09/05/2023 - The French sales agent is notably wagering on Blackbird Blackbird Blackberry and A Song Sung Blue in the Directors’ Fortnight, as well as on Dead Girl Dancing in competition in Tribeca

The final preparations for the Marché du Film (running 16 – 24 May), unspooling within the 76th Cannes Film Festival, are underway ahead for French international sales agent Totem Films, who are returning to a gathering which has smiled upon them in recent years. And once again, the team led by Bérénice Vincent and Laure Parleani has some impressive cards up its sleeves, since its line-up includes two films set to world premiere in the Directors’ Fortnight: Blackbird Blackbird Blackberry [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Elene Naveriani
film profile] by Georgia’s Elene Naveriani, and A Song Sung Blue, Chinese director Geng Zihan’s debut feature.

Elene Naveriani’s 3rd feature film after I Am Truly a Drop of Sun on Earth [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile] (discovered in Rotterdam in 2017) and Wet Sand [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Elene Naveriani
film profile] (unveiled in Locarno’s Cineasti del Presente section in 2021 and the winner of the Pardo for Best Actor), Blackbird Blackbird Blackberry, whose screenplay was penned by the filmmaker herself alongside Nikoloz Mdivani, revolves around Ethéro (Eka Chavleishvili) who runs a modest convenience store in a Georgian backwater. Still a virgin at 48, she’s the constant subject of gossip and mockery about her situation, but she couldn’t care less. Suddenly, she discovers love, first love, and though it shakes her to the core, it does nothing to disturb her deep-rooted independence… Production comes courtesy of Switzerland’s Alva Film in co-production with Georgian firm Takes Film.

The Marché will also see Totem Films pressing on with pre-sales on Dead Girls Dancing [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Katarina Stark
film profile] by German director Anna Roller, which is world premiering in competition in Tribeca (running 7 – 18 June). The movie follows recent high school graduates Ira, Malin and Ka on a road trip across Italy, during which they pick up intriguing backpacker Zoe. As the four girls stumble upon an abandoned village, they start to experiment with the limits of their newly found freedom, far away from the expectations of their parents and teachers… A debut feature film produced by Germany’s kalekone film alongside Totem Atelier.

Worth a mention in post-production are two films of Swedish origin: Crossing [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Levan Akin
film profile] by Levan Akin (And Then We Danced [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Levan Akin
interview: Levan Gelbakhiani
film profile], The Circle [+see also:
trailer
film profile], Certain People) - set to be sold via promo reel and whose story set in Istanbul is being kept under wraps - and Ernst De Geer’s first feature film The Hypnosis [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Asta Kamma August
interview: Ernst De Geer
film profile], for which a trailer is on the agenda.

Cannes will likewise see Totem Films rounding off sales on a handful of movies which drew attention to themselves at the Sundance Film Festival and in Berlin : Animalia [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Sofia Alaoui
film profile] by Sofia Alaoui, Slow [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Marija Kavtaradze
film profile] by Lithuania’s Marija Kavtaradze, and the French-Russian co-production The Cage Is Looking for a Bird [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Malika Musaeva
film profile] by Malika Musaeva.