Festival. Skolimowski was not able to attend the awards ceremony in person because he is currently in L.A. promoting the film, which is Poland’s Oscar entry this year, but he sent a message of thanks. “I am incredibly happy that Eo has been appreciated by the Arab Critics’ Circle as it must mean that my simple story of a donkey has moved people’s hearts across different cultures,” he said. Pan-Arab...
Veteran Polish director Jerzy Skolimowski’s Eo, exploring the world through the eyes of a donkey, has won the fourth edition of the Arab Critics’ Awards For European Films, in which 76 critics hailing from 15 Arab-language territories voted on their favorite film out of Europe to have premiered on the festival circuit over the course of this year. The prize was announced at the Cairo International Film Festival. Skolimowski was not able to attend the awards ceremony in person because he is currently in L.A. promoting the film, which is Poland’s Oscar entry this year, but he sent a message of thanks. “I am incredibly happy that Eo has been appreciated by the Arab Critics’ Circle as it must mean that my simple story of a donkey has moved people’s hearts across different cultures,” he said. Pan-Arab...
- 11/18/2022
- by Melanie Goodfellow
- Deadline Film + TV
At last count, Pyramide is selling the most films (6) which are showing in the Festival and its satellites. Four are in the Official Selections of the Cannes International Film Festival (Cannes Ff Premiere, Cannes Ff Special Screening, and Cannes Ff Un Certain Regard); one is in Critics’ Week / La Semaine de la critique and one is in Directors’ Fortnight/ Quinzaine des realisateurs.
Throughout the festival, we will watch not only their films to report on, but will keep an eye on the sales to some 60 international territories.
Pyramide International is part of the Pyramide Group which is also a domestic distribution company in France (Pyramide Distribution) and a French production company (Pyramide Productions). The company was founded in 1989 by Claudie Cheval, Fabienne Vonier, Francis Boespflug, Louis Malle and Michel Seydoux. Claudie also founded Ace which is still going strong today. (see current blog on Ace in Cannes).
Claudie brought Eric Lagesse into Pyramide International as a young man and, typically for everyone who is involved with Pyramide, he continues to work with them today as their CEO. Claudie was one of the most wonderful, warm and creative women in the business and unfortunately for us all, she died much too soon, on July 30, 1999 at age 48. Claudie set a tone of willing cooperation and support among the French film business colleagues. One can see at a glance when entering the Unifrance umbrella offices how the French international sales agents at the markets cooperate with each other. When reading how films in the Cannes Film Festival and the sidebars seem to be apportioned out to them when the titles are announced and there is no international sales agent attached yet, one surmises that there is a special kind of sharing going on among them.
Pyramide is one of the oldest and most respected of some 450 interntional sales agents. Last year they represented one of my favorite films of the festival, the Critics’ Week film A Tale of Love and Desire. Please read my blog about it here. The French government support of film as a cultural heritage allows the French sales agents to serve as the best examples of agents for the 7th Art to all other countries. As a world sales agent, Pyramide International has deliberately focused on the “film d’auteur” and promotes international sales of young directors.
As distributors in France itself as well as international sales agents, they also can boast of one of the top acquisitions executive in the business, Christine Ravet buys the films the French public lines up to see at their theaters as well as those that are sold internationally.
This year’s Cannes titles are described here:
Cannes Ff Premiere Dodo directed by Panos H. Koutras is a coproduction of Greece, France, and Belgium.
Dodo directed by Panos H. Koutras
Cannes Ff Special Screenings My Imaginary Country/ Mi país imaginario directed by Patricio Guzmán is a production of Chile. Sales have already been made for UK and Ireland to New Wave; Benelux to Cineart; Italy to I Wonder, Ex-Yugo to Discovery.
My Imaginary Country/ Mi país imaginario directed by Patricio Guzmán
Cannes Ff Un Certain Regard Metronom is eligible for the Camera d’Or as it is the third film, but the first fiction feature of director Alexandru Belc of Romania.
Metronom is eligible for the Camera d’Or as it is the third film, but first fiction feature of director Alexandru Belc
Cannes Ff Un Certain Regard The Worst Ones/Les pires is also eligible for the Camera d’Or. It is directed by Lise Akoka and Romane Gueret of France.
Directors’ Fortnight Harkis/ Les Harkis directed by Philippe Faucon of France tells the story set during the Algerian War 1954–1962, when impoverished young Algerian men known as “Harkis” volunteered to join the French Army.
Critics’ Week in Competition The Pack/ La jauría directed by Colombian Andrés Ramírez Pulido is a coproduction of Colombia and France. It tells of a country boy, Eliú, incarcerated́ in an experimental juvenile correction center in the heart of the Colombian jungle after he committed a crime with his friend El Mono. Ordered to perform manual labour and undergo intensive group therapy, Eliú discovers that El Mono has been transferred to the same center, bringing with him a past that Eliú is trying to escape.Pulido’s feature directorial debut follows a distinguished track record in short films that saw Damiana premiere in Competition in Cannes in 2017 a year after El Edén played in the Berlinale.
And in the Marche: I Love Greece. And who doesn’t?...
Throughout the festival, we will watch not only their films to report on, but will keep an eye on the sales to some 60 international territories.
Pyramide International is part of the Pyramide Group which is also a domestic distribution company in France (Pyramide Distribution) and a French production company (Pyramide Productions). The company was founded in 1989 by Claudie Cheval, Fabienne Vonier, Francis Boespflug, Louis Malle and Michel Seydoux. Claudie also founded Ace which is still going strong today. (see current blog on Ace in Cannes).
Claudie brought Eric Lagesse into Pyramide International as a young man and, typically for everyone who is involved with Pyramide, he continues to work with them today as their CEO. Claudie was one of the most wonderful, warm and creative women in the business and unfortunately for us all, she died much too soon, on July 30, 1999 at age 48. Claudie set a tone of willing cooperation and support among the French film business colleagues. One can see at a glance when entering the Unifrance umbrella offices how the French international sales agents at the markets cooperate with each other. When reading how films in the Cannes Film Festival and the sidebars seem to be apportioned out to them when the titles are announced and there is no international sales agent attached yet, one surmises that there is a special kind of sharing going on among them.
Pyramide is one of the oldest and most respected of some 450 interntional sales agents. Last year they represented one of my favorite films of the festival, the Critics’ Week film A Tale of Love and Desire. Please read my blog about it here. The French government support of film as a cultural heritage allows the French sales agents to serve as the best examples of agents for the 7th Art to all other countries. As a world sales agent, Pyramide International has deliberately focused on the “film d’auteur” and promotes international sales of young directors.
As distributors in France itself as well as international sales agents, they also can boast of one of the top acquisitions executive in the business, Christine Ravet buys the films the French public lines up to see at their theaters as well as those that are sold internationally.
This year’s Cannes titles are described here:
Cannes Ff Premiere Dodo directed by Panos H. Koutras is a coproduction of Greece, France, and Belgium.
Dodo directed by Panos H. Koutras
Cannes Ff Special Screenings My Imaginary Country/ Mi país imaginario directed by Patricio Guzmán is a production of Chile. Sales have already been made for UK and Ireland to New Wave; Benelux to Cineart; Italy to I Wonder, Ex-Yugo to Discovery.
My Imaginary Country/ Mi país imaginario directed by Patricio Guzmán
Cannes Ff Un Certain Regard Metronom is eligible for the Camera d’Or as it is the third film, but the first fiction feature of director Alexandru Belc of Romania.
Metronom is eligible for the Camera d’Or as it is the third film, but first fiction feature of director Alexandru Belc
Cannes Ff Un Certain Regard The Worst Ones/Les pires is also eligible for the Camera d’Or. It is directed by Lise Akoka and Romane Gueret of France.
Directors’ Fortnight Harkis/ Les Harkis directed by Philippe Faucon of France tells the story set during the Algerian War 1954–1962, when impoverished young Algerian men known as “Harkis” volunteered to join the French Army.
Critics’ Week in Competition The Pack/ La jauría directed by Colombian Andrés Ramírez Pulido is a coproduction of Colombia and France. It tells of a country boy, Eliú, incarcerated́ in an experimental juvenile correction center in the heart of the Colombian jungle after he committed a crime with his friend El Mono. Ordered to perform manual labour and undergo intensive group therapy, Eliú discovers that El Mono has been transferred to the same center, bringing with him a past that Eliú is trying to escape.Pulido’s feature directorial debut follows a distinguished track record in short films that saw Damiana premiere in Competition in Cannes in 2017 a year after El Edén played in the Berlinale.
And in the Marche: I Love Greece. And who doesn’t?...
- 5/10/2022
- by Sydney
- Sydney's Buzz
Eric Lagesse, the CEO/president of Paris-based arthouse distributor and world sales outfit Pyramide Films, received the Industry Tribute Award at Cairo Film Festival on Friday. Variety spoke with him about his relationship with Arab cinema, and the state of the independent film business in France.
How do you feel about receiving this tribute?
It’s great, but I have had a year to get used to it. Because of the pandemic, I didn’t receive it last year, as planned. Nothing major has changed in the meantime. I am still very fond of Arab and Egyptian films. We are now working with a new generation of films and filmmakers like “Amira” (pictured), which played in the Horizons Competition at the Venice Film Festival this year.
What is your connection to the Arab film world?
We have been collaborating with the Arab world since the beginning of Pyramide. The first...
How do you feel about receiving this tribute?
It’s great, but I have had a year to get used to it. Because of the pandemic, I didn’t receive it last year, as planned. Nothing major has changed in the meantime. I am still very fond of Arab and Egyptian films. We are now working with a new generation of films and filmmakers like “Amira” (pictured), which played in the Horizons Competition at the Venice Film Festival this year.
What is your connection to the Arab film world?
