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French sales agents out in force at the AFM

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- 22 French companies will be in negotiations in Santa Monica from tomorrow onwards with some impressive aces up their sleeves

French sales agents out in force at the AFM
Youth by Paolo Sorrentino is in Pathé International's line-up

Demonstrating their remarkable go-getting attitude, negotiating for movies produced all over the world and supporting an incredibly wide range of film genres, French sales agents are about to arrive in force at the American Film Market (5-12 November 2014) in Santa Monica. Here is an overview of the main assets within the 22 French line-ups at the gathering in California (read the news on Indie Sales).

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Pathé International, which will be screening Matthieu Delaporte’s Un illustre inconnu as a market world premiere and will continue its work on the Venice competitor Far from Men [+see also:
film review
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]
 by David Oelhoffen, will launch pre-sales for Florence by English director Stephen Frears (starring Meryl Streep and Hugh Grant) at the AFM. Muriel Suzay’s team will also be pinning its hopes on a huge array of titles in post-production (including three Italian films – Youth by Paolo SorrentinoL'attesa by Piero Messina and Il ragazzo invisibile by Gabriele Salvatores – but also Suffragette [+see also:
film review
trailer
making of
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]
 by Britain’s Sarah GavronSelma by American director Ava Duvernay and Evolution Man - Monkey Business by French filmmaker Jamel Debbouze) and in production (the documentary Les saisons [+see also:
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 by Jacques Perrin and Jacques Cluzaud). 

Nor will StudioCanal be lacking in selling points, as it will be able to boast a whole raft of titles in production: Bastille Day [+see also:
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 by English director James Watkins (starring Idris Elba in the lead), the documentary about the international financial crisis The Emperor's New Clothes by his fellow countryman Michael Winterbottom, the Belgian animated movie Robinson Crusoe by Ben Stassen and Vincent Kesteloot, and A war [+see also:
film review
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interview: Tobias Lindholm
film profile
]
 by Danish filmmaker Tobias Lindholm (read the news). Standing out on the very well-stocked shelves of the outfit’s titles in post-production are A Bigger Splash [+see also:
film review
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interview: Luca Guadagnino
film profile
]
 by Italy’s Luca Guadagnino (starring Ralph Fiennes, Tilda Swinton, Matthias Schoenaerts and Dakota Johnson), Macbeth by Justin Kurzel (starring Michael Fassbender and Marion Cotillard), Our Kind of Traitor [+see also:
trailer
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]
 by Susanna White (starring Ewan McGregor), the as-yet-untitled film by English director Stephen Frears centring on cyclist Lance Armstrong, the gangster feature Legend [+see also:
trailer
making of
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]
 by Brian Helgeland (starring Tom Hardy) and Man Up [+see also:
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making of
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]
 by Ben Palmer

Bac Films will kick off pre-sales for Taj Mahal [+see also:
film review
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interview: Nicolas Saada
film profile
]
 by Nicolas Saada (read the article) and for the animated title Extraordinary Tales by Raul Garcia, based on the book of the same name written by Edgar Allan Poe (produced by Luxembourg, the USA, Spain and Belgium), for which a “work in progress” screening will take place as a world premiere.

Gaumont, which yesterday announced the launch (in conjunction with Wild Bunch) of pre-sales for The Neon Demon [+see also:
film review
trailer
Q&A: Nicolas Winding Refn
film profile
]
 by Danish director Nicolas Winding Refn (read the news), could also be getting started with those for the science-fiction thriller Arès [+see also:
trailer
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]
 by Jean-Patrick Benes, which is currently in production (and stars Swedish actor Ola Rapace in the lead). Other titles featuring on the line-up include The Connection [+see also:
trailer
film profile
]
 by Cédric Jimenez and The Gate [+see also:
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interview: Régis Wargnier
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]
 by Régis Wargnier.

Celluloid Dreams will be getting sales under way for the new, eagerly awaited movie by Jacques AudiardErran [+see also:
film review
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Q&A: Jacques Audiard
film profile
]
 (read the article – currently being filmed), also in conjunction with Wild Bunch.

For its part, Wild Bunch will be working by itself on negotiating deals for the French comedy Une heure de tranquillité by Patrice Leconte (starring Christian Clavier in the lead), the Franco-Canadian co-production Rabid Dogs [+see also:
trailer
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]
 by Eric Hannezo (loosely based on the cult film of the same name by Italy’s Mario Bava – starring Lambert Wilson and Virginie Ledoyen, and with the shoot having already wrapped), Sunstroke by Russian filmmaker Nikita Mikhalkov and Lolo [+see also:
film review
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interview: Julie Delpy, Dany Boon
film profile
]
 by Julie Delpy (currently being shot), among other fresh titles in its crammed line-up. 

