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French sales agents boast 12 contenders for the Golden Lion

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- French firms will be striking deals for 40 films selected at Venice, where 15 majority French productions and 14 minority ones are set to unspool

French sales agents boast 12 contenders for the Golden Lion
Mektoub My Love: Canto Uno by Abdellatif Kechiche

The 74th Venice Film Festival, which gets under way today, should prove to be very successful for French sales agents and, more generally, for the circulation of films around the world, as 12 out of the 21 titles duking it out for the 2017 Golden Lion are being sold by French companies. Wild Bunch will thus be negotiating deals for Jian Nian Hua by China’s Vivian Qu (co-produced by Paris-based outfit Mandrake Films) and The Third Murder by Japan’s Hirokazu Kore-EdaMemento Films International will be counting on Sweet Country by Australia’s Warwick Thornton and Pathé International on the hotly anticipated Mektoub My Love: Canto Uno [+see also:
film review
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 by Abdellatif Kechiche (produced by the director himself via Quat'sous Films, together with Italy and Tunisia). 

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MK2 is also well placed with The House by the Sea [+see also:
film review
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interview: Robert Guédiguian
film profile
]
 by France’s Robert GuédiguianIndie Sales with the French-Lebanese co-production The Insult [+see also:
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interview: Ziad Doueiri
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]
 by Ziad DoueiriDoc & Film International with the documentary Ex Libris - The New York Public Library by US director Frederick Wiseman, and Celluloid Dreams with two contenders: Custody [+see also:
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interview: Xavier Legrand
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]
 by France’s Xavier Legrand and Lean on Pete [+see also:
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 by British filmmaker Andrew Haigh (sales shared with The Bureau Sales). Lastly, three Italian movies are being touted by French firms, with TF1 Studio boasting the French co-production Hannah [+see also:
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 by Andrea Pallaoro in its catalogue and Bac Films striking deals for two features: The Leisure Seeker [+see also:
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Q&A: Paolo Virzì
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by Paolo Virzi and Una famiglia [+see also:
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interview: Matilda De Angelis
interview: Sebastiano Riso
film profile
]
 by Sebastiano Riso (which Bac also co-produced). 

If we look at it from another angle, the Venice competition includes a total of four majority French productions and four minority co-productions (including Foxtrot [+see also:
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interview: Samuel Maoz
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]
 by Israel’s Samuel Maoz, which was co-produced by Paris-based company ASAP Films).

French sales agents also have a very strong presence if we look at the line-up of the competitive Orizzonti section, which includes 11 films that feature on their slates. Elle Driver is handling the doc Caniba [+see also:
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 by Verana Paravel and Lucien Castaing-Taylor (a French production by Norte and S.E.L), Urban Distribution International has Oblivion Verses [+see also:
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interview: Alireza Khatami
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 by Iran’s Alireza Khatami (executive-produced by Parisian outfit House on Fire) and Wide House is selling the US documentary The Rape of Recy Taylor by Nancy Buirski. Meanwhile, Celluloid Dreams is touting the opening film, Nico, 1988 [+see also:
film review
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interview: Susanna Nicchiarelli
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]
 by Italy’s Susanna Nicchiarelli, Bac Films has high hopes for the French-Belgian-Qatari co-production Les Bienheureux [+see also:
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 by Sofia Djama, and Noori Pictures is selling the Iranian title Bedoune Tarikh, Bedoune Emza by Vahid Jalilvand. Other titles of note are Reinventing Marvin [+see also:
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 by France’s Anne Fontaine (sold by TF1 Studio), the French-Belgian co-production Endangered Species [+see also:
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 by her fellow countryman Gilles Bourdos (on Wild Bunch’s slate) and the French-executive produced The Night I Swam [+see also:
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interview: Damien Manivel, Kohei Igara…
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]
 by Damien Manivel and Kohei Igarashi (handled by Shellac, which is branching out into the field of international sales). 