We have been collaborating with the Arab world since the beginning of Pyramide. The first...
- 12/5/2021
- by Liza Foreman
- Variety Film + TV
European filmmakers are fortunate to have a friend in Brussels who reliably lends a hand getting their movies made and seen.
For the past 30 years, the European Union’s Media program has supported film industries across the EU in myriad ways, investing more than €2.6 billion ($3.1 billion) in programs that boost the output of new local movies and other content from development to distribution.
Since 1991, the Media Program has been systematically pursuing its stated goals of promoting European cultural and linguistic diversity and pushing to increase circulation of European films within Europe and beyond.
Almost every European auteur, from Pedro Almodóvar to Bosnia’s Jasmila Žbanić — whose latest works are both recent recipients — draws vital benefits from the program’s unwavering support.
Among the films that have received recent support from Media are Cannes competition titles “The Story of My Wife,” “Bergman Island,” “Compartment No. 6,” “Titane” and “Three Floors.” Other Media-backed...
For the past 30 years, the European Union’s Media program has supported film industries across the EU in myriad ways, investing more than €2.6 billion ($3.1 billion) in programs that boost the output of new local movies and other content from development to distribution.
Since 1991, the Media Program has been systematically pursuing its stated goals of promoting European cultural and linguistic diversity and pushing to increase circulation of European films within Europe and beyond.
Almost every European auteur, from Pedro Almodóvar to Bosnia’s Jasmila Žbanić — whose latest works are both recent recipients — draws vital benefits from the program’s unwavering support.
Among the films that have received recent support from Media are Cannes competition titles “The Story of My Wife,” “Bergman Island,” “Compartment No. 6,” “Titane” and “Three Floors.” Other Media-backed...
- 6/30/2021
- by Nick Vivarelli
- Variety Film + TV
A constellation of prominent filmmakers, festival directors and film executives from all over the world have signed a petition to protest the Colombian government’s tax reform plan, which would adversely affect current film incentives, in place since 2003.
Signees includes Cannes Festival head Thierry Fremaux and Critics’ Week’s Charles Tesson; Venice’s Alberto Barbera; Pyramide Films’ Eric Lagesse and filmmakers from as far afield as Iraq (Abbas Fahdel), Thailand (Apichatpong Weerasethakul) and Europe, led by Luc Dardenne, Laurent Cantet and Romania’s Bianca Oana.
“The tax reform project presented on April 15 by the government of Colombia threatens the organization of the Colombian model for the support and development of its audiovisual sector,” the petition read. “Outside of Colombia, film professionals who have been witnesses, and sometimes actors, of the dynamism of Colombian cinema express their great concern,” it added.
The petition called on the government and the Congress of...
Signees includes Cannes Festival head Thierry Fremaux and Critics’ Week’s Charles Tesson; Venice’s Alberto Barbera; Pyramide Films’ Eric Lagesse and filmmakers from as far afield as Iraq (Abbas Fahdel), Thailand (Apichatpong Weerasethakul) and Europe, led by Luc Dardenne, Laurent Cantet and Romania’s Bianca Oana.
“The tax reform project presented on April 15 by the government of Colombia threatens the organization of the Colombian model for the support and development of its audiovisual sector,” the petition read. “Outside of Colombia, film professionals who have been witnesses, and sometimes actors, of the dynamism of Colombian cinema express their great concern,” it added.
The petition called on the government and the Congress of...
- 4/22/2021
- by Anna Marie de la Fuente
- Variety Film + TV
France’s 2.045 cinemas have been shut since the end of October.
Hopes of an early spring reopening for cinemas in France have been dashed by a Covid-19 surge over the last two weeks that has led to new restrictions in 19 regional departments, including Paris and the Ile-de-France, until mid-April.
“We’re now in a situation in which infections are very high but the expectation is that a month from now, things will be clearer at which point the government will be able to announce a calendar,” says Marc-Olivier Sebbag, managing director of the National Federation of French Cinemas (Fncf).
Alexis Mas...
Hopes of an early spring reopening for cinemas in France have been dashed by a Covid-19 surge over the last two weeks that has led to new restrictions in 19 regional departments, including Paris and the Ile-de-France, until mid-April.
“We’re now in a situation in which infections are very high but the expectation is that a month from now, things will be clearer at which point the government will be able to announce a calendar,” says Marc-Olivier Sebbag, managing director of the National Federation of French Cinemas (Fncf).
Alexis Mas...
- 3/26/2021
- by Melanie Goodfellow
- ScreenDaily
By unveiling a new set of dates in early July, the Cannes Film Festival has brought much-needed hope and a sunny perspective for Zoom-fatigued industry players.
If the health situation allows, Cannes could be the first international film festival and market to take place in person in 2021. After a year of virtual meetings, the prospect of rejoicing on the Croisette, seeing familiar faces we’ve missed, and celebrating great filmmaking sounds almost too good to be true. But people across the board — cynics included — believe Cannes has a real shot at going ahead in July. Even if the pandemic is not completely over by then, the second wave will likely be behind us thanks to lockdown measures and vaccines.
“The sun will shine again in July and we believe it will be a real Festival de Cannes as we’re used to. This news has given us and our buyers a very positive feeling,...
If the health situation allows, Cannes could be the first international film festival and market to take place in person in 2021. After a year of virtual meetings, the prospect of rejoicing on the Croisette, seeing familiar faces we’ve missed, and celebrating great filmmaking sounds almost too good to be true. But people across the board — cynics included — believe Cannes has a real shot at going ahead in July. Even if the pandemic is not completely over by then, the second wave will likely be behind us thanks to lockdown measures and vaccines.
“The sun will shine again in July and we believe it will be a real Festival de Cannes as we’re used to. This news has given us and our buyers a very positive feeling,...
- 1/29/2021
- by Elsa Keslassy
- Variety Film + TV
France’s Cine Sud Promotion Boards ‘Land and Shade’ Director Cesar Acevedo’s ‘Horizonte’ (Exclusive)
Thierry Lenouvel’s Cine Sud Promotion has boarded the upcoming sophomore feature of Colombia’s Cesar Augusto Acevedo, “Horizonte” whose debut feature “Land and Shade” (“La Tierra y La Sombra”) took Cannes 2015 by storm, winning the Camera d’Or for best first feature and three other Critics’ Week awards that year.
Cine Sud backed “Land and Shade” so it was virtually a given that it would support Acevedo’s next film. “First of all, I would like to say we lived a wonderful adventure with César and his first film, a big human adventure, with him and his producers, Diana Bustamante and Paola Perez,” Lenouvel told Variety.
“No one supported us in France at the beginning, despite the obvious talent of Cesar. But we finished the film and then the Cannes miracle happened,” he continued, adding: “How can I forget those magical moments and have the privilege of seeing the...
Cine Sud backed “Land and Shade” so it was virtually a given that it would support Acevedo’s next film. “First of all, I would like to say we lived a wonderful adventure with César and his first film, a big human adventure, with him and his producers, Diana Bustamante and Paola Perez,” Lenouvel told Variety.
“No one supported us in France at the beginning, despite the obvious talent of Cesar. But we finished the film and then the Cannes miracle happened,” he continued, adding: “How can I forget those magical moments and have the privilege of seeing the...
- 12/3/2020
- by Anna Marie de la Fuente
- Variety Film + TV
One of the rare festivals to be hosting physical edition in the coronavirus era, the Deauville American Film Festival is set to world premiere 10 anticipated movies that are part of Cannes’s 2020 Official Selection.
The Deauville roster of Cannes pics was curated by the Normandy-set festival’s artistic director Bruno Barde out of the 56 films selected by Cannes’ director Thierry Fremaux.
These include many prestige French films, notably Maïwenn’s “Adn,” Marie-Castille Mention-Schaar’s “A Good Man,” Lucas Belvaux’s “Home Front,” Bruno Podalydès’ “French Tech,” Charlène Favier’s “Slalom,” alongside Farid Bentoumi’s “Rouge,” Ludovic & Zoran Boukherma’s “Teddy” and Farid Bentoumi’s “Red Soil.”
Other non-u.S. pics from Cannes set for Deauville include Francis Lee’s British film “Ammonite” and Yeon Sang-ho’s South Korean movie “Peninsula.” The only American movie of the pack, Jonathan Nossiter’s “Last Words,” will play in competition.
“A town, beaches, views?...
The Deauville roster of Cannes pics was curated by the Normandy-set festival’s artistic director Bruno Barde out of the 56 films selected by Cannes’ director Thierry Fremaux.
These include many prestige French films, notably Maïwenn’s “Adn,” Marie-Castille Mention-Schaar’s “A Good Man,” Lucas Belvaux’s “Home Front,” Bruno Podalydès’ “French Tech,” Charlène Favier’s “Slalom,” alongside Farid Bentoumi’s “Rouge,” Ludovic & Zoran Boukherma’s “Teddy” and Farid Bentoumi’s “Red Soil.”
Other non-u.S. pics from Cannes set for Deauville include Francis Lee’s British film “Ammonite” and Yeon Sang-ho’s South Korean movie “Peninsula.” The only American movie of the pack, Jonathan Nossiter’s “Last Words,” will play in competition.
“A town, beaches, views?...
- 7/28/2020
- by Elsa Keslassy
- Variety Film + TV
Endowed with the Official Selection label, the films by Marie-Castille Mention-Schaar and Danielle Arbid spearhead a slate that also includes the upcoming Philippe Béziat documentary. With a line-up of nine titles, including two features stamped with the Official Selection label, French international sales agent Pyramide International (headed up by Eric Lagesse) will be springing into action at the Cannes Film Festival’s Marché du Film Online (22-26 June). The first film endowed with the label is A Good Man, the sixth feature by Marie-Castille Mention-Schaar (who turned heads on the Piazza Grande at Locarno in 2016 with Heaven Will Wait as well as with the box-office smash Once in a Lifetime in 2014). The cast includes Noémie Merlant, Soko, Vincent Dedienne, Gabriel Almer, Alysson Paradis, Anne Loiret, Geneviève Mnich and Jonas Ben Ahmed.Written by the director together with Christian Sonderegger (Coby), the story revolves around Aude and Benjamin, who have been.
