05/02/2009

Basking in the glory of the rich crop of awards recently carried off by Slumdog Millionaire [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Danny Boyle
film profile], French international sales company Pathé and its UK arm today kick off the European Film Market at the Berlinale (February 5-15) with a dazzling line-up.

The team – headed by Muriel Sauzay – is set to continue its winning streak with UK director Stephen Frears’ Chéri [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Stephen Frears
film profile], which is selected in official competition. The film has already been bought for Italy, Scandinavia, Benelux, Portugal, Greece, numerous Eastern European countries, Russia, Cyprus, Israel, the Middle East, Latin America, South Africa, South Korea, Australia, New Zealand and the US. Rights have also been bought for the UK and France, where Pathé will release the title on March 27 and April 8, respectively.

Pathé will also be hoping for success at Berlin with Costa Gavras’ Eden Is West [+see also:
trailer
film profile], which is screening out of competition at the closing gala. The film – starring Italian actor Riccardo Scamarcio – has been pre-bought by its co-producers France (release date: February 11) and Greece, as well as by Italy, Romania, Switzerland, Cyprus and the Middle East.

Among their projects, Pathé is launching sales for two enticing films in pre-production: the swords-and-sandals thriller Centurion by UK director Neil Marshall (The Descent [+see also:
trailer
film profile]), starring Michael Fassbender (Hunger [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Laura Hastings-Smith Rob…
interview: Steve McQueen
film profile]), Dominic West and Olga Kurylenko; and Miral by Julian Schnabel (The Diving Bell and the Butterfly [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile]), which retraces the struggle of the Palestinians through the lives of four women.

Among the films in post-production, promotional reels will be shown for Mona Achache’s L’élégance du hérisson (“The Elegance of the Hedgehog”, see news); Jacques Perrin’s Oceans; and The Illusionist by Sylvain Chomet (Belleville Rendez-vous [+see also:
trailer
film profile]). Market screenings include German director Oliver Hirschbiegel’s Five Minutes in Heaven and French filmmaker Nicolas Bary’s The Children of Timpelbach [+see also:
trailer
film profile].

Pathé will also continue sales for other titles in post-production: Christian Carion’s Farewell (see news), Jane Campion’s Bright Star, Tom Harper’s The Scouting Book For Boys (starring Thomas Turgoose), Jon Harris’ The Descent: Part 2 and John Wright’s Tormented.

(Translated from French)