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MARKET France / Toronto 2018

French sales agents to take Toronto by storm

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- French companies will be selling 60 of the films in selection at the 43rd Toronto Film Festival (6 to 16 September)

French sales agents to take Toronto by storm
High Life by Claire Denis

After touching down in Venice, where the 75th edition of Venice Film Festival will come to a close on Saturday, French international sales companies are setting their sights on the 43rd Toronto Film Festival – which kicks off today – with a behind-the-scenes informal market event, considered the most important business meeting of the year after Cannes Film Market. French sellers definitely won’t be lacking in ammunition at the festival, which runs until 16 September, with 60 features in selection at the Canadian event, not to mention numerous out-of-competition films in their promising line-ups. A quick glance at some of the strongest films include 17 titles selected and sold by mk2 Film (read the article here), Indie Sales (news), Luxbox (news), Jour2Fête (news) and Wide House (article) – already discussed in detail by Cineuropa.

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Wild Bunch (which was recapitalised this summer) will be showcasing 10 titles, including three world premieres, which will also be competing at the 66th San Sebastian FIlm Festival: High Life [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Claire Denis
film profile
]
by the French director Claire Denis (Galas section), A Faithful Man [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Louis Garrel
film profile
]
by her compatriot Louis Garrel (Special Presentations) and Baby by the Chinese director Liu Jie (Special Presentations). The Russian-French-Armenian co-production The Factory [+see also:
film review
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by Yury Bykov will also be screened in world premiere in the Contemporary World Cinemaprogramme. Wild Bunch will also be selling The Quietude [+see also:
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]
by the Argentinian director Pablo Trapero (unveiled at Venice - Special Presentations) and five Canadian titles: the Palme d’Or winner Shoplifters by the Japanese director Hirokazu Kore-eda, the award-winning The Image Book [+see also:
film review
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]
by Jean-Luc Godard (Masters) and Capernaum [+see also:
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]
by the Lebanese director Nadine Labaki (Special Presentations), as well as Long Day's Journey Into Night [+see also:
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by the Chinese director Bi Gan (Wavelengths) and Climax [+see also:
film review
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interview: Souheila Yacoub
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]
by Gaspar Noé (Midnight Madness).

Playtime will be attending with Angelo [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Markus Schleinzer
film profile
]
by the Austrian director Markus Schleinzer, which is due to world premiere in the Platform competition (and which will also be competing at San Sebastian shortly afterwards), as well as three Venetian titles: the competitors Non Fiction [+see also:
film review
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interview: Olivier Assayas
film profile
]
by the French director Olivier Assayas and Sunset [+see also:
film review
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interview: László Nemes
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]
by the Hungarian director László Nemes, both of which were selected for the Special Presentations section, as well as Graves Without a Name [+see also:
film review
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interview: Rithy Panh
film profile
]
by the Franco-Cambodian director Rithy Panh (TIFF Docs).

Kinology will be screening the world premiere of The Innocent [+see also:
film review
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interview: Simon Jaquemet
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]
by the Swiss director Simon Jaquemet in the Platform competition, which will also be competing for the Concha de Oro at San Sebastian.

Elle Driver will be showcasing a title in competition at both Toronto and San Sebastian, with the world premiere of Vision [+see also:
film review
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]
by the Japanese director Naomi Kawase in Canada in the Special Presentations section. The company’s line-up also includes another feature film in the Special Presentations section: the Cannes competitor Girls of the Sun [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Eva Husson
film profile
]
by the French director Eva Husson

Alfama Films will be selling the world-premiere of The Black Book [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Valeria Sarmiento
film profile
]
by Valeria Sarmiento (a French Portuguese associative co-production) at Toronto (in the Contemporary World Cinema section), which will then head off to San Sebastian.

Orange Studio will be unveiling the highly anticipated Maya [+see also:
film review
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interview: Mia Hansen-Løve
film profile
]
by the French director Mia Hansen-Løve in the Special Presentations section. 

EuropaCorp will be negotiating for a film that will also be making its world premiere in the Special Presentations section: the Belgium-Luxembourg co-production Kursk [+see also:
film review
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interview: Thomas Vinterberg
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]
by the Danish director Thomas Vinterberg 

Two world premieres in the Discovery programme stand out in Wide's line-up: Consequences [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Darko Štante
interview: Timon Sturbej
film profile
]
by the Slovenian director Darko Stante and Light as Feathers [+see also:
film review
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interview: Rosanne Pel
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]
by the Dutch director Rosanne Pel.