With cameras halted, theaters shuttered and no festivals in sight, the coronavirus pandemic has sent European film distribution into free-fall, creating a domino effect that has impacted the entire ecosystem across the continent, from sales agents to exhibitors.
Although each market in Europe differs widely, most territorial distributors share the same concerns: where, how and when should their films be released? Unlike the U.S., where the industry was quick to embrace digital in the face of Covid-19, European distributors aren’t yet ready to let go of theatrical, even if that means shelving their films for a year.
“In the U.S. and Europe, the balance of power between exhibitors and distributors is completely different,” says François Clerc, a well-respected exhibitor-turned-distributor who worked for Gaumont and Studiocanal before launching his production and distribution banner, Apollo, in 2017.
“In the U.S., [power] is clearly tilted in favor of studios, whereas in Europe,...
Although each market in Europe differs widely, most territorial distributors share the same concerns: where, how and when should their films be released? Unlike the U.S., where the industry was quick to embrace digital in the face of Covid-19, European distributors aren’t yet ready to let go of theatrical, even if that means shelving their films for a year.
“In the U.S. and Europe, the balance of power between exhibitors and distributors is completely different,” says François Clerc, a well-respected exhibitor-turned-distributor who worked for Gaumont and Studiocanal before launching his production and distribution banner, Apollo, in 2017.
“In the U.S., [power] is clearly tilted in favor of studios, whereas in Europe,...
- 5/7/2020
- by Elsa Keslassy
- Variety Film + TV
Distributors welcome measure but say they still aim to release their films theatrically.
The French government passed a temporary measure on Friday (March 20) softening France’s strict media chronology as part of a larger emergency bill aimed at tackling the coronavirus pandemic and the economic fallout.
The main aim of the bill was to give the French authorities greater power to restrict movement and gatherings as the country battles to slow the spread of Covid-19, but it also included a number of measures aimed at protecting jobs and supporting the economy.
France’s exhibitors and distributors have been hard hit...
The French government passed a temporary measure on Friday (March 20) softening France’s strict media chronology as part of a larger emergency bill aimed at tackling the coronavirus pandemic and the economic fallout.
The main aim of the bill was to give the French authorities greater power to restrict movement and gatherings as the country battles to slow the spread of Covid-19, but it also included a number of measures aimed at protecting jobs and supporting the economy.
France’s exhibitors and distributors have been hard hit...
- 3/20/2020
- by 1100388¦Melanie Goodfellow¦0¦
- ScreenDaily
French cinemas vow to stay open in face of ban on gatherings of more than 100 people.
France’s exhibitors and distributors are on a white-knuckle ride as their government attempts to control and slow down the spread of coronavirus in the territory.
French prime minister Édouard Philippe on Friday announced a ban on gatherings of more than 100 people in a new measure to combat the virus. It followed hot on the heels of a decision to shut nurseries, schools and universities from Monday (March 16).
Exhibition body National Federation of French Cinemas (Fncf) said it expected its members to keep their venues up and running.
France’s exhibitors and distributors are on a white-knuckle ride as their government attempts to control and slow down the spread of coronavirus in the territory.
French prime minister Édouard Philippe on Friday announced a ban on gatherings of more than 100 people in a new measure to combat the virus. It followed hot on the heels of a decision to shut nurseries, schools and universities from Monday (March 16).
Exhibition body National Federation of French Cinemas (Fncf) said it expected its members to keep their venues up and running.
- 3/13/2020
- by 1100388¦Melanie Goodfellow¦0¦
- ScreenDaily
The Paris-based association which represents 95% of the French sales companies.
Adef, the Paris-based association which represents 95% of the French sales companies attending the Efm this week, is ringing in a new era, with the appointment of a new executive board led by co-presidents Alexis Cassanet and Bérénice Vincent.
“We’ve appointed a board that is representative of the entire French film export scene, so both the big groups and the independents,” said Cassanet, who is co-head of international sales at Gaumont.
“I represent one of the big groups, Gaumont, while Bérénice comes from the world of independents as a co-founder of Totem Films.
Adef, the Paris-based association which represents 95% of the French sales companies attending the Efm this week, is ringing in a new era, with the appointment of a new executive board led by co-presidents Alexis Cassanet and Bérénice Vincent.
“We’ve appointed a board that is representative of the entire French film export scene, so both the big groups and the independents,” said Cassanet, who is co-head of international sales at Gaumont.
“I represent one of the big groups, Gaumont, while Bérénice comes from the world of independents as a co-founder of Totem Films.
- 2/23/2020
- by 1101431¦Melanie Goodfellow and Jeremy Kay¦0¦
- ScreenDaily
The firm’s line-up boasts 13 films, including four new, forthcoming titles, plus the Sundance winner Yalda, a Night for Forgiveness and Sow the Wind in the selection. Always in a very strong position when it comes to quality arthouse films, French international sales agent Pyramide International (headed up by Eric Lagesse) will have myriad trump cards to negotiate deals for at the European Film Market of the 70th Berlinale (20 February-1 March). Standing out among them are two films selected for the festival programme itself, particularly the captivating Yalda, a Night for Forgiveness by Iran’s Massoud Bakhshi, a mostly European production that was recently crowned with the Grand Jury Prize in the World Cinema Dramatic Competition at the Sundance Film Festival and which will be screened as part of the Berlinale’s Generation programme. Pyramide will also be pinning its hopes on a title that will be world-premiered in Panorama: Sow.
Director will not attend festival due to flare-up in tensions between Us and Iran.
Iranian drama Yalda, A Night For Forgiveness will premiere in Sundance as planned even if director Massoud Bakhshi will not attend due to the flare-up in tensions between the Us and Iran, its French producers and sales agent have confirmed.
“Massoud Bakhshi is proud the film was selected by Sundance and is happy for it to be screened in public there,” Paris-based Jba Production company and sales company Pyramide International said in a statement. “He has never considered asking for it to be withdrawn, on the contrary,...
Iranian drama Yalda, A Night For Forgiveness will premiere in Sundance as planned even if director Massoud Bakhshi will not attend due to the flare-up in tensions between the Us and Iran, its French producers and sales agent have confirmed.
“Massoud Bakhshi is proud the film was selected by Sundance and is happy for it to be screened in public there,” Paris-based Jba Production company and sales company Pyramide International said in a statement. “He has never considered asking for it to be withdrawn, on the contrary,...
- 1/14/2020
- by 1100388¦Melanie Goodfellow¦0¦
- ScreenDaily
The French sales agent’s slate includes two films being showcased at Venice, four at Toronto, six titles in post-production and an upcoming documentary by Marianne Khoury. It looks as though French international sales agent Pyramide International (managed by Eric Lagesse) will be kept extremely busy at the 76th Venice Film Festival and the 44th Toronto Film Festival (5-15 September), as it boasts a jam-packed line-up containing 17 features. At Venice, the team headed up by Agathe Mauruc will be negotiating deals for Back Home by France’s Jessica Palud, which will be world-premiered in the official selection, in the Orizzonti section. Meanwhile, You Will Die at 20 by Sudan’s Amjad Abu Alala will be unveiled on the Lido, in the Giornate degli Autori, before being screened at Toronto, in the...
Personal reflection on native Santiago concludes trilogy.
Icarus Films has picked up North American rights from Pyramide International to Patricio Guzmán’s The Cordillera Of Dreams ahead of its North American premiere in Toronto.
French-Chilean co-production Cordillera earned a special metion among the documentary selections in Cannes this year. It profiles the France-based filmmaker’s native Santiago – a place he left after the Augusto Pinochet regime seized power in 1973 – and is a personal reflection that also pays homage to the mountain range surrounding the city.
The film from Atacama Productions is the final instalment in a trilogy encompassing Nostalgia For The Light...
Icarus Films has picked up North American rights from Pyramide International to Patricio Guzmán’s The Cordillera Of Dreams ahead of its North American premiere in Toronto.
French-Chilean co-production Cordillera earned a special metion among the documentary selections in Cannes this year. It profiles the France-based filmmaker’s native Santiago – a place he left after the Augusto Pinochet regime seized power in 1973 – and is a personal reflection that also pays homage to the mountain range surrounding the city.
The film from Atacama Productions is the final instalment in a trilogy encompassing Nostalgia For The Light...
- 8/27/2019
- by Jeremy Kay
- ScreenDaily
Personal reflection of native Santiago concludes trilogy.
Icarus Films has picked up North American rights from Pyramide International to Patricio Guzmán’s The Cordillera Of Dreams ahead of its North American premiere in Toronto.
French-Chilean co-production Cordillera shared the Golden Eye Award for best documentary in Cannes in May. It profiles the France-based filmmaker’s native Santiago – a place he left after the Augusto Pinochet regime seized power in 1973 – and is a personal reflection that also pays homage to the mountain range surrounding the city.
The film is the final instalment in a trilogy encompassing Nostalgia For The Light (2010) and...
Icarus Films has picked up North American rights from Pyramide International to Patricio Guzmán’s The Cordillera Of Dreams ahead of its North American premiere in Toronto.
French-Chilean co-production Cordillera shared the Golden Eye Award for best documentary in Cannes in May. It profiles the France-based filmmaker’s native Santiago – a place he left after the Augusto Pinochet regime seized power in 1973 – and is a personal reflection that also pays homage to the mountain range surrounding the city.
