The Playmaker to Handle Sales for Animated Movie ‘Pirate Mo and the Legend of the Red Ruby’ From ‘Amazing Maurice’ Producer Ulysses (EXCLUSIVE)

Leo Barraclough International Features Editor In one scene in Mona Achache’s “Little Girl Blue,” which world premiered at the Cannes Film Festival in the Special Screenings section, the director is seen insisting that lead actor Marion Cotillard stays in character even on her tea break, to the extent that she must drink tea noisily as her character, Carole – based on the French filmmaker’s own mother – used to do. Does this suggest a manipulative relationship between director and actor? Cotillard disagrees. “I don’t see a director and an actor as being in relationships of manipulation. It’s more a collaboration,” she tells Variety. “It happened to me only once where I felt that I was being manipulated by a director, and I really didn’t like that.”

Leo Barraclough International Features Editor Maxime Rappaz’s debut film “Let Me Go,” which plays in the Cannes ACID sidebar, has been sold to Brazil and Taiwan. The film stars Cannes regular Jeanne Balibar in the lead role as a fiftysomething woman torn between her family commitments and pursuing her own desires. Every Tuesday, a neighbor takes care of Claudine’s son while she goes to a mountain hotel to meet men passing through. When one of them decides to extend his stay for her, Claudine is confused and finds herself dreaming of another life. Imovision has acquired all rights for Brazil, and will release the film in cinemas after a Brazilian festival premiere. “The mise en scène is excellent and Jeanne Balibar is extraordinary,” Jean-Thomas Bernardini, president of Imovision, commented.

Leo Barraclough International Features Editor Brussels-based company Best Friend Forever has acquired the international rights of Lkhagvadulam Purev-Ochir’s debut feature “City of Wind.” The film is in post-production and will be ready for a world premiere in fall 2023. Purev-Ochir is known for several high-profile short films, including “Mountain Cat,” which was in Cannes Competition in 2020, and won best short in Busan in 2020, and “Snow in September,” which was awarded the Golden Lion for best short in Venice, and best short in Toronto last year. Ze is a timid 17-year-old shaman. He studies hard at school to succeed in the cold, callous society of modern Mongolia, while communing with his ancestral spirit to help those in his community. But when Ze encounters Maralaa, his senses are awakened and another reality seems possible.

Leo Barraclough International Features Editor Warsaw-based sales outlet New Europe Film Sales has signed an international sales deal for the upcoming Belgian debut “Julie Keeps Quiet” by Leonardo Van Dijl, whose short film “Stephanie,” also repped by New Europe, played in Cannes competition in 2020. Both films are set in the world of competitive youth sports: the short explored the world of gymnastics, while the feature film takes on tennis. The feature is to be shot in the second half of this year with delivery planned for mid-2024. In “Julie Keeps Quiet,” when the practices of a prominent tennis coach are investigated, attention quickly shifts to Julie, a young and promising player who is always around him. As pressure mounts for her to share her experiences, Julie chooses to keep quiet and focus on her game, leaving the investigation and the coach’s future in doubt.

Leo Barraclough International Features Editor Paris-based company Indie Sales has closed further sales on “Richard the Stork 2,” and expects to sell the last remaining territories during the Cannes Film Market. The film, also known as “Richard the Stork and the Mystery of the Great Jewel,” is a follow up to “Richard the Stork” (released in North America as “A Stork’s Journey”), which was widely distributed in 155 countries and grossed more than $20 million worldwide. Indie Sales, which sold Oscar nominee “My Life as a Zucchini” to more than 80 territories, is increasingly focusing on acquiring big budget animation.

Leo Barraclough International Features Editor Vanessa Hudgens will join Mads Mikkelsen to headline the action spy thriller “The Black Kaiser,” directed by Derrick Borte (“Unhinged”). Borte has replaced Jonas Akerlund, who was previously announced as director. The film is written by Jayson Rothwell, based on the Dark Horse graphic novel “Polar” by Victor Santos. It is set to shoot this fall. In the film, the Black Kaiser (Mikkelsen), the world’s most lethal hitman, uncovers a deadly conspiracy protecting a powerful syndicate of killers, and becomes their No. 1 target. “The Black Kaiser” is a Constantin Film, JB Pictures and Dark Horse Entertainment production, and will be produced by Jeremy Bolt and Robert Kulzer, two of the producers behind the “Resident Evil” franchise. Mike Richardson and Keith Goldberg of Dark Horse Entertainment are also producing, and Martin Moszkowicz and Mikkelsen are executive producing. XYZ Films will executive produce and will continue to sell worldwide rights at the Marché du Film in Cannes.