MPM Premium has four titles in its line-up, three of which are world premieres: Look at Me [+see also:
film review
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]
by Nejib Belkadhi (Contemporary World Cinema – a Qatar, France, Tunisian associative co-production), Lionheart by the Nigerian director Genevieve Nnaji (Discovery) and Complicity by the Japanese director Kei Chikaura (Discovery). Not forgetting the Cannes title Rafiki [+see also:
film review
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interview: Wanuri Kahiu
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]
by the Kenyan director Wanuri Kahiu, also in the Discovery section. 

Futurikon will be selling its animated production Minuscule - Mandibles From Far Away [+see also:
trailer
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by the French duo Thomas Szabo and Hélène Giraud, which will be screened in world premiere in the Contemporary World Cinema section.

Pathé International will unveil the world premiere of a unique combined 150-minute version of the Italian director Paolo Sorrentino's Loro [+see also:
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films in the Masters section.

Alpha Violet will be screening the world premiere of The Chambermaid by the Mexican director Lila Avilés in the Discovery section.

Memento Films International will complete the sales of its Cannes competitor The Wild Pear Tree [+see also:
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by the Turkish director Nuri Bilge Ceylan (Masters). 

The Parisian production company Asphofilms will be selling Divine Wind [+see also:
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by Merzak Allouache (produced by Algeria, Qatar, France and Lebanon), which will make its world premiere in the Masters section.

Urban Distribution International will be participating in the Discovery programme with the North American premiere of the French-Belgian production The Mercy of the Jungle [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Joël Karekezi
film profile
]
by Joël Karekezi

Celluloid Dreams will negotiate for the Canadian film Giant Little Ones by Keith Behrman, which will make its world premiere in the Special Presentations section. The company will also be completing sales on the Cannes award-winner Trois visages by the Iranian director Jafar Panahi (Masters).

Pyramide International will be counting on Donbass [+see also:
film review
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interview: Sergei Loznitsa
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]
by the Ukrainian director Sergei Loznitsa (awarded in the Un Certain Regard section at Cannes) and Sibel [+see also:
film review
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interview: Çağla Zencirci and Guillaum…
film profile
]
by the Franco-Turkishduo Guillaume Giovanetti and Çagla Zencirci (discovered in competition at Locarno) in the Contemporary World Cinema programme.

Doc & Film International has four assets in its line-up: Saf [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Ali Vatansever
film profile
]
by Ali Vatansever (a Turkey, Germany and Romania associative co-production) which will make its world premiere in the Discovery section, Touch Me Not [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Adina Pintilie
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]
by the Romanian director Adina Pintilie (Discovery – Golden Bear at Berlin) and the documentaries Dead Souls [+see also:
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]
by the Chinese director Wang Bing (Wavelengths – discovered at Cannes) and Monrovia, Indiana by the American director Frederick Wiseman (TIFF Docs – unveiled at Venice).

Charades will continue to sell the Cannes Critics’ Week winner Diamantino [+see also:
film review
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interview: Gabriel Abrantes, Daniel Sc…
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]
by Gabriel Abrantes and Daniel Schmidt to international distributors, which was selected for the Midnight Madness section. 

Stray Dogs will be relying on two titles discovered at Locarno: the award-winning Too Late to Die Young [+see also:
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by the Chilean director Dominga Sotomayor in the Discovery section, and The Dive [+see also:
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]
by the Israeli director Yona Rozenkler in Contemporary World Cinema section.

A world premiere at Contemporary World Cinema for Ulysses & Mona [+see also:
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film profile
]
by the French director Sébastien Betbeder, which is being sold by Cercamon (based in Dubai and run by Sebastien Chesneau), while the Venetian competitor The Sisters Brothers [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Jacques Audiard
film profile
]
by his compatriot Jacques Audiard will be screened in the Special Presentations section and is being sold by the American company IMR International (of which Wild Bunch is indirectly a shareholder via Insiders and Vincent Maraval).

Finally, in terms of TV series, Ad Vitam by Thomas Cailley has been selected for the Primetime programme and is being sold by Lagardère Studios Distribution. 

Numerous other French sellers will also be touching down in Toronto, including Le Pacte, StudioCanal, Gaumont, TF1 Studio, SND, The Bureau Sales, Versatile, Loco Films and WTFilms, as well as Reel Suspects, and UniFrance, which will be available to French distributors at its stand in the Hyatt Hotel.

(The article continues below - Commercial information)

(Translated from French)

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