The film is the final instalment in a trilogy encompassing Nostalgia For The Light (2010) and...
- 8/27/2019
- by Jeremy Kay
- ScreenDaily
Moez Masoud will helm “Hello Brother,” a movie about the deadly terror attacks on two mosques in Christchurch, New Zealand.
The film will follow a family facing death and destruction in Afghanistan who escape with their lives. Their story meshes with that of the recent attacks by a 28-year-old white supremacist on the Al Noor Mosque and Linwood Islamic center. The shootings claimed the lives of 51 worshipers and were partly live-streamed on social media. The title of the project is based upon the words of the gunman as he entered the first mosque.
Masoud is a producer, Cambridge scholar and noted public speaker. His movie, “Clash,” was the opening film in Cannes’ Un Certain Regard in 2016.
“In Christchurch, on March 15, the world witnessed an unspeakable crime against humanity,” Masoud said. “The story that ‘Hello Brother’ will bring to audiences is just one step in the healing process, so that we...
The film will follow a family facing death and destruction in Afghanistan who escape with their lives. Their story meshes with that of the recent attacks by a 28-year-old white supremacist on the Al Noor Mosque and Linwood Islamic center. The shootings claimed the lives of 51 worshipers and were partly live-streamed on social media. The title of the project is based upon the words of the gunman as he entered the first mosque.
Masoud is a producer, Cambridge scholar and noted public speaker. His movie, “Clash,” was the opening film in Cannes’ Un Certain Regard in 2016.
“In Christchurch, on March 15, the world witnessed an unspeakable crime against humanity,” Masoud said. “The story that ‘Hello Brother’ will bring to audiences is just one step in the healing process, so that we...
- 5/14/2019
- by Stewart Clarke
- Variety Film + TV
Strand Releasing has acquired all North American rights to Camille Vidal-Naquet’s feature debut
“Sauvage” which world premiered at Cannes’s Critics Week.
Felix Maritaud, who stars in the film as a 22-year old gay male prostitute in free fall, won the best actor prize at Critics’ Week. Maritaud previously starred in Robin Campillo’s Cannes’s Grand Jury prize-winning “(Bpm) Beats Per Minute).”
Besides exploring the world of male prostitution, “Sauvage” also tells the story of an unrequited love between Maritaud and a fellow hustler.
“We’re thrilled to be working again with Pyramide and to have this amazing discovery by a first time feature filmmaker is a revelation. Both director and actor make this such an stunning film that best reflects the kinds of films that we strive to acquire and bring to American audiences,” said Strand Releasing’s topper Marcus Hu who negotiated the deal along with...
“Sauvage” which world premiered at Cannes’s Critics Week.
Felix Maritaud, who stars in the film as a 22-year old gay male prostitute in free fall, won the best actor prize at Critics’ Week. Maritaud previously starred in Robin Campillo’s Cannes’s Grand Jury prize-winning “(Bpm) Beats Per Minute).”
Besides exploring the world of male prostitution, “Sauvage” also tells the story of an unrequited love between Maritaud and a fellow hustler.
“We’re thrilled to be working again with Pyramide and to have this amazing discovery by a first time feature filmmaker is a revelation. Both director and actor make this such an stunning film that best reflects the kinds of films that we strive to acquire and bring to American audiences,” said Strand Releasing’s topper Marcus Hu who negotiated the deal along with...
- 5/18/2018
- by Elsa Keslassy
- Variety Film + TV
Winner of the International Jury Prize at Outfest Los Angeles, the debut feature of director John Trengove comes to the Film Forum in N.Y. August 16 and The Laemmle Royal in L.A. September 8.
“The Wound” by John Trengove has legs, beginning its trek at Sundance World Cinema Competition, proceeding to the Rotterdam Film Fest Tiger Competition and then going onward to the Berlinale Panorama as its Opening Night Film.
In a mountainous corner of the Eastern Cape of South Africa, an age-old Xhosa ritual introducing adolescent boys to manhood continues to this day. Addressing the narrow depiction of black masculinity in South African Cinema, it is a tough and strong film of two men in the midst of the rite of passage of circumcision in which they are caregivers for the male adolescents. And they are also gay, something that must be kept quiet and unsaid.
This is the...
“The Wound” by John Trengove has legs, beginning its trek at Sundance World Cinema Competition, proceeding to the Rotterdam Film Fest Tiger Competition and then going onward to the Berlinale Panorama as its Opening Night Film.
In a mountainous corner of the Eastern Cape of South Africa, an age-old Xhosa ritual introducing adolescent boys to manhood continues to this day. Addressing the narrow depiction of black masculinity in South African Cinema, it is a tough and strong film of two men in the midst of the rite of passage of circumcision in which they are caregivers for the male adolescents. And they are also gay, something that must be kept quiet and unsaid.
This is the...
- 7/20/2017
- by Sydney Levine
- Sydney's Buzz
Eight features and eight short films from the Netherlands or supported by the Dutch have been selected for the 67th Berlin International Film Festival that runs 9–19 Feb 2017.“The Wound”
“The Wound” is the only film ever to world premiere in Sundance, continue into Hivos Tiger Competition in Rotterdam and play Opening Night at the Berlinale Panorama. The movie is universal and potent exploraton of conflicting conceptions of what it means to be a man.
A lonely, young factory worker Xolani travels to a remote mountain camp in South Africa to tend teenage boys going through a traditional Xhola rite of passage. This year, Xolani is assigned to mentor Kwanda, a coddled Jo’burg boy who challenges the customs of the camp and is ostracized by other initiates. Kwanda, as observant as he is insolent, quickly notices the attraction between Xolani and his fellow caregiver, the volatile Vija. Heeding Kwanda’s exhortations,...
“The Wound” is the only film ever to world premiere in Sundance, continue into Hivos Tiger Competition in Rotterdam and play Opening Night at the Berlinale Panorama. The movie is universal and potent exploraton of conflicting conceptions of what it means to be a man.
A lonely, young factory worker Xolani travels to a remote mountain camp in South Africa to tend teenage boys going through a traditional Xhola rite of passage. This year, Xolani is assigned to mentor Kwanda, a coddled Jo’burg boy who challenges the customs of the camp and is ostracized by other initiates. Kwanda, as observant as he is insolent, quickly notices the attraction between Xolani and his fellow caregiver, the volatile Vija. Heeding Kwanda’s exhortations,...
- 2/7/2017
- by Sydney Levine
- Sydney's Buzz
Leena Yadav’s ‘Parched’ also known as ‘La Saison Des Femmes’ in French, has received a lot of critical acclaim. The film has won many hearts across the globe and will be celebrating its 25 glorious weeks in France this week, making it a silver jubilee success at French Box Office.
The French Distributor, Eric Lagesse explains, “The lifespan of films in France is about 3-4 weeks, but the word of mouth for Parched was so strong that the success is astounding. It is rare for film to have such a long career in the French theatres.”
The film features Tannishtha Chatterjee, Radhika Apte and Surveen Chawla in lead roles. Parched’ is a film which gives us a message that inspite all the hardships faced by women, their undying spirit and the zest to live life is outstanding.
The post Parched celebrates Silver Jubilee (25 weeks) in France appeared first on BollySpice.
The French Distributor, Eric Lagesse explains, “The lifespan of films in France is about 3-4 weeks, but the word of mouth for Parched was so strong that the success is astounding. It is rare for film to have such a long career in the French theatres.”
The film features Tannishtha Chatterjee, Radhika Apte and Surveen Chawla in lead roles. Parched’ is a film which gives us a message that inspite all the hardships faced by women, their undying spirit and the zest to live life is outstanding.
The post Parched celebrates Silver Jubilee (25 weeks) in France appeared first on BollySpice.
- 10/17/2016
- by Press Releases
- Bollyspice
Competition films include Alice Lowe’s Prevenge and John Carney’s Sing Street.
The programme and jury for this year’s Dinard British Film Festival (Sept 28 – Oct 2) – the annual celebration of British cinema hosted on the French coast – has been revealed.
Presiding over the 2016 jury will be Oscar-winning French writer and director Claude Lelouch (A Man And A Woman), who will be joined by actor James d’Arcy (Master And Commander), actress and scriptwriter Victoria Bedos (La Famille Bélier), actress Julie Ferrier (Heartbreaker), distributor and producer Eric Lagesse (Beijing Bicycle), actor and director Jalil Lespert (Human Resources), actress Anne Parillaud (La Femme Nikita), producer Colin Vaines (Coriolanus), actor Phil Davis (Notes On A Scandal), and actress Florence Thomassin (Mesrine).
Among the festival’s industry events will be a round table discussion titled Brexit… What next? Following a screening of documentary Versus, The Life And Films Of Ken Loach, proceedings will be led by regular Ken Loach producer...
The programme and jury for this year’s Dinard British Film Festival (Sept 28 – Oct 2) – the annual celebration of British cinema hosted on the French coast – has been revealed.
Presiding over the 2016 jury will be Oscar-winning French writer and director Claude Lelouch (A Man And A Woman), who will be joined by actor James d’Arcy (Master And Commander), actress and scriptwriter Victoria Bedos (La Famille Bélier), actress Julie Ferrier (Heartbreaker), distributor and producer Eric Lagesse (Beijing Bicycle), actor and director Jalil Lespert (Human Resources), actress Anne Parillaud (La Femme Nikita), producer Colin Vaines (Coriolanus), actor Phil Davis (Notes On A Scandal), and actress Florence Thomassin (Mesrine).
Among the festival’s industry events will be a round table discussion titled Brexit… What next? Following a screening of documentary Versus, The Life And Films Of Ken Loach, proceedings will be led by regular Ken Loach producer...
