Bac Films Boards Coming-of-Age Drama ‘Cassandre’ Amid Expanded Acquisitions Slate (EXCLUSIVE)

variety.com:

Ben Croll Bac Films has scooped up Hélène Merlin’s feature debut “Cassandre,” with the Gallic outfit set to launch international sales at next week’s Unifrance Rendez-Vous in Paris.

Set in a rural idyll during the summer of 1998, the coming-of-age drama casts rising star Billie Blain (“The Animal Kingdom”) opposite screen stalwart Zabou Breitman (“The New Look”), following an adolescent girl as she forges a new sense of self post-puberty. “In the family’s small manor, her parents and older brother notice that her body has changed,” reads the description. “Fortunately, Cassandre is passionate about horses, and she joins a small riding center for the holidays, where she’s embraced as an odd but endearing character.

Here, she discovers a different kind of normal, one that gradually frees her from the family dynamic that threatens to engulf her…” “We are thrilled to have taken on Hélène Merlin’s debut,” says Bac Films’ Vincent Llobell. “We were captivated by the script right from the start, and seeing the finished product only confirmed our intuition.

Working on a first film is always both a challenge and a privilege – and this bet paid off. Given the results, we hope to develop strong bonds with this filmmaker.” This latest acquisition kicks off a period of more forceful activity for the sales outfit, which had been focusing on four to five acquisitions a year since the pandemic.