22/01/2003 - New French 3-way alliance between Balsan, Sandoz & Branco to release their own Les Baigneuses

On 22 January, a new French independent distribution company called Pirates Distribution will release their first title, Baigneuses by Viviane Candas, and produced by Gemini Films.
Pirates is the result of a three-way joint venture between Humbert Balsan (of Ognons Picture), the producer of Elia Suleiman’s Divine Intervention and a member of the forthcoming Berlin Film Festival jury, Gemini Films’ Paulo Branco and Maïa Films’ Gilles Sandoz, who produced the hit documentary, Etre et Avoir.
The three entrepreneurs first joined forces as equal partners in a new independent production slate in 2001, with the aim of making low-budget features (between Euros500,00 and Euros1m) without asking TV channels for financial support. On any given project, one of the three was the majority producer and responsible for 60 per cent of the budget, with the other two combining forces to co-produce with a further 20 per cent. Pirates have now progressed from production to distribution.
Pirates is domiciled with Gemini Film and plans on distributing between 3 and 4 films per year. The “Pirates” will also build on and consolidate their relationship with France’s numerous arthouse cinemas. The Pirates line up for the next few months includes Mimi by Claire Simon, produced by Maïa Films and La Vie Nue by Dominique Boccarossa, produced by Ognons Films.

(The article continues below - Commercial information)

(Translated from French)