- 9/20/2016
- by tom.grater@screendaily.com (Tom Grater)
- ScreenDaily
A total of 11 projects were presented at the closing pitching event of fifth edition.
Israeli director Yona Rozenkier and producer Kobi Mizrahi have clinched the $50,000 top prize at the final pitching event of the fifth Sam Spiegel International Film Lab for their road-trip tale of an elderly father and son, Decompression.
Described as “a sad, late coming-of-age comedy”, it revolves around a journey from the north to the south of Israel on a tractor by 35-year-old Ben and his truculent, larger-than-life father.
“The jury was impressed by the genuine and emotional father-and-son story from north of Israel to south,” said jury president Slawomir Idzak. “The mix between drama and humour is very well balanced. The very visual metaphoric ending is so powerful, you will not forget it.”
Argentinian film-maker Gonzalo Tobal took the second prize of $20,000 for Dolores, a psychological drama about a young woman from a comfortable background awaiting trial on charges of killing her best...
Israeli director Yona Rozenkier and producer Kobi Mizrahi have clinched the $50,000 top prize at the final pitching event of the fifth Sam Spiegel International Film Lab for their road-trip tale of an elderly father and son, Decompression.
Described as “a sad, late coming-of-age comedy”, it revolves around a journey from the north to the south of Israel on a tractor by 35-year-old Ben and his truculent, larger-than-life father.
“The jury was impressed by the genuine and emotional father-and-son story from north of Israel to south,” said jury president Slawomir Idzak. “The mix between drama and humour is very well balanced. The very visual metaphoric ending is so powerful, you will not forget it.”
Argentinian film-maker Gonzalo Tobal took the second prize of $20,000 for Dolores, a psychological drama about a young woman from a comfortable background awaiting trial on charges of killing her best...
- 7/9/2016
- ScreenDaily
Exclusive: Post-Egyptian revolution drama set in police van opened Un Certain Regard.
Paris-based Pyramide International has locked down sales on Egyptian director Mohamed Diab’s post-revolution drama Clash, which opened Un Certain Regard this year.
The film has sold to Scandinavia (Scanbox), Spain (Golem), Switzerland (Cineworx), Portugal (Midas Filmes), Benelux (Amstelfilm), Colombia (Cine Colombia), Greece (Weird Wave), Taiwan (Swallow Wings), ex-Yugoslavia (2I), Brazil (Imovision) and China VOD (Lemon Tree).
There is also understood to be a deal for Turkey in the works, as well as strong interest from Poland and Australia.
Pyramide Distribution will release the film in France on September 14.
“Opening Un Certain Regard was a great launch pad for the film and buyers have responded with enthusiasm to Mohamed’s fresh, young vision of post-revolutionary Egypt’s splintered society,” said Pyramide sales chief Agathe Valentin.
Set during violent demonstrations in Cairo at the end of Muslim Brotherhood-backed President Mohamed Morsi’s reign in 2013, the film follows...
Paris-based Pyramide International has locked down sales on Egyptian director Mohamed Diab’s post-revolution drama Clash, which opened Un Certain Regard this year.
The film has sold to Scandinavia (Scanbox), Spain (Golem), Switzerland (Cineworx), Portugal (Midas Filmes), Benelux (Amstelfilm), Colombia (Cine Colombia), Greece (Weird Wave), Taiwan (Swallow Wings), ex-Yugoslavia (2I), Brazil (Imovision) and China VOD (Lemon Tree).
There is also understood to be a deal for Turkey in the works, as well as strong interest from Poland and Australia.
Pyramide Distribution will release the film in France on September 14.
“Opening Un Certain Regard was a great launch pad for the film and buyers have responded with enthusiasm to Mohamed’s fresh, young vision of post-revolutionary Egypt’s splintered society,” said Pyramide sales chief Agathe Valentin.
Set during violent demonstrations in Cairo at the end of Muslim Brotherhood-backed President Mohamed Morsi’s reign in 2013, the film follows...
- 5/18/2016
- ScreenDaily
Exclusive: Producer of Un Certain Regard opener Clash lines up new projects, including Lewis Carroll adaptation In The Land Of Wonder.
Egyptian producer Mohamed Hefzy [pictured] is developing a Cairo-set version of Lewis Carroll’s Alice in Wonderland plunging the main character into the chaos of the city’s streets.
The project, In The Land Of Wonder, is the second film by Nadine Khan after her debut feature Chaos, Disorder, which won the jury prize at the Dubai International Film Festival in 2012.
The daughter of respected Egyptian filmmaker Mohamed Khan spent a decade working as a second unit and assistant director for the likes of Yousry Nasrallah and Nabil Ayouch before making her first film.
Hefzy is in Cannes this year with Mohamed Diab’s buzzed about Un Certain Regard opener Clash about a group of people locked in a police van for 24 hours after they arrested during violent demonstrations in Cairo at the end of Islamist President...
Egyptian producer Mohamed Hefzy [pictured] is developing a Cairo-set version of Lewis Carroll’s Alice in Wonderland plunging the main character into the chaos of the city’s streets.
The project, In The Land Of Wonder, is the second film by Nadine Khan after her debut feature Chaos, Disorder, which won the jury prize at the Dubai International Film Festival in 2012.
The daughter of respected Egyptian filmmaker Mohamed Khan spent a decade working as a second unit and assistant director for the likes of Yousry Nasrallah and Nabil Ayouch before making her first film.
Hefzy is in Cannes this year with Mohamed Diab’s buzzed about Un Certain Regard opener Clash about a group of people locked in a police van for 24 hours after they arrested during violent demonstrations in Cairo at the end of Islamist President...
- 5/16/2016
- ScreenDaily
Exclusive: New film by Amr Salama (Excuse My French) to shoot this spring.
Egyptian indie production powerhouse Film Clinic is gearing up to launch financing on Sheikh Jackson, a bittersweet drama about an Islamic fundamentalist cleric with a secret passion for Michael Jackson music.
Film Clinic chief Mohammed Hefzy said: “The day Michael Jackson dies it changes his life. He hits a wall. Suddenly, he is incapable of performing with his wife, crying or giving the emotional sermons for which he was once renowned.”
Amr Salama - whose credits include the prize-winning AIDS drama Asmaa and coming-of-age comedy Excuse My French, which recently swept the board at Egypt’s equivalent of the Oscars – is set to direct.
As the man undergoes therapy, a series of flashbacks explore his teenage years: from his early love of Jackson’s music to an unrequited love story and family dispute to his life-changing embrace of the ultra-conservative Salafism movement, which frowns...
Egyptian indie production powerhouse Film Clinic is gearing up to launch financing on Sheikh Jackson, a bittersweet drama about an Islamic fundamentalist cleric with a secret passion for Michael Jackson music.
Film Clinic chief Mohammed Hefzy said: “The day Michael Jackson dies it changes his life. He hits a wall. Suddenly, he is incapable of performing with his wife, crying or giving the emotional sermons for which he was once renowned.”
Amr Salama - whose credits include the prize-winning AIDS drama Asmaa and coming-of-age comedy Excuse My French, which recently swept the board at Egypt’s equivalent of the Oscars – is set to direct.
As the man undergoes therapy, a series of flashbacks explore his teenage years: from his early love of Jackson’s music to an unrequited love story and family dispute to his life-changing embrace of the ultra-conservative Salafism movement, which frowns...
- 10/27/2015
- ScreenDaily
Two Australian-produced films with very different takes on romance have won prizes at the Venice Film Festival and the parallel Venice Days.
Tanna, Bentley Dean and Martin Butler.s saga of forbidden love, was voted best film in the Critics Week section, where it also took the award for Dean.s cinematography.
Michael Rowe.s relationships drama Early Winter won the Venice Days Award, the top prize in Venice.s independently run section, given by a jury of 28 young European buffs, presided by French director Laurent Cantet.
The €20,000 ($A32,000) Venice Days award is shared by Rowe and the international distributor, Eric Lagesse.s Pyramide, who is selling the film at the Toronto International Film Festival.
Early Winter producer Trish Lake tells If, .Eric is confident about some good sales to come on the strength of interest so far, heightened by the Venice Days win.. It is a much needed prize...
Tanna, Bentley Dean and Martin Butler.s saga of forbidden love, was voted best film in the Critics Week section, where it also took the award for Dean.s cinematography.
Michael Rowe.s relationships drama Early Winter won the Venice Days Award, the top prize in Venice.s independently run section, given by a jury of 28 young European buffs, presided by French director Laurent Cantet.
The €20,000 ($A32,000) Venice Days award is shared by Rowe and the international distributor, Eric Lagesse.s Pyramide, who is selling the film at the Toronto International Film Festival.
Early Winter producer Trish Lake tells If, .Eric is confident about some good sales to come on the strength of interest so far, heightened by the Venice Days win.. It is a much needed prize...
- 9/13/2015
- by Don Groves
- IF.com.au
Argentine miniseries from the director of Wakolda screening at Toronto.
Pyramide International has picked up sales on Argentine Lucia Puenzo’s eco-thriller miniseries Cromo ahead of its world premiere in Toronto International Film Festival’s new TV strand Primetime tomorrow (Sept 11).
“We signed it last week after seeing the episodes which will be shown at Toronto. We thought it looked fabulous,” Pyramide chief Eric Lagesse told ScreenDaily.
Episodes one, two and eight will premiere in Tiff’s new Primetime section aimed at cutting-edge projects blurring the boundaries between film and TV.
It is the first time the Paris-based auteur film specialist Pyramide has handled sales on a TV series.
“The wall between cinema and TV is no longer as impermeable as it was in the past,” said Lagesse. “There is still a strong cinematic quality to the look and feel of the series.
“You can tell that it’s made by people with a cinema background who are...
