28/01/2016 - At Berlin, the European major’s sales team will have a very solid slate of French titles and international productions

Hot on the heels of the Oscar nominations for two of the titles in its line-up (A War [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Tobias Lindholm
film profile] by Danish director Tobias Lindholm in the Best Foreign-language Film category and Shaun the Sheep [+see also:
trailer
making of
film profile] by British duo Mark Burton and Richard Starzak among the contenders for the Best Animated Feature Award) and the box-office phenomenon that was Alain Gsponer’s Heidi [+see also:
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making of
film profile] (sold in over 50 territories – read the news), the international sales team of French group StudioCanal is busy preparing for the European Film Market at the 66th Berlin Film Festival (11-21 February).

Two French films have recently been added to the slate. The first, Primaire [+see also:
trailer
film profile] by Hélène Angel, is in post-production, following a shoot that took place between mid-October and mid-December. The fourth feature by the filmmaker who rose to fame with Skin of Man, Heart of Beast (which won the Golden Leopard at Locarno in 1999) revolves around a primary school teacher (played by Sara Forestier) who is crazy about her job and who will experience a pivotal year, as she embarks on adventures in both her private and professional lives. Produced by Hélène Cases for Lionceau Film, co-produced by France 2 Cinéma, pre-purchased by Canal+ and OCS, and backed by the Ile-de-France region, the feature (the screenplay for which was co-penned by the director, Yann Coridian, Agnès de Sacy and Olivier Gorce) also stars such names as Vincent Elbaz, Patrick d'Assumçao and Olivia Côte. StudioCanal is also taking care of the movie’s French distribution.

Adapted from the successful series of fantasy-adventure comic books of the same name by Fabien Vehlmann and Bruno Gazzotti, Seuls [+see also:
trailer
film profile] by David Moreau will, meanwhile, begin its nine-week shoot on 29 February. This time, the director of Them [+see also:
trailer
film profile], The Eye and 20 ans d'écart [+see also:
trailer
film profile] will follow the trail of five teenagers who find themselves alone after the inhabitants of Fortville suddenly disappear without explanation. They will have to learn to survive in a world without adults that is simultaneously familiar, mysterious and even hostile. The cast includes Stéphane Bak, Sofia Lesaffre, Kim Lochhart, Jean-Stan du Pac and Thomas Doret. Produced by Abel Nahmias for Echo Films, Seuls will be co-produced by StudioCanal (which will handle distribution in France in 2017 and the international sales) and Faust Films, and has been pre-purchased by Canal+ and Ciné+.

At the European Film Market, StudioCanal will screen three French features with Five [+see also:
trailer
film profile] by Igor Gotesman (read the article), Kalinka [+see also:
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film profile] by Vincent Garenq (read the article) and Down By Love [+see also:
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film profile] by Pierre Godeau (read the article). And we mustn’t forget the Belgian-French animated movie Robinson Crusoe by Belgium’s Ben Staessen (the US distribution rights for which have been acquired by Lionsgate).

However, the sales team managed by Anna Marsh also has some very fine-looking titles on show, with international productions such as the feature Bastille Day [+see also:
trailer
film profile] by James Watkins (toplined by Idris Elba) and the upcoming movie by James Marsh (as yet untitled [+see also:
trailer
film profile], about the solo attempt to sail around the world undertaken by amateur sailor Donald Crowhurst in 1968 – starring Colin Firth and Rachel Weisz) in post-production, the thriller The Commuter (toplined by Liam Neeson, with the shoot scheduled to take place in New York in the spring), which is currently being prepared, and the animated feature Early Man [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile] by Nick Park (produced by Aardman Studios), which is currently in production and whose theatrical release is planned for the first quarter of 2018. And of course, more announcements can undoubtedly be expected as the Berlinale progresses...

(Translated from French)