18/05/2007

Pathé Pictures International, headed by Mike Runagall, has reportedly sealed half a dozen territories on Julian Schnabel’s competition entry The Diving Bell and the Butterfly [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile], ahead of its world premiere at Cannes next Tuesday.

Among the first buyers to have seized the film adaptation of Jean-Dominique Baudy’s best-selling memoirs are BIM (Italy), Best Film (Poland) and LNK (Portugal). The French-language film produced by Kathleen Kennedy and Jon Kilik stars Mathieu Amalric, Martie-Josée Croze and Max von Sydow. Pathe will release it next August in the UK.

Two films are having their world premieres at the market: Nick Love’s UK thriller Outlaw [+see also:
trailer
film profile], starring Sean Bean and Danny Dyer, follows the adventures of a group of modern renegades betrayed by their government and let down by the local police. The film was sold to Benelux (Dutch Filmworks), Portugal (Lusomundo), and Poland (Vision).

Waz by Tom Shankland is a thriller that sees Stellan Skarsgård playing veteran detective Eddie Argo forced to revisit an old case. Territories sold include Benelux (Filmworks), German speaking countries (Square One), Portugal (Lusomundo), Poland (Best Film) and Spain (Vertigo).

Also screening at the market following their respective launch at the Tribeca Film Festival and Berlin are Michael Apted’s football documentary The Power of the Game and Paul Schrader’s The Walker [+see also:
trailer
film profile].

Buyers are invited to attend a promo screening of The Cottage by London to Brighton [+see also:
trailer
film profile] director Paul Andrew Williams, as well as of Richard Laxton’s Grow Your Own. In post-production are Ken Loach’s It’s a Free World, scheduled for a world premiere at one of the key festivals next autumn, and the Argentinean documentary Café de los maestros.

Pathé's sales team, including consultant Claire Taylor and sales assistant Sarah Lucas, are also providing information about Jane Campion’s new project Bright Star.