Pyramide International has picked up sales on Argentine Lucia Puenzo’s eco-thriller miniseries Cromo ahead of its world premiere in Toronto International Film Festival’s new TV strand Primetime tomorrow (Sept 11).
“We signed it last week after seeing the episodes which will be shown at Toronto. We thought it looked fabulous,” Pyramide chief Eric Lagesse told ScreenDaily.
Episodes one, two and eight will premiere in Tiff’s new Primetime section aimed at cutting-edge projects blurring the boundaries between film and TV.
It is the first time the Paris-based auteur film specialist Pyramide has handled sales on a TV series.
“The wall between cinema and TV is no longer as impermeable as it was in the past,” said Lagesse. “There is still a strong cinematic quality to the look and feel of the series.
“You can tell that it’s made by people with a cinema background who are...
- 9/10/2015
- ScreenDaily
Paris-based industry veteran, who also works with actor Amr Waked, deepens ties with Egypt.
Paris-based producer Daniel Ziskind has signed to act as the European representative of Egyptian Mohamed Hefzy’s Cairo-based production house Film Clinic.
Under the accord, Ziskind will support Film Clinic’s co-production and sales activities in Europe.
“I’m very happy to join the Film Clinic family,” Ziskind said. “The company has a great line-up and strategy.”
First feature
The first project under the collaboration will be Mohamed Diab’s drama Clash, his second film after the much-praised Cairo 678 tackling sexual harassment through the experiences of women on a bus.
Set against the backdrop of violent demonstrations that erupted at the end of former Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi’s Islamist reign in summer of 2013, Clash revolves around two groups of opposing protestors who find themselves trapped in the same police van as fighting rages around them.
“It’s a timely...
Paris-based producer Daniel Ziskind has signed to act as the European representative of Egyptian Mohamed Hefzy’s Cairo-based production house Film Clinic.
Under the accord, Ziskind will support Film Clinic’s co-production and sales activities in Europe.
“I’m very happy to join the Film Clinic family,” Ziskind said. “The company has a great line-up and strategy.”
First feature
The first project under the collaboration will be Mohamed Diab’s drama Clash, his second film after the much-praised Cairo 678 tackling sexual harassment through the experiences of women on a bus.
Set against the backdrop of violent demonstrations that erupted at the end of former Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi’s Islamist reign in summer of 2013, Clash revolves around two groups of opposing protestors who find themselves trapped in the same police van as fighting rages around them.
“It’s a timely...
- 4/9/2015
- ScreenDaily
French Charlie Hebdo documentary It’s Hard Being Loved By Jerks (C’est Dûr D’Etre Aimé Par Des Cons) originally was released locally in 2008 by Pyramide. Following last month’s deadly attacks at the satirical magazine’s Paris headquarters, Pyramide re-released it on January 22 in 110 theaters. The recent events have lifted the profile of the film, and Kino Lorber now has taken all U.S. rights. A theatrical release is planned for this spring in major U.S. cities and in markets serviced by Emerging Pictures’ Rendez-Vous Near You contemporary French film series, a touring offshoot of the Rendez-Vous with French Cinema series programmed by the Film Society of Lincoln Center and French movie export body, UniFrance Films.
It’s Hard (see the trailer in French above) focuses on the legal battle between Charlie Hebdo and the Muslim French Council, after the magazine reprinted controversial Danish cartoons depicting the...
It’s Hard (see the trailer in French above) focuses on the legal battle between Charlie Hebdo and the Muslim French Council, after the magazine reprinted controversial Danish cartoons depicting the...
- 2/10/2015
- by Nancy Tartaglione
- Deadline
Opening night’s screening was the debut film of Mexican filmmaker ---- The Amazing Catfish (Los Insolitos Peces Gato) the debut feature of Claudia Sainte Luce. It is close to autobiographical as it tells of 22-year-old Claudia living alone in a big city in Mexico. One night, she ends up in the emergency room with signs of appendicitis. There she meets Martha, lying on the bed next to her. 46-year-old Martha has 4 children and endless lust for life, in spite of her illness. Moved by the lonely young woman, Martha invites Claudia to come and live with her when she leaves the hospital. At first, Claudia is bewildered by the somewhat chaotic organization of the household, but soon she finds her place in the tribe. And while Martha is getting weaker, Claudia's bond with each member of the family gets stronger day by day. The director’s honest vulnerability touched me as much as the movie.
During the Toronto Film Festival, Claudia told the interviewer at Twitch:
“The character Claudia has the obsession of cutting out funny newspaper notes. Before the filming began, I read a note about the appearance of some catfishes in an American city. The catfishes always live in family so I thought it was curious. Having cut the titular ("los insólitos peces gato"), I pasted it on the fish bowl. In the movie, Claudia begins sleeping in Armando's bedroom and pastes that sticker.
She (the mother) had eight years to think what she wanted to say to their children. For eight years her death was imminent. She had a lot of time of think what to say but maybe not what to do.
I think every member of the family is amazing and their force is staying together. That's why I called the film The Amazing Catfish.”
Claudia said more to me about the autobiographical part (the rest is fiction):
“I made this movie to thank this family that gave me a sense of belonging. The more I helped Martha in her dying process and living the additional time Death was giving her, I understood that you have to live with the Death by your side every day to value your own life. They saw me; when someone sees you, you become alive, you exist and that's what they gave me, existence.’
This film which premiered in Locarno where it won the Young Jury Award went on to Toronto 2013 where it won the Fipresci Critics’ Discovery Award. The next month it played at the Morelia Film Festival. At the Baja Film Fest it won the Mexico Primero Award. It also played at the Rotterdam and the Belgrade Film Festivals. This Mexican-French coproduction was sold by France’s premiere international sales agent Pyramide. Knowing the head of Pyramide International’s Eric Lagesse, the filmmaker can feel secure that she is in good hands and that the film will play to a broad and international range of audiences as it deals with a dysfunctional family, having both funny and sensitive parts.
It has already sold to Strand Releasing for U.S , Austria went to Polyfilm, Belgium – Imagine, France – Pyramide, Germany – Arsenal, Japan - Bitters End, Latin America - Palmera International, Mexico – Canibal, Netherlands - Imagine , Switzerland – Cineworx, Taiwan - Swallow Wings Films.
The next day we saw Eco de la montaña (Echo form the Mountain), Nicolas Echevarria’s documentary about an indigenous artist of the Wixarika people in Jalisco whose traditional mural, made of millions of small beads, was installed (incorrectly) in the Paris metro station Palais Royal-Musee du Louvre in 1977 at a grand ceremony by the French and Mexican Presidents who failed to invite him. Since then Santos de la Torre has lived forgotten and isolated in his village in the Sierra Madre Mountains. As the film follows him and his family on their yearly peyote ritual and pilgrimage to Wirikuta and other Wixarika sacred places and as he creates a fourth mural is unfolded in such a modern way that I think it should open discussions of how the artistic taps into the higher sources of creativity among the selected guests of this festival. The producer Michael Fitzgerald was here with his wife, in from Taos where they live. Michael Fitzgerald produced such films as Malcolm Loewry’s Under the Volcano and The Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada, another film Arriagas wrote, Bruce Beresford’s Mr. Johnson. Such illustrious company!
Gary Meyer and I sat together during the outdoor screening in the plaza. Of Horses and Men (Isa: Filmsharks), a wonderfully droll film from first time filmmaker and Iceland’s submission for this year’s Academy Award nomination for Best Foreign Language Film was just covered in my blog on Indiewire. It was a perfect film for showing here with its magnificent landscapes where horses are part of the villagers’ lives as they are in many part of Mexican culture. For a review and an interview with its director, click here for the interview and here for the review on SydneysBuzz.
Seeing Iceland reminded me of Jim Stark, as did the Zellner Brothers' Kumiko, Treasure Hunter (Isa: Submarine), the sleeper of Sundance. This film of a young Japanese woman’s trip to Fargo, Minnesota in search of the money Steve Buscemi buried in the movie Fargo, with its large snowy landscapes and cold snow which could not be more the opposite of this lush tropical paradise reminded me of Jim Stark’s Cold Fever which was also about a Japanese fish-out-of-water in the freezing Icelandic climates, though David Zellner was not aware of that film until after his own was finished. When we went upstairs for cocktails, how surprised I was to see that Jim Stark himself is also there, as Marina’s guest, giving master classes to the young Mexican filmmakers. He is working on at least two features now with Mexican directors and has bought a house in Mexico City just as he did in Iceland when he was active there.
And yet another coincidence: the star of Kumiko is Rinko Kikuchi who played an important role in Arriaga’s Babel. And, just to throw in one more coincidence, Babel's director, Alejandro González Iñárritu will be one of the special guests at the next festival I am about to go to, Cartagena Colombia's Ficci (Festival Internacional de Cine de Cartagena de Indias).
Continuing the tradition of ArteCareyes showcasing emerging talent, eight young filmmakers showed their shorts after which we all had lunch and discussed their films and their plans with them. The filmmakers will be ones you will hear more about in the near future, so here are their names:
. Manuel Camacho Bustillo (Blackout, Chapter 4: Calling Neverland), a film Gary Meyer particularly liked
. Sofia Carrillo (The Sad House), a film Jarrett and I loved.
. Erik de Luna Fors (Home Appliance). Everyone liked this darkly humorous animation
. Amaury Vergara Z (Tide). We called him over to discuss this dreamy, mysterious story of a young man of the land.
. Indira Velasco (Music for the ultimate dream). This film was a marvelous study of music and life
. Lubianca Duran (Supermodern times). Wonderful tug-of-war between Kodak and Digital. Very funny old-fashioned silent take on modern times.
. Ricardo Torres Castro (Dry Land). Animation with a message. Well done 7 minutes.
