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PRODUCTION France

SBS reaches for the stars with Synonyms

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- Now that Nadav Lapid’s film has snagged the Golden Bear at Berlin, the French production outfit has successfully transformed its high-end editorial policy into a top-notch trophy

SBS reaches for the stars with Synonyms
Director Nadav Lapid and producer Saïd Ben Saïd with their Golden Bear for Synonyms (© Ali Ghandtschi/Berlinale)

Since it was founded in 2010, SBS Productions has been stamping its seal of quality and ambition on the international film production landscape. It specialises in "simultaneously demanding and accessible" arthouse films, ranging from Maps to the Stars [+see also:
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]
by David Cronenberg to Elle [+see also:
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]
by Paul Verhoeven, via Aquarius [+see also:
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by Kleber Mendonça Filho, Carnage [+see also:
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by Roman Polanski and Passion [+see also:
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by Brian de Palma, as well as three Philippe Garrel films (Jealousy [+see also:
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, In the Shadow of Women [+see also:
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and Lover for a Day [+see also:
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]
).

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Selected countless times in the showcases of the major festivals, the Paris-based company managed by Saïd Ben Saïd (who is supported in his production duties by Switzerland’s Michel Merkt), which has branched out into the sectors of international sales and French distribution, had up until Saturday night never clutched the Holy Grail of a victory at one of the biggest international rendezvous of the seventh art. That particular mission has now been accomplished with the Golden Bear won at the 69th Berlinale by Israeli director Nadav Lapid’s Synonyms [+see also:
film review
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interview: Nadav Lapid
film profile
]
. A majority French (60%) production, the feature, which was shot in Paris with names such as Quentin Dolmaire and Louise Chevillotte among the cast, was executive-produced by Saïd Ben Saïd and Michel Merkt for SBS Productions, and was co-produced by Arte France Cinéma, Germany’s Komplizen Film (Janine Jackowski, Jonas Dornbach and Maren Ade) and Israel’s Pie Films (Osnat Handelsman Keren and Talia Kleinhendler), with the support of the CNC, via World Cinema Support. SBS will handle the French distribution from 27 March onwards (with programming in theatres subcontracted to Paname Distribution) and is also in charge of the international sales.

SBS currently has a number of titles in post-production – namely, Bacurau [+see also:
film review
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interview: Kleber Mendonça Filho, Juli…
film profile
]
 by Kleber Mendonça Filho and Juliano Dornelles (starring Barbara Colen, Sonia Braga and Udo Kier; co-produced by Arte France Cinéma and Brazilian outfits CinemaScópio and Globo Filmes), Frankie [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Ira Sachs
film profile
]
by US helmer Ira Sachs (starring Isabelle Huppert, Brendan Gleeson, Marisa Tomei, Jérémie Renier, Pascal Greggory, Ariyon Bakare, Vinette Robinson and Greg Kinnear; co-produced by Portugal’s O Som e a Fúria and Belgium’s Beluga Tree – set to be released in France on 15 September 2019) and Spellbound [+see also:
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by France’s Pascal Bonitzer. SBS will also be distributing these three movies in France and selling them overseas, unlike Benedetta [+see also:
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]
by Paul Verhoeven, which SBS is producing and which is also in post-production, but whose French distribution and international sales have been entrusted to Pathé Films for a postponed delivery date of 2020, following some minor health issues that have afflicted the Dutch director, who fully intends to supervise the edit himself.

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(Translated from French)

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