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BERLINALE 2009 EFM / France

Doc and horror sell for Elle Driver

by 

While holding its breath for today’s official screening in competition of Rachid Bouchareb’s London River [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile
]
, Paris-based Elle Driver has registered brisk sales on RJ Cutler’s documentary The September Issue and zombie splatter comedy from Norway, Dead Snow [+see also:
trailer
film profile
]
.

Sitting at her desk in the Wild Bunch bunker, next to the main Martin Gropius Bau market building, Elle Driver co-founder Adeline Fontan Tessaur is proud to have one of the most attractive sales line-ups at the European Film Market.

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Foot traffic has been heavy at her door, in particular for the rare images of legendary Vogue magazine editor-in-chief Anna Wintour in The September Issue. The film, which screened at the EFM after competing at Sundance, has so far sold to NonStop Entertainment for Scandinavia, Momentum (The UK) and Diaphana (France) among others.

Tommy Wirkola’s Dead Snow sold to the US (IFC Films) in Sundance, Canada (Seville Pictures), then to Spain (Lola Films), the Czech Republic (AQS) and Germany. The film is still in the Top Ten in Norway after six weeks on release, with over 128,000 admissions.

Other market screenings include 2008 Silver Lion winner Paper Soldier by Russia’s Aleksei German; Brazilian hit Estomago; the Jeff Daniels comedy Arlen Faber, picked up at Sundance; and Japanese animation film The Sky Crawlers, which screened in competition at Venice 2008.

At mid-market, Fontan Tessaur stressed that “films do sell despite the financial crisis, although slightly cheaper. There are a lot of re-negotiations, pre-sales are definitely harder and several territories are in serious trouble, such as Russia, Korea, Spain or Japan.”

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