. Dalia Huerta Cano (The End of the Existence of Things). How a boy fasses the loss of a great sadness. Really libertating.
I was sorry that I had to miss the closing night film ¡Que viva Mexico! Partially filmed 1931 by the master Sergei Eisenstein shortly after the Mexican Revolution but never edited and show by the great Dp Gabriel Figueroa (whose show at Los Angeles County Museum of Art was extraordinary). The 1931 uncredited version editor was Kenneth Anger. Also uncredited technical advisors for foreign locations are the great muralists Orozco, Rivera and Siquieros (who coincidently has a mural newly restored on Los Angeles' Olvera Street). Completed finally in the 1970s based on Eisenstein’s writings and his own memories, three sements were shown with live accompaniment commissioned by ArteCareyes based on a guiding score Eisenstein worked on with Sergei Prokofiev by the Ensemble Cine Mudo.
On a scale of 1 to 10, I would rate this event as a 12. It is an event matched only by the million dollar trip to Moscow, St. Petersburg, Petershof and the set of Stalingrad which 25 U.S. Distributors, Anne Thompson, Peter and I were invited to by Rosskino in 2012 when our Italianate Eleonora Granata was the Russian Film Commissioner in L.A.
This work in progress shows a promise reaching beyond this event. The practical idealism and magic of the location and the timing of such an Arts & Film event, together with the other elements in this magnificent venue are thrilling. I will always be grateful to Steven, John and Filippo for including me.
During the Toronto Film Festival, Claudia told the interviewer at Twitch:
“The character Claudia has the obsession of cutting out funny newspaper notes. Before the filming began, I read a note about the appearance of some catfishes in an American city. The catfishes always live in family so I thought it was curious. Having cut the titular ("los insólitos peces gato"), I pasted it on the fish bowl. In the movie, Claudia begins sleeping in Armando's bedroom and pastes that sticker.
She (the mother) had eight years to think what she wanted to say to their children. For eight years her death was imminent. She had a lot of time of think what to say but maybe not what to do.
I think every member of the family is amazing and their force is staying together. That's why I called the film The Amazing Catfish.”
Claudia said more to me about the autobiographical part (the rest is fiction):
“I made this movie to thank this family that gave me a sense of belonging. The more I helped Martha in her dying process and living the additional time Death was giving her, I understood that you have to live with the Death by your side every day to value your own life. They saw me; when someone sees you, you become alive, you exist and that's what they gave me, existence.’
This film which premiered in Locarno where it won the Young Jury Award went on to Toronto 2013 where it won the Fipresci Critics’ Discovery Award. The next month it played at the Morelia Film Festival. At the Baja Film Fest it won the Mexico Primero Award. It also played at the Rotterdam and the Belgrade Film Festivals. This Mexican-French coproduction was sold by France’s premiere international sales agent Pyramide. Knowing the head of Pyramide International’s Eric Lagesse, the filmmaker can feel secure that she is in good hands and that the film will play to a broad and international range of audiences as it deals with a dysfunctional family, having both funny and sensitive parts.
It has already sold to Strand Releasing for U.S , Austria went to Polyfilm, Belgium – Imagine, France – Pyramide, Germany – Arsenal, Japan - Bitters End, Latin America - Palmera International, Mexico – Canibal, Netherlands - Imagine , Switzerland – Cineworx, Taiwan - Swallow Wings Films.
The next day we saw Eco de la montaña (Echo form the Mountain), Nicolas Echevarria’s documentary about an indigenous artist of the Wixarika people in Jalisco whose traditional mural, made of millions of small beads, was installed (incorrectly) in the Paris metro station Palais Royal-Musee du Louvre in 1977 at a grand ceremony by the French and Mexican Presidents who failed to invite him. Since then Santos de la Torre has lived forgotten and isolated in his village in the Sierra Madre Mountains. As the film follows him and his family on their yearly peyote ritual and pilgrimage to Wirikuta and other Wixarika sacred places and as he creates a fourth mural is unfolded in such a modern way that I think it should open discussions of how the artistic taps into the higher sources of creativity among the selected guests of this festival. The producer Michael Fitzgerald was here with his wife, in from Taos where they live. Michael Fitzgerald produced such films as Malcolm Loewry’s Under the Volcano and The Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada, another film Arriagas wrote, Bruce Beresford’s Mr. Johnson. Such illustrious company!
Gary Meyer and I sat together during the outdoor screening in the plaza. Of Horses and Men (Isa: Filmsharks), a wonderfully droll film from first time filmmaker and Iceland’s submission for this year’s Academy Award nomination for Best Foreign Language Film was just covered in my blog on Indiewire. It was a perfect film for showing here with its magnificent landscapes where horses are part of the villagers’ lives as they are in many part of Mexican culture. For a review and an interview with its director, click here for the interview and here for the review on SydneysBuzz.
Seeing Iceland reminded me of Jim Stark, as did the Zellner Brothers' Kumiko, Treasure Hunter (Isa: Submarine), the sleeper of Sundance. This film of a young Japanese woman’s trip to Fargo, Minnesota in search of the money Steve Buscemi buried in the movie Fargo, with its large snowy landscapes and cold snow which could not be more the opposite of this lush tropical paradise reminded me of Jim Stark’s Cold Fever which was also about a Japanese fish-out-of-water in the freezing Icelandic climates, though David Zellner was not aware of that film until after his own was finished. When we went upstairs for cocktails, how surprised I was to see that Jim Stark himself is also there, as Marina’s guest, giving master classes to the young Mexican filmmakers. He is working on at least two features now with Mexican directors and has bought a house in Mexico City just as he did in Iceland when he was active there.
And yet another coincidence: the star of Kumiko is Rinko Kikuchi who played an important role in Arriaga’s Babel. And, just to throw in one more coincidence, Babel's director, Alejandro González Iñárritu will be one of the special guests at the next festival I am about to go to, Cartagena Colombia's Ficci (Festival Internacional de Cine de Cartagena de Indias).
Continuing the tradition of ArteCareyes showcasing emerging talent, eight young filmmakers showed their shorts after which we all had lunch and discussed their films and their plans with them. The filmmakers will be ones you will hear more about in the near future, so here are their names:
. Manuel Camacho Bustillo (Blackout, Chapter 4: Calling Neverland), a film Gary Meyer particularly liked
. Sofia Carrillo (The Sad House), a film Jarrett and I loved.
. Erik de Luna Fors (Home Appliance). Everyone liked this darkly humorous animation
. Amaury Vergara Z (Tide). We called him over to discuss this dreamy, mysterious story of a young man of the land.
. Indira Velasco (Music for the ultimate dream). This film was a marvelous study of music and life
. Lubianca Duran (Supermodern times). Wonderful tug-of-war between Kodak and Digital. Very funny old-fashioned silent take on modern times.
. Ricardo Torres Castro (Dry Land). Animation with a message. Well done 7 minutes.
. Dalia Huerta Cano (The End of the Existence of Things). How a boy fasses the loss of a great sadness. Really libertating.
I was sorry that I had to miss the closing night film ¡Que viva Mexico! Partially filmed 1931 by the master Sergei Eisenstein shortly after the Mexican Revolution but never edited and show by the great Dp Gabriel Figueroa (whose show at Los Angeles County Museum of Art was extraordinary). The 1931 uncredited version editor was Kenneth Anger. Also uncredited technical advisors for foreign locations are the great muralists Orozco, Rivera and Siquieros (who coincidently has a mural newly restored on Los Angeles' Olvera Street). Completed finally in the 1970s based on Eisenstein’s writings and his own memories, three sements were shown with live accompaniment commissioned by ArteCareyes based on a guiding score Eisenstein worked on with Sergei Prokofiev by the Ensemble Cine Mudo.
On a scale of 1 to 10, I would rate this event as a 12. It is an event matched only by the million dollar trip to Moscow, St. Petersburg, Petershof and the set of Stalingrad which 25 U.S. Distributors, Anne Thompson, Peter and I were invited to by Rosskino in 2012 when our Italianate Eleonora Granata was the Russian Film Commissioner in L.A.
This work in progress shows a promise reaching beyond this event. The practical idealism and magic of the location and the timing of such an Arts & Film event, together with the other elements in this magnificent venue are thrilling. I will always be grateful to Steven, John and Filippo for including me.
- 3/14/2014
- by Sydney Levine
- Sydney's Buzz
On the eve of this week’s Rendez-Vous with French Cinema in Paris, Melanie Goodfellow examines why the French film industry looks set for a challenging 2014.
Barely two years ago, the French cinema industry was riding high: record audiences, record exports and seven Oscars for The Artist. French film was not only cool, it was also very, very successful.
But as the industry’s main players gather for the Rendez-vous with French Cinema in Paris (Jan 10-20), the mood will be gloomy: 2013 was tough at home and abroad, 2014 threatens to be even tougher.
Some wonder how Europe’s most powerful film industry will emerge from the perfect storm of recession at home, the disruptive force of technology and threats to what was once viewed as the one of the most successful film financing systems in the world.
“The mood across the industry is very tense and nervous at the moment, whatever the sector...
Barely two years ago, the French cinema industry was riding high: record audiences, record exports and seven Oscars for The Artist. French film was not only cool, it was also very, very successful.
But as the industry’s main players gather for the Rendez-vous with French Cinema in Paris (Jan 10-20), the mood will be gloomy: 2013 was tough at home and abroad, 2014 threatens to be even tougher.
Some wonder how Europe’s most powerful film industry will emerge from the perfect storm of recession at home, the disruptive force of technology and threats to what was once viewed as the one of the most successful film financing systems in the world.
“The mood across the industry is very tense and nervous at the moment, whatever the sector...
