12/05/2025 - With six films in contention for the Palme d'Or, a film showcased in Cannes Première and the opening film of the Directors' Fortnight, the French sales agent is set to make a splash at the market

A new record for the international sales division of mk2 Films, whose line-up includes six titles in Official Competition at the 78th Cannes Film Festival (13-24 May), compared to five in 2018. This should give the team led by Fionnuala Jamison plenty of food for thought at the Marché du Film.

In the race for the 2025 Palme d'Or, there are three very strong contenders: Sentimental Value by Norwegian director Joachim Trier (3rd appearance in the Cannes competition for the director, with a Best Actress prize in 2021), It Was Just an Accident by Iranian director Jafar Panahi (2nd appearance - Screenplay prize in 2018) and The Secret Agent by Brazilian director Kleber Mendonça Filho (3rd appearance - Jury prize in 2019).

There are also three feature-length films by young female directors selected for the first time in the world's finest showcase for cinema: Romería by Spain's Carla Simón (who won the Golden Bear in Berlin in 2022 with her second feature), The Little Sister by France's Hafsia Herzi (who has already been in Critics' Week and Un Certain Regard) and Sound of Falling by Germany's Mascha Schilinski.

This flamboyant sextet is rounded off by Love on Trial by Japanese director Kôji Fukada, which will be unveiled during Cannes Première, and Enzo by French director Robin Campillo, which will open the Directors' Fortnight.

mk2 Films will also be negotiating for the animated film Allah Is Not Obliged by Lebanese-born Frenchman Zaven Najjar, an adaptation of Ahmadou Kourouma's novel of the same title, produced in association with France, Belgium and Luxembourg, which will make its world premiere in official competition at the Annecy Festival in June.

Recent additions to the line-up include American films Rebuilding by Mark Walker-Silverman (a film discovered at Sundance starring Brit Josh O'Connor) and Kent Jones’ Late Fame (with Willem Dafoe and Greta Lee in the cast of this adaptation of a short story by Arthur Schnitzler), which is now in post-production. And let's not forget the animated film A Winter's Journey by English director Alex Helfrecht, currently in the making, and three other films in pre-production: the sci-fi comedy Alpha Gang by Americans David and Nathan Zellner (starring Cate Blanchett, Channing Tatum, Dave Bautista, Zoë Kravitz, Steven Yeun, Léa Seydoux and Riley Keough), Belly of The Beast by England's Andrew Haigh (starring Ben Stiller and Colin Farrell) and Peaches by Hong Kong's Jenny Suen (starring Emma Corrin and Lucie Zhang).

Last but not least, sales have yet to be topped up for the selected films discovered at Sundance and Berlin: Sukkwan Island [+see also:
film review
film profile] by Frenchman Vladimir de Fontenay, the documentary All I Had Was Nothingness [+see also:
film review
film profile] by his compatriot Guillaume Ribot, The Safe House [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Lionel Baier
film profile] by Swiss director Lionel Baier and the British production The Thing with Feathers [+see also:
film review
film profile] by Dylan Southern.

(Translated from French)