01/02/2024 - The Empire by Bruno Dumont steals focus in the French sales agent’s line-up, alongside the equally promising movies The Divine Sarah Bernhardt and Arenas

The European Film Market unspooling within the 74th Berlinale (running 15 – 25 February) is shaping up to be a huge success for French sales agent Memento International (directed by Émilie Georges). With at least one of the films in its line-up having been selected for the Berlinale’s competition more than ten times over the past 15 years, the Parisian firm definitely isn’t about to break with good habits since the main title in its line-up, The Empire [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Bruno Dumont
film profile] by Bruno Dumont, will be battling it out for the 2024 Golden Bear.

For the record, the French filmmaker infatuated with the philosophy of good and evil has previously taken part in the Berlinale competition (with Camille Claudel 1915 [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Bruno Dumont
film profile] in 2013), as well as featuring four times in Cannes’ competition (scooping the Grand Prize in 1999 and 2006 by way of L’humanité and Flanders [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile], and offering up Slack Bay [+see also:
film review
trailer
Q&A: Bruno Dumont
film profile] in 2016 and France [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Bruno Dumont
film profile] in 2021) and once in Venice’s (Twentynine Palms [+see also:
trailer
film profile] in 2003). The Empire, which is the director’s 11th fiction feature film and which notably stars Lyna Khoudri, Anamaria Vartolomei, Camille Cottin and Fabrice Luchini (playing the role of Belzébuth), is described as falling somewhere "between Slack Bay and The Life of Jesus, between the sky and the earth, like a cruel, cutting, crazy version of Star Wars." Produced by Tessalit Productions in co-production with Furyo Films, alongside Germany’s Red Balloon Film, Italy’s Ascent Film and Belgium’s Novak Prod, the feature film will be released in French cinemas on 21 February, courtesy of ARP Sélection.

The EFM will also see the Memento International sales team headed up by Alexandre Moreau pressing on with presales on two French films, which joined their line-up at the recent Unifrance Meetings in Paris. The first, which is currently in post-production, is Arenas by Camille Perton (starring Iliès Kadri, Sofian Khammes and Edgar Ramirez and produced by Les Films du Bal – read our article).

The second, on which filming has been underway since 8 January and is due to wrap on 8 February, is The Divine Sarah Bernhardt by Guillaume Nicloux, starring Sandrine Kiberlain in the titular role, alongside Laurent Lafitte, Amira Casar, Pauline Etienne, Laurent Stocker and Sébastien Pouderoux. The story (written by Nathalie Leuthreau) takes us back to 1915. Sarah Bernhardt, the great tragedy actress and the first global star, is 70 years old. The day after her leg is amputated, she confides in her godchild Sacha Guitry - a young author who has already made a name for himself - on the subject of a passionate affair she was involved in when she was younger, with a dazzling author and actor called Lucien Guitry: Sacha’s father… The feature film is produced by Francois Kraus and Denis Pineau-Valencienne on behalf of Les Films du Kiosque, in co-production with TF1 Films Production, Bac Films (who are managing distribution in France) and Belgium’s Umedia. The movie has also been pre-purchased by Canal+ and Ciné+.

(Translated from French)