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BERLINALE 2020 EFM

Pyramide International has lofty ambitions for the EFM

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- The firm’s line-up boasts 13 films, including four new, forthcoming titles, plus the Sundance winner Yalda, a Night for Forgiveness and Sow the Wind in the selection

Pyramide International has lofty ambitions for the EFM
Yalda, a Night for Forgiveness by Massoud Bakhshi

Always in a very strong position when it comes to quality arthouse films, French international sales agent Pyramide International (headed up by Eric Lagesse) will have myriad trump cards to negotiate deals for at the European Film Market of the 70th Berlinale (20 February-1 March). Standing out among them are two films selected for the festival programme itself, particularly the captivating Yalda, a Night for Forgiveness [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Massoud Bakhshi
film profile
]
by Iran’s Massoud Bakhshi, a mostly European production that was recently crowned with the Grand Jury Prize in the World Cinema Dramatic Competition at the Sundance Film Festival and which will be screened as part of the Berlinale’s Generation programme.

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Pyramide will also be pinning its hopes on a title that will be world-premiered in Panorama: Sow the Wind [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Danilo Caputo
film profile
]
by Italy’s Danilo Caputo. The second feature by the filmmaker (who rose to fame at Karlovy Vary in 2014 with Late Season [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile
]
) was produced by France’s JBA and Trieste-based outfit Okta Film, and co-produced by Rai Cinema, and Greece’s Graal.

At the EFM, Pyramide’s sales team, managed by Agathe Mauruc, will be officially launching pre-sales for four films in post-production: Amira by Egypt’s Mohamed Diab (who opened Un Certain Regard at Cannes in 2016 with Clash [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile
]
), the French production A Story of Love and Desire [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile
]
by Tunisia’s Leyla Bouzid (see the article Audience Award and Europa Cinemas Label in Venice’s Giornate degli Autori in 2015 with As I Open My Eyes [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Leyla Bouzid
film profile
]
, which was also screened at Toronto), The Heroics [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Maxime Roy
film profile
]
by France’s Maxime Roy and the French-Belgian production A Good Man [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile
]
by Marie-Castille Mention-Schaar (Heaven Will Wait [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile
]
, Once in a Lifetime [+see also:
trailer
film profile
]
). Starring Noémie Merlant (Lumières Award for Best Actress in 2020 and nominated for the imminent César Awards in the same category with Portrait of a Lady on Fire [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Céline Sciamma
film profile
]
), Soko and Vincent Dedienne, the latter title revolves around Benjamin and Aude, who have been in love for the last seven years and who live on a tiny island in Brittany. Benjamin dreams of starting a family, but then they get some bad news: Aude is infertile. And so Benjamin has an idea. He will be the one who bears their child. Because before he was Benjamin, his name was Sarah… The film is being produced by Willow Films and co-produced by Scope Pictures.

Pyramide Films International will also be pressing on with pre-sales for two other titles currently in post-production: Passion simple [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Danielle Arbid
film profile
]
by Danielle Arbid and the adoption documentary I Have Been Waiting for You [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile
]
by Stéphanie Pillonca.

Lastly, worth noting among the market screenings being organised are those of Perfumes [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Grégory Magne
film profile
]
by Grégory Magne (set to be released in France on 25 March, toplined by Emmanuelle Devos), the western Savage State [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile
]
by David Perrault (first revealed at Rotterdam and set to go on general release in France on 26 February) and Into the World by Marion Lainé (see the article – French release date set for 22 April).

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(Translated from French)

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