Two prizes and a Palme for Pyramide

26/05/2010

After Chadian director Mahamat-Saleh Haroun’s French/Belgian co-production A Screaming Man [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile] (see review – to be released in France on September 29) won the Jury Prize at the 63rd Cannes Film Festival and the Camera d’Or went to Mexican film Leap Year, French international seller Pyramide’s line-up has taken on a new dimension and offers from distributors have shot up.

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Pyramide also pulled off an impressive move on the distribution front by buying Thai director Apichatpong Weerasethakul’s Palme d’Or-winner Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives [+see also:
trailer
film profile] the morning before the Cannes victors were announced. The company will launch the film on French screens on September 1.

"Our Cannes market went rather well in a difficult environment for auteur films", Eric Lagesse told Cineuropa."Negotiations are longer, distributors are very cautious, they need to feel supported by television companies and exhibitors, and they don’t buy a film simply because it appeals to them. Beyond our own situation, even though some films like Of Gods and Men [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Xavier Beauvois
film profile] have seen very good sales, the market is still tense.

A Screaming Man was bought for Benelux (Cineart), Switzerland (Trigon), Greece (Ama Films) and several South American territories. Advanced negotiations are also now underway for the UK and US, among other countries.

Pyramide also sold almost all its other titles selected at Cannes, for the Netherlands, Switzerland and Belgium. French director Rebecca Zlotowski’s Belle Epine [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile] was bought by CNC for Holland. Diego Lerman’s The Invisible Eye [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile] was bought by Contact Film for Holland, by Trigon for Switzerland and almost all South American territories.

Meanwhile, Italian director Silvio Soldini’s What More Do I Want [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile] has sold to around 30 territories and Eran Riklis’s The Mission of the Human Resources Manager also achieved good results on the strength of its promo-reel.