07/05/2012 - The French international sales agency is well armed, with films and film projects by Sandrine Bonnaire, Gilles Jacob, Barbara Albert, Pascale Ferran, Panos Koutras, and Eytan Fox in its line-up

With two titles selected for Cannes and a flurry of new projects, French international sales agency Films Distribution is preparing itself for a promising Film Market at the 65th Cannes Film Festival (May 16 to 27).

Nicolas Brigaud-Robert and François Yon’s team will notably sell A Special Day by Gilles Jacob and Samuel Faure (read more), to be presented at a special screening for the festival’s 65th anniversary in the presence of at least 18 of the 35 great filmmakers to appear in this documentary by the president of the Cannes Film Festival.

Good sales are also expected for Maddened by his Absence [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile] (read more) by Sandrine Bonnaire with William Hurt and Alexandra Lamy (pictured), to be shown in a special screening at the Critics’ Week.

Among the new titles in the agency’s line-up, The Dead and the Living by Austrian filmmaker Barbara Albert (in competition in Venice in 1999 and 2006) stands out. The film, to feature German actress Anna Fischer, is to be a dive into the abysses of today’s Europe (from Vienna to Berlin, via Warsaw and Romania) set to the backdrop of dark memories from the Second World War.

Pre-sales will also kick off for Bird People by Pascale Ferran (Lady Chatterley [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile]), now shooting with Anaïs Demoustier and Josh Charles in the cast. The film is set in the transit zone of an international airport in Paris.

Some new projects have also joined the line-up, like Franco-Israeli comedy Kidon by Emmanuel Naccache, to star Tomer Sisley and Kev Adams in a story inspired by a very strange Mossad operation, Greek-French-Belgian co-production Xenia by Panos Koutras (The Attack Of The Giant Moussaka in 1999, Strella [+see also:
trailer
film profile] at the Berlinale’s Panorama in 2009), Franco-Israeli feature Bananas by Eytan Fox (about the unexpected success of a group of amateur musicians), and pre-apocalyptic football tale Goal of the Dead by Benjamin Rocher and Thierry Poiraud.

Films Distribution will continue with its pre-sales for the documentary Roman Polanski: Odd Man Out by Marina Zenovich, A Greek Type of Problem by Brigitte Rouän (article), Tango libre by Frédéric Fonteyne with François Damiens and Sergi Lopez, The Night Parade by Géraldine Maillet with Julie Gayet and Raphaël Personnaz, and Inheritance by Hiam Abbass, to feature performances by Hafsia Herzi and the director herself.

As for market screenings, Armed Hands by Pierre Jolivet with Roschdy Zem and Leila Bekhti (news), Irish-Scottish co-production Citadel by Ciaran Foy, French-American co-production 30 Beats by Alexis Lloyd, and Yossi by Eytan Fox will be unveiled among the ten films to be screened.

(Translated from French)