Leo Barraclough International Features Editor Beta Cinema has closed further presales for “The Offing,” which will star Helena Bonham Carter, and will be directed by Jessica Hobbs, an Emmy Award-winner for “The Crown.” New deals include Spain (Beta Fiction), Portugal (Nos Lusomundo), Switzerland (Pathé Films), former Yugoslavia (Discovery) and the Middle East (Front Row). CineSky Pictures has picked up worldwide airline rights. A multi-territory deal with Curzon, Cineart and Madman for U.K./Ireland, Benelux and Australia/New Zealand was revealed in April. “The Offing,” which is based on the novel by Benjamin Myers, is set on the northeast English coast shortly after World War II. It tells the story of shy, 16-year-old Robert, and the hard-drinking, foul-mouthed, bohemian recluse Dulcie Piper, played by Bonham Carter, and their unlikely friendship.

Leo Barraclough International Features Editor Zachary Levi will star in the Christmas film “Teddy’s Christmas” as the voice of the main character Teddy. The film about a Teddy Bear and a little girl will have its U.S. theatrical release in time for this year’s holiday season, following its release in several European countries. Levi is best known for his portrayal of the superhero Shazam in “Shazam!” and “Shazam! Fury of the Gods,” and for his voice actor role in Disney’s “Tangled.” “Teddy’s Christmas” will be released by Capelight Pictures and Blue Fox Entertainment in the U.S.

Leo Barraclough International Features Editor GFM Animation, Larry Kasanoff’s Threshold Entertainment and Simon Cowell’s Syco Entertainment have teamed to produce animated feature film “X Factor in the Jungle.” The movie is based on Cowell’s singing competition TV show “The X Factor,” which has run for 20 years with 178 international adaptations. In the movie, a karaoke machine is tossed overboard from a sinking boat and lands in a jungle. It is seized by a mouse, who is then challenged by both a jaguar and rhino, who each want it. A sing-off ensues to determine who will have it, and this attracts a huge audience of animals and creatures who demand a song contest open to all.

Leo Barraclough International Features Editor Sabina Smitham has joined Graham Broadbent and Pete Czernin’s Blueprint Pictures, the producer of “Banshees of Inisherin,” as head of development. Reporting to head of film, Ben Knight, the new role will see Smitham manage the company’s development team and take the lead on expanding the company’s development slate. Smitham, an alumnus of the U.K.’s prestigious National Film and Television School’s master in producing program, joins from Disney+, where she oversaw the development of a range of projects for the Europe, Middle East and Africa Original Productions team. Prior to Disney she was a development producer at Faye Ward’s Fable Pictures.

Leo Barraclough International Features Editor Global Screen has closed further presales for “Lassie — A New Adventure,” the sequel featuring the most famous dog in the history of cinema. The film, directed by Hanno Olderdissen, has sold to A Contracorriente for Spain; ADS Service for Hungary, Romania, Slovakia, the Czech Republic and Moldavia; Turkey’s Bir Film; GPI for the Baltic states; Bulgaria’s Pro Films; Karantanija for ex-Yugoslavia; and Greece’s Zinos Panagiotidis. Poland and Benelux are in negotiation. Sales were previously concluded with Lucky Red (Italy), AB Svensk Filmindustri (Scandinavia) and Film House (Israel).

Leo Barraclough International Features Editor Cinetic Media is launching sales in Cannes on “Anita,” a documentary about actor-model Anita Pallenberg, which premieres in the Cannes Classics section. In “Anita,” which includes never-seen-before Super 8mm home movies and family photographs, Pallenberg’s words from her unpublished memoir are voiced by Scarlett Johansson. The first-look photo (above) shows Pallenberg and Keith Richards in 1967 in Cannes, where Volker Schlöndorff’s “Degree of Murder,” in which she starred, premiered in competition. Her other screen credits included “Performance,” alongside Mick Jagger, and “Barbarella.”

Leo Barraclough International Features Editor Global Screen has racked up presales to multiple territories for the animated family adventure movie “Niko — Beyond the Northern Lights,” the third in the box office hit franchise about a flying reindeer. The sales agency will be showing a first scene to buyers at Cannes Film Market. The animated movie has been picked up Kino Swiat for Poland, Bluelabel for South Korea, Just4Kids for the Benelux, GPI for the Baltic states, Karantanija for ex-Yugoslavia, Zinos Panagiotidis for Greece, Bad Unicorn for Romania, Bohemia Motion Pictures for Slovakia and the Czech Republic, Pro Film for Bulgaria and Bir Film for Turkey.