Films Distribution has scheduled a plethora of screenings in Santa Monica, including Magical Girl [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Carlos Vermut
film profile
]
 by Carlos Vermut, which was triumphant at San Sebastian; the disturbing Goodnight Mommy [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Severin Fiala and Veronika …
film profile
]
 by Veronika Franz and Severin FialaTokyo fiancée [+see also:
trailer
film profile
]
 by Belgium’s Stefan Liberski; and Qu'Allah bénisse la France [+see also:
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]
 by Abd Al Malik (which won at Toronto).

EuropaCorp will unveil Pascal Morelli’s animated title 108 Rois-Démons as a world premiere and will also be screening its Oscar hopeful, Saint Laurent [+see also:
film review
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Q&A: Bertrand Bonello
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]
 by Bertrand Bonello, while also getting negotiations under way for such movies as the action films DNA and The Lake, which are both in pre-production and are co-written by Luc Besson.

SND will also be scheduling a number of world premieres, including for the animated title Asterix: The Mansions of the Gods by Louis Clichy and Eric Lartigau’s La famille Bélier (read the article). 

For its pre-sales, Le Pacte will be pinning its hopes on The Valley of Love by Guillaume Nicloux (read the article) and The Brand New Testament by Belgian director Jaco Van Dormael (read the news), not to mention the San Sebastian titles Wild Life [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile
]
 by Cédric Kahn and Vincent [+see also:
film review
trailer
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]
 by Thomas Salvador.

Memento Films International will also be in attendance with a limited but first-rate line-up, with Louder than Bombs [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Joachim Trier
film profile
]
 by Norwegian filmmaker Joachim Trier (read the news) and Marguerite [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Xavier Giannoli
film profile
]
 by Xavier Giannoli (read the article) currently in production, and the US film Cop Car by Jon Watts (starring Kevin Bacon in the lead) in post-production.

Kinology will unveil Alexandre Coffre’s Le Père Noël (starring Tahar Rahim in the lead) as a world premiere, will kick-start sales for the British historical comedy Moonwalkers by Antoine Bardou-Jacquet (now in post-production), and will carry on with those for Cub [+see also:
film review
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]
 by Belgian director Jonas Govaerts and for La prochaine fois je viserai le coeur [+see also:
film review
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film profile
]
 by France’s Cédric Anger.

MK2 International will also be taking part in the AFM with a screening of Métamorphoses [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Christophe Honoré
film profile
]
by Christophe Honoré and a line-up that includes the post-production titles The Tournament [+see also:
trailer
interview: Lou de Laâge
film profile
]
 by French director Elodie Namer (read the article), Wondrous Boccaccio by Italy’s Vittorio and Paolo Taviani, and Journey to the Shore by Japanese filmmaker Kiyoshi Kurosawa, while nestling among the works in production are An by Naomi Kawase and Don't Tell by Robert Guédiguian (read the article).

TF1 International, which will be screening such films as Suite française [+see also:
trailer
making of
film profile
]
by Saul Dibb and Once in a Lifetime by Marie Castille Mention Schaar, will also be getting the ball rolling with the pre-sales for Polina [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Angelin Preljocaj, Valérie …
film profile
]
by Valérie Muller and Angelin Preljocaj, a film that revolves around a young dance prodigy, which will start shooting next winter.

Other outfits that will also be partaking in the action in Santa Monica are Urban Distribution International (with Rémi Chayé’s animated film Long Way North [+see also:
trailer
film profile
]
 – currently in production – see the news), Alfama Films (with Casanova Variations [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile
]
 by Michael Sturminger, which was revealed in competition at San Sebastian, and L'Astragale [+see also:
trailer
film profile
]
 by Brigitte Sy, which is in post-production – read the article), Wide (with such titles as the Bulgarian horror film Roseville [+see also:
trailer
film profile
]
 by Martin Makariev and the multi-award-winning documentary The Circle [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Stefan Haupt
film profile
]
 by Swiss director Stefan Haupt), The Bureau Sales (with the Venice title The Goob [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Guy Myhill
film profile
]
 by Guy MyhillLady Grey [+see also:
trailer
interview: Jérémie Renier
film profile
]
 by Alain Choquart in post-production – read the article – and Fabienne Berthaud’s project Sky [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile
]
), Other Angle Pictures (with Night and Fog, the English-language historical thriller currently in pre-production, set to star Uma Thurman in the lead), Elle Driver (which will be showcasing Nobody Wants the Night by Spaniard Isabelle Coixet – read the article) and Funny Balloons.

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(Translated from French)

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