The French international sales agent Urban Sales (headed up by Frédéric Corvez) is gearing up for the Marché du Film (running 17 – 25 May) which is unspooling within the 75th Cannes Film Festival. And it won’t be short on trump cards. Notably dazzling among its various aces is a title set to enjoy its world premiere in the Un Certain Regard’s Official Selection: Chie Hayakawa’s Plan 75 [+lee también:
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entrevista: Chie Hayakawa
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Produced by Japan, France and the Philippines (via Loaded Films, Urban Factory, Happinet-Phantom Studios, Dongyu Club and Fusee), the Japanese filmmaker’s first feature (based on his short film of the same name, a segment from the collective programme Anticipation Japon) is a dystopian drama whose story takes us to Japan in the near future where the governmental programme Plan 75 encourages senior citizens to be voluntarily euthanized in order to solve the problem of a vastly aging society. An elderly woman whose means for survival are disappearing, a pragmatic Plan 75 salesman, and a young Filipino labourer all find themselves facing life or death decisions…

The market will also see the Urban Sales sales team steered by Louise Ronzet and Florencia Gil wagering on Pink Moon [+lee también:
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entrevista: Floor van der Meulen
ficha de la película] by Floor van der Meulen, which has been selected for the upcoming Tribeca Film Festival’s international competition (the former running 8 – 19 June). Starring Julia Akkermans and Johan Leysen, the director’s second feature kicks off when, out of the blue, during a family dinner, 74-year-old Jan announces to his 29-year-old daughter Iris that he’s done with life: he’ll put an end to it all on his upcoming birthday. Unable to process this absurd revelation, Iris forces Jan to travel with her to the snowy mountains of Slovenia, in order to find a way to carry out her father’s final wish… The film is produced by the Netherlands and Slovenia (via Keplerfilm and Tramal Films).

Urban Sales are also set to unveil José Miguel Ribeiro’s movie Nayola [+lee también:
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ficha de la película] at the Cannes-based market, which is the first ever Portuguese animated film and whose story takes us to Angola, focusing on three generations of women (a grandmother, her daughter and her granddaughter) during the 25-year-long civil war. Production is steered by Portugal, Belgium, France and the Netherlands (Praça Filmes, S.O.I.L., JPL Films and il Luster). Likewise worth a mention on the animation side is Red Jungle [+lee también:
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ficha de la película] by Juan José Lozano and Zoltán Horváth, which was unveiled last month during Geneva’s FIFDH.

Equally eye-catching in Urban Sales’s line-up (which is due to be further enhanced by an upcoming announcement) are films in post-production (among others) Amore mio [+lee también:
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ficha de la película] by French director Guillaume Gouix (the actor’s first directorial effort, an Agat Films production starring Alysson Paradis, Elodie Bouchez and Félix Maritaud), Abdelinho by Morocco’s Hicham Ayouch and Deserts [+lee también:
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entrevista: Faouzi Bensaïdi
ficha de la película] by his compatriot Faouzi Bensaïdi (produced by France, Germany, Belgium and Morocco via Barney Production, NiKo Film, Entre Chien et Loup, and Mont Fleuri Production). The latter revolves around long-term friends Mehdi and Hamid who work for a debt collection agency. In order to punish them for their poor performance, their bosses send them to the stifling Moroccan Sahara to track down several bad payers. One day, in a petrol station in the middle of the desert, a motorbike pulls up in front of them. A menacing-looking man is handcuffed to the luggage rack. He’s The Fugitive. Their encounter marks the beginning of an unexpected and mystical journey...