From a production standpoint, Orizzonti will unveil six majority French productions and two minority French ones: Ugly Nasty People [+see also:
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 by Italy’s Cosimo Gomez (co-produced by Mille et Une Productions and Tchin Tchin Production) and Invisible [+see also:
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 by Argentina’s Pablo Giorgelli (co-produced by Good Fortune Films and Urban Factory). 

Out of competition, Gaumont is selling La mélodie [+see also:
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 by France’s Rachid Hami (see the article), Wild Bunch will be negotiating deals for Racer and the Jailbird [+see also:
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interview: Michael Roskam
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]
 by Belgium’s Michael R Roskam (co-produced by France via Stone AngelsPathé and Wild Bunch itself), Doc & Film International is pinning its hopes on the US-Japanese documentary Ryuichi Sakamoto: Coda by Stephen Nomura Schible, and Celluloid Dreams has great expectations for two titles: Emma [+see also:
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]
 by Italy’s Silvio Soldini and Outrage Coda by Japan’s Takeshi Kitano, which will bring the festival to a close. Interestingly, Zama [+see also:
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interview: Lucrecia Martel
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 by Argentina’s Lucrecia Martel was co-produced by Paris-based outfit MPM Film.

Le Pacte will also be hard at work at Venice, trying to shift Manuel [+see also:
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 by Italy’s Dario Albertini, which will unspool in the Cinema in the Garden programme, where the French co-production Above the Law [+see also:
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interview: François Troukens
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]
 by Belgium’s Jean-François Hensgens and François Troukens (sold by TF1 Studio) and The Stand-in [+see also:
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interview: Rä di Martino
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]
 by Italy’s Rä de Martino (co-produced by Lyon-based company Haut Les Mains) will also be presented. 

Lastly, and still in the official selection, there will be a special screening to unveil L'ordine delle cose by Italy’s Andrea Segre, co-produced by France via Mact Productions and Sophie Dulac Productions, and being sold by Belgian-French firm Be For Films.

On the Lido, French sales agents will also be able to bank on ten features being showcased in the parallel sections. Stray Dogs is selling the British film Pin Cushion [+see also:
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 by Deborah Haywood (which will open the International Film Critics’ Week tomorrow) and also has the US-French co-production Thirst Street [+see also:
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interview: Nathan Silver
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 by Nathan Silver on its slate, which will be presented as a special event in the Giornate degli autori. Meanwhile, Films Distribution will be hoping to close deals for Eye On Juliet by Canada’s Kim Nguyen, which is competing in the Giornate degli autori, where the Parisian sales agent will also be on top form with the winner of the Cannes Grand Prix BPM (Beats Per Minute) [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Arnaud Valois
interview: Robin Campillo
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]
 by Robin Campillo (already purchased for distribution all around the world), which will be shown as part of the LUX Prize programme. In the same section, MK2 will be selling M [+see also:
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interview: Sara Forestier
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 by French director Sara Forestier, Doc & Film International the French-Moroccan co-production Volubilis [+see also:
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interview: Faouzi Bensaïdi
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 by Faouzi Bensaïdi and UDI - Urban Distribution International Samui Song [+see also:
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interview: Pen-ek Ratanaruang
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]
 by Thai filmmaker Pen-ek Ratanaruang. In the Critics’ Week, Ecce Films is touting its own production Wild Boys [+see also:
film review
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interview: Bertrand Mandico
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]
 by France’s Bertrand Mandico, and Alpha Violet can count two stand-out titles from its slate on the menu: Crater [+see also:
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interview: Silvia Luzi, Luca Bellino
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]
by Italian duo Silvia Luzi and Luca Bellino, and the French co-production Hunting Season [+see also:
film review
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interview: Natalia Garagiola
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]
 by Argentina’s Natalia Garagiola. In total, the two Venetian parallel sections are unspooling four majority French productions and three minority ones (including The Resolute [+see also:
trailer
interview: Giovanni Donfrancesco
film profile
]
 by Italy’s Giovanni Donfrancesco, co-produced by Les Films du Poisson and set to be screened as a special event in the Giornate degli autori).

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(Translated from French)

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