Yahoo News The Party Films Sales Unveils Slate, Including SXSW-Bound ‘The Mystery of the Pink Flamingos’ (EXCLUSIVE)
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The Party Films Sales, the newly launched Paris-based film company, is making its market debut at the EFM with several acquisitions, including Javier Polo’s “The Mystery of the Pink Flamingos” and Jim Rakete’s “Now.”
The company brings together the international sales units of two banners, Jour2Fête, a French distribution company, and Doc & Film Intl., a world sales company that was recently acquired by Jour2Fete following the exit of its CEO Daniela Elstner, who is now UniFrance’s managing director.
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“The Mystery of the Pink Flamingos” and “Now” are being delivered in two different versions, a feature-length one aimed at theatrical distributors, and a 52-minute format for TV channels. Samuel Blanc, co-head of international sales at The Party Films Sales, said the company was interested in building bridges between film and TV through the acquisitions of movies that can be viewed in different formats.
“The Mystery of the Pink Flamingos” is a film about Rigo Pex, aka Meneo, and his searches for happiness throughout the exploration of the icon of kitsch, the pink flamingo. Produced by Spain’s Japonica Films and Los Hermanos Polo, “The Mystery of the Pink Flamingos” will world-premiere at SXSW.
“Now,” meanwhile, is a documentary about young green activists who are fighting for a better future — some of whom have joined Greta Thunberg’s movement. The documentary also features Nobel Peace Laureate Muhammad Yunus, Patti Smith and Wim Wenders. Produced by Germany’s Starhaus Produktionen, the film premiered at the Thessaloniki Documentary Festival and will go to play at CPH:DOX.
The banner also picked up Vladimir Vasak’s one-hour documentary “Willy Ronis, The Reporter and His Battles” and Laurence Debray’s doc “Venezuela, in the Shadows of Chavez,” both of which are produced by France’s Day For Night and Arte.
Co-written with Gabrielle de la Salle, “Willy Ronis” is about photographer Ronis, who was a humanist who never gave up his political commitments. The film also relates major historical events of the 20th century.
“Venezuela,” directed by Laurence Debray, is based on the director’s interviews with the populist president Hugo Chávez in 1998 and Juan Guiadó, the current self-proclaimed president, in January 2019.
Combining two different banners, the editorial line of The Party Films Sales will range from “emerging filmmakers to established directors, as well as documentaries and feature-length films and TV films shedding light on our world, and exploring aspects of contemporary politics or arts,” said Blanc, who heads up international sales with Clémence Lavigne.
The Party Films Sales is in Berlin with Guillaume Brac’s “A l’Abordage” playing in Panorama, as well as Anna Falgueres and John Shank’s “Pompei,” which world premiered at Toronto and is playing in the Generation Kplus section.
Paris-based The Party Film Sales’s roster also includes Iraqi-Kurdish filmmaker Hiner Saleem’s upcoming drama “Goodnight, Soldier”; Lucas Belvaux’ “Des hommes,” co-repped with Wild Bunch; Jonathan Nossiter’s “Last Words” with Nick Nolte and Charlotte Rampling; and Charlene Favier’s “Slalom,” among other titles. The company will aim at handling between 12 to 15 titles per year.
The banner’s acquisitions are being handled by Sarah Chazelle and Étienne Ollagnier, the co-founders and managing directors of The Party Films Sales.
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