- 1/7/2014
- ScreenDaily
The Paris-based Pyramide co-founder, producer and distributor worked closely with Aki Kaurismaki, Nuri Bilge Ceylan and Catherine Corsini, among others.
Veteran distributor and producer Fabienne Vonier, who co-founded Paris-based distribution and production company Pyramide, has died after a long illness. She was 66.
“Fabienne was passionate about film,” said long-term collaborator Eric Lagesse, who took over Pyramide’s distribution and international sales activities in 2008. “She was someone who was constantly on the look-out for interesting productions, directors.”
Lagesse continued: “She had done it all: exhibition, distribution and lastly production. She did everything to the full and was as demanding of herself as she was of everyone else. She was a true professional, working right up until the end.”
In a career spanning more than 40 years, Vonier supported the work of scores of directors from across the world including Finland’s Aki Kaurismaki, Canadian Denys Arcand, Mexico’s Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu, Palestinian Elia Suleiman, Egyptian [link=nm...
Veteran distributor and producer Fabienne Vonier, who co-founded Paris-based distribution and production company Pyramide, has died after a long illness. She was 66.
“Fabienne was passionate about film,” said long-term collaborator Eric Lagesse, who took over Pyramide’s distribution and international sales activities in 2008. “She was someone who was constantly on the look-out for interesting productions, directors.”
Lagesse continued: “She had done it all: exhibition, distribution and lastly production. She did everything to the full and was as demanding of herself as she was of everyone else. She was a true professional, working right up until the end.”
In a career spanning more than 40 years, Vonier supported the work of scores of directors from across the world including Finland’s Aki Kaurismaki, Canadian Denys Arcand, Mexico’s Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu, Palestinian Elia Suleiman, Egyptian [link=nm...
- 7/30/2013
- ScreenDaily
The Paris-based Pyramide co-founder, producer and distributor worked closely with AKi Kaurismaki, Nuri Bilge Ceylan and Catherine Corsini, among others.
Veteran distributor and producer Fabienne Vonier, who co-founded Paris-based distribution and production company Pyramide, has died after a long illness. She was 66.
“Fabienne was passionate about film,” said long-term collaborator Eric Lagesse, who took over Pyramide’s distribution and international sales activities in 2008. “She was someone who was constantly on the look-out for interesting productions, directors.”
Lagesse continued: “She had done it all: exhibition, distribution and lastly production. She did everything to the full and was as demanding of herself as she was of everyone else. She was a true professional, working right up until the end.”
In a career spanning more than 40 years, Vonier supported the work of scores of directors from across the world including Finland’s Aki Kaurismaki, Canadian Denys Arcand, Mexico’s Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu, Palestinian Elia Suleiman, Egyptian [link=nm...
Veteran distributor and producer Fabienne Vonier, who co-founded Paris-based distribution and production company Pyramide, has died after a long illness. She was 66.
“Fabienne was passionate about film,” said long-term collaborator Eric Lagesse, who took over Pyramide’s distribution and international sales activities in 2008. “She was someone who was constantly on the look-out for interesting productions, directors.”
Lagesse continued: “She had done it all: exhibition, distribution and lastly production. She did everything to the full and was as demanding of herself as she was of everyone else. She was a true professional, working right up until the end.”
In a career spanning more than 40 years, Vonier supported the work of scores of directors from across the world including Finland’s Aki Kaurismaki, Canadian Denys Arcand, Mexico’s Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu, Palestinian Elia Suleiman, Egyptian [link=nm...
- 7/30/2013
- ScreenDaily
At the risk of being redundant, I publish this so that when Cannes folk meet one another at the myriad of cocktail receptions and parties, they will be aware of where old friends and acquaintances are now working:
Personnel Shifts (Includes Berlin):
Nadine de Barros left Voltage and is heading international sales at Aldamisa. Jere Hausfater is head of acquisitions.
Stephanie Denton heads up international sales at Indomina.
Archie Purvis is working with Porchlight selling their library internationally.
Clay Epstein left The Little Film Co. to join Arclight.
John Fremes has left his company, Essential, to go to Nu Image/ Millenium.
Lisa Wilson has formed new sales company, The Solution Entertainment Group.
Mimi Steinbauer has formed her new sales company, Radiant Films International after leaving Hyde Park.
Camela Galano has launched her new sales company, Speranza 13 Media.
Roman Kopelevich debuts his new sales company Red Sea Media.
Bobby Meyers and Larry Meyers launched Meyers Media Group
Jim Harvey has opened Studio City Pictures.
Glen Ackerman has launched sales agency and film fund V International Media for Cannes 2012.
Tim Haslam and Hugo Grumbar have joined forces to launch a new international sales and financing company Embankment Films. See Variety February 21, 2012.
Yoann Ubermulhin is leaving Pyramide to go to Sofica. Lucero Garzon will be Pyramide’s new head of sales under Eric Lagesse.
Vincent Canales, formerly with Filmax has launched a new sales company, Film Factory Entertainment.
Carlost Reygades and producer partner Jaime Romandia are launching the international sales company Ndm (short of Nodream Mantarraya) and will sell Reygadas’ Post Tenebras Lux.
Claudia Begnoni has left Lady Films (alternate link) to form her own company, Satine Film
Raphael Berdugo left Roissy and formed a new production/ international sales company called Cite Films.
Summit has been bought by Lionsgate for Us $412.5 million. Rob Friedman and Patrick Wachsberger will run the company as Joe Drake exits. Its distribution partners such as Entertainment One in Canada and U.K. , Snd/ M6 Group for France, Aurum for Spain (2014), Hopscotch/ eOne for Australia/ N.Z., Central Partnership for Russia and TeleMuenchen (2013) for German speaking territories, are expected to continue, at least through 2012. David Garrett is resigning from Summit.
Global Screen is a new joint venture international sales company between Bavaria and Telepool and is headed by Sonia Mehandjiyska. It has 22 films on offer at Efm and a team of 11. Mehandjiyska comes from Echo Bridge ad Mrgand began this job this month. The acquisition execs are looking for new produce and are adding English language titles to their slate.
New international sales company from So. Korea, Daisy Entertainment, has hired Erica Nam from Mirovision to head up international sales.
New international sales company Sts has been launched in the U.K. by Simn Barnes, formerly of Park Entertainment and U.K. producer Sam Tromans.
Personnel Shifts (Includes Berlin):
Nadine de Barros left Voltage and is heading international sales at Aldamisa. Jere Hausfater is head of acquisitions.
Stephanie Denton heads up international sales at Indomina.
Archie Purvis is working with Porchlight selling their library internationally.
Clay Epstein left The Little Film Co. to join Arclight.
John Fremes has left his company, Essential, to go to Nu Image/ Millenium.
Lisa Wilson has formed new sales company, The Solution Entertainment Group.
Mimi Steinbauer has formed her new sales company, Radiant Films International after leaving Hyde Park.
Camela Galano has launched her new sales company, Speranza 13 Media.
Roman Kopelevich debuts his new sales company Red Sea Media.
Bobby Meyers and Larry Meyers launched Meyers Media Group
Jim Harvey has opened Studio City Pictures.
Glen Ackerman has launched sales agency and film fund V International Media for Cannes 2012.
Tim Haslam and Hugo Grumbar have joined forces to launch a new international sales and financing company Embankment Films. See Variety February 21, 2012.
Yoann Ubermulhin is leaving Pyramide to go to Sofica. Lucero Garzon will be Pyramide’s new head of sales under Eric Lagesse.
Vincent Canales, formerly with Filmax has launched a new sales company, Film Factory Entertainment.
Carlost Reygades and producer partner Jaime Romandia are launching the international sales company Ndm (short of Nodream Mantarraya) and will sell Reygadas’ Post Tenebras Lux.
Claudia Begnoni has left Lady Films (alternate link) to form her own company, Satine Film
Raphael Berdugo left Roissy and formed a new production/ international sales company called Cite Films.
Summit has been bought by Lionsgate for Us $412.5 million. Rob Friedman and Patrick Wachsberger will run the company as Joe Drake exits. Its distribution partners such as Entertainment One in Canada and U.K. , Snd/ M6 Group for France, Aurum for Spain (2014), Hopscotch/ eOne for Australia/ N.Z., Central Partnership for Russia and TeleMuenchen (2013) for German speaking territories, are expected to continue, at least through 2012. David Garrett is resigning from Summit.
Global Screen is a new joint venture international sales company between Bavaria and Telepool and is headed by Sonia Mehandjiyska. It has 22 films on offer at Efm and a team of 11. Mehandjiyska comes from Echo Bridge ad Mrgand began this job this month. The acquisition execs are looking for new produce and are adding English language titles to their slate.
New international sales company from So. Korea, Daisy Entertainment, has hired Erica Nam from Mirovision to head up international sales.
New international sales company Sts has been launched in the U.K. by Simn Barnes, formerly of Park Entertainment and U.K. producer Sam Tromans.
- 5/17/2012
- by SydneyLevine
- Sydney's Buzz
François Hollande bested incumbent Nicolas Sarkozy on Sunday to become France’s first Socialist president since François Mitterrand. Hollande will be inaugurated by mid-next week, just in time for the opening of the Cannes Film Festival, where there’s certain to be discussion about what his ascension will mean for the business. Issues like anti-piracy legislation, runaway production and who’ll be the next culture minister are likely topics, but for now, execs I’ve spoken with don’t seem too concerned. Pyramide Distribution’s Eric Lagesse tells me, “No one is expecting a big impact.” Patrick Lamassoure of FilmFrance, the body that promotes France as a filming location, echoes that to a degree, saying, “France has always had a strong film policy whether it’s the left or the right in power.” That’s true. France has one of the most generous subsidy systems in the world with a...
- 5/7/2012
- by NANCY TARTAGLIONE, International Editor
- Deadline TV
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