04/05/2017 - The French firm will be on the Croisette selling the films by Bruno Dumont, Jonas Carpignano and Sharunas Bartas, which are being showcased in the Directors’ Fortnight

In its year-and-a-half of existence, Paris-based company Luxbox has already made a name for itself in the field of international sales (with films such as Hedi [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile], Apprentice [+see also:
trailer
film profile] and Mimosas [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Oliver Laxe
film profile]), and Fiorella Moretti and Hedi Zardi’s team will be rocking up at the Film Market of the 70th Cannes Film Festival (17-28 May) armed to the teeth this year, as four titles from its slate are being showcased in the various selections on the Croisette.

In particular, Luxbox is selling three titles that will have their world premieres in the Directors’ Fortnight. The first, the musical film Jeannette, the Childhood of Joan of Arc [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Bruno Dumont
film profile] by famous French director Bruno Dumont, is a single movie originally produced for television, which will be distributed in this unique format in theatres. Meanwhile, A Ciambra [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Jonas Carpignano
film profile] by Italy’s Jonas Carpignano (the second feature by the filmmaker, who rose to prominence in competition in the Cannes Critics’ Week in 2015 with Mediterranea [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Jonas Carpignano
film profile]) unfolds in Calabria and delves to the heart of the confrontation between the Gypsy community and the African migrant community. As for Frost [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Sharunas Bartas
film profile] by Lithuania’s Sharunas Bartas (who was previously selected in competition at Venice in 2000, in Un Certain Regard at Cannes in 1996 and 1997, and in the Fortnight in 2005 and 2015, as well as in the Berlinale Forum in 1992 and 2010), it tells the story of a young Lithuanian man who decides to go and help the Ukrainian Army on the Dnipropetrovsk front. He will then uncover the reality of the work being carried out by the NGOs and find out what war truly means.

Also featuring on the slate is They, the feature debut by filmmaker of Iranian heritage Anahita Ghazvinizadeh (first prize in the Cinéfondation short-film competition at Cannes in 2013 with Needle), a production between the USA and Qatar, which will be unveiled as a special screening in the Official Selection. 

At the Film Market, Luxbox will kick off pre-sales for Eternal Feminine by Mexico’s Natalia Beristain (who rose to fame in the Venice Critics’ Week in 2012 with I Don't Want to Sleep Alone), which should be ready at the end of the year and portrays the rise of Rosario Castellanos. In the male-dominated society of early-1950s Mexico, where she has to fight to have her voice heard, this introverted student will become one of her country’s greatest figures in the field of literature – a rise to prominence that is accompanied by a tempestuous love affair with Ricardo Guerra.

Luxbox will screen the Colombian film Bad Lucky Goat by Samir Oliveros (a real revelation at the most recent SXSW in Austin) at the market, as well as pressing on with the sales of Barrage [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Laura Schroeder
film profile] by Luxembourg’s Laura Schroeder (revealed in the Forum section at Berlin).

(Translated from French)