Ben Croll French filmmakers and sales agents will hit Toronto looking for a sale, great buzz and, above all, a lasting foothold into the U.S.
market. Because a welcome perch across the pond can make all the difference, especially given the recent crunch on the international scene. “Today, the market is extremely polarized,” says Alice Lesort, who heads sales for Les Films du Losange. “There are still films that perform extremely well abroad, but the number of films has shrunk; there are still films that take the spotlight, but the spotlight now focuses on fewer of them.” Bringing the Léa Seydoux-led “One Fine Morning” to Toronto after previous berths in Cannes and Telluride and an upcoming slot in New York, director Mia Hansen-Løve has proven an outlier several times over.
For one thing, at only 41-years-old, she’s already made eight features; for another, all but one of those features has seen U.S.
distribution. Soon, the filmmaker could break out even further, as Sony Pictures Classics will give “One Fine Morning” an awards qualifying run after picking it up out of Cannes, where the critically acclaimed family drama also sold across 70 international territories. “I don’t know how common it is for a director of her age to be so internationally established,” says Lesort, who has handled sales on the filmmaker’s four most recent features. “Filmmakers can sometimes get a worldwide buzz [on a project], but Mia, from one film to the next, has developed a loyal international following.” “[Building that] has been a long-term project,” Lesort continues. “Each film built on the previous one and that’s all because very early on, the US press and festivals took an interest in her.” And so, when breaking a new generation of
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