Leo Barraclough International Features Editor Variety has been given access to an exclusive clip from “Anselm,” the 3D documentary from the three-time Academy Award nominated director Wim Wenders. The film will have its world premiere at the Cannes Film Festival as a Special Screening. HanWay Films is handling world sales. It will be released by Les Films du Losange in France and DCM in Germany, Austria and Switzerland.

Leo Barraclough International Features Editor Following the completion of its first feature film, Aylin Tezel’s “Falling Into Place” – which Global Screen has just acquired for sale at Cannes – Glasgow-based emerging indie Compact Pictures has optioned “The Pharmacist” for development. The novel, the debut by Scots-Egyptian author Rachelle Atalla, was chosen as a Sunday Times Book of the Week and nominated for the Scottish National Book Award. Laura McBride from Compact Pictures originally identified the book as a perfect story for the company. The project is moving into development with Atalla attached to adapt for the screen, with Compact hoping to secure interest in the film during its first outing to next week’s Cannes Film Market.

Leo Barraclough International Features Editor The trailer for Moroccan filmmaker Asmae El Moudir’s Cannes entry “The Mother of All Lies” debuts here (below). The documentary hybrid, about the lies that pervaded El Moudir’s childhood in Casablanca, has its premiere in Un Certain Regard on May 24. World sales are being handled by Autlook Filmsales. The film starts with El Moudir wanting to know why she has only one photograph from her childhood, and why the girl in the picture isn’t even her. To get to the truth, El Moudir and her father build a miniature set that recreates their neighborhood, and bring the whole family to the soundstage where it is built.

Leo Barraclough International Features Editor Grandave Intl. has acquired worldwide sales rights for the drama mystery feature “Wild Berries,” starring Shahab Hosseini, best actor award winner at Cannes for “The Salesman,” and Sepideh Moafi, whose credits include “The Killing of Two Lovers” and “The L Word: Generation Q.” In addition to his Cannes award, Hosseini received the Berlinale acting prize for his role in “A Separation.” Moafi stars in the Golden Globe nominated Apple TV+ series “Black Bird,” and the FX series “Class of 09.” Grandave Intl. will be introducing “Wild Berries” to buyers at the Cannes Film Market, May 16-27.

Leo Barraclough International Features Editor Picture Tree Intl. has picked up global sales rights to “Gina” (working title), by Ulrike Kofler, which follows her Netflix debut “What We Wanted.” “Gina” tells the story of a 9-year-old girl longing for a home and family while having to take care of her younger siblings and mother, who is too overwhelmed to take care of herself, let alone her children. The film, produced by Film AG, is the second feature by Kofler, who is a long-time editor for Austrian director Marie Kreutzer. Kofler’s editing work includes “Corsage,” which won best film at the London Film Festival and three nominations for the European Film Awards in 2022, “The Ground Beneath My Feet” (Berlinale Competition, 2019), and Josef Hader’s “Wild Mouse” (Berlinale Competition, 2019).

Leo Barraclough International Features Editor Sales agency The Match Factory is launching the trailer (below) of Finnish director Aki Kaurismäki’s “Fallen Leaves,” which will premiere at the Cannes Film Festival in Competition. This gentle tragicomedy is the fourth part of Kaurismäki’s working-class quartet, following “Shadows in Paradise,” “Ariel” and “The Match Factory Girl,” which The Match Factory, the company, is named after. The film tells the story of two lonely people (played by Alma Pöysti and Jussi Vatanen) who meet each other by chance in the Helsinki night. They then try to re-find each other: the first, only, and ultimate love of their lives. Their path toward this goal is clouded by the man’s alcoholism, lost phone numbers, not knowing each other’s names or addresses, and life’s tendency to place obstacles in the way of those seeking their happiness.

Leo Barraclough International Features Editor Berlin-based sales agency M-Appeal has closed a deal for German distribution rights for “Let Me Go” with Alamode Film, ahead of the film’s world premiere as the opening film of Cannes ACID sidebar next week. “Let Me Go” (Laissez-Moi), the debut feature by Swiss director Maxime Rappaz, is set in a remote Swiss mountain village, where Claudine (Jeanne Balibar) lives a life dedicated to taking care of her son. Every Tuesday, however, she has an afternoon to herself and goes to a nearby hotel to meet men passing through. She pursues her desires in a carefully controlled way, so as not to interfere with her life, but when she meets Michael (Thomas Sarbacher) everything changes.