Memento International is rolling off a banner Cannes, having widely sold Tarik Saleh’s “Boy From Heaven,” which competed and won best screenplay, and Kristoffer Borgli’s Un Certain Regard film “Sick of Myself.”
One of the most political films of this year’s Cannes Film Festival competition, “Boy From Heaven” sold to Latin America (Impacto), Israel (New Cinema), Czech Republic, Slovakia (FilmEurope), Baltics (A-One), Romania (Bad Unicorn), Bulgaria (Beta), Portugal (Leopardo Filmes) and Turkey (Bir Films).
The movie was also acquired by U.K. distributor Picturehouse at Cannes and is being circled by several U.S. buyers.
Saleh’s follow-up to “The Nile Hilton Incident,” “Boy From Heaven” was produced by the Stockholm-based outfit Atmo and Memento Films’ Alexandre Mallet-Guy.
A religious and political thriller, “Boy From Heaven” is set in Cairo at a Koranic school following the collapse of a grand imam, which marks the start of a ruthless battle for influence. The movie is headlined by Tawfeek Barhom and Fares Fares, who previously starred in “The Nile Hilton Incident.”
“Sick of Myself” is a Norwegian drama comedy starring Kristine Kujath Thorp (“Ninjababy”, “The Burning Sea”) and Eirik Sæther, a contemporary artist who is making his acting debut. The film revolves around Signe and Thomas, whose dysfunctional relationship takes a vicious turn when Thomas suddenly breaks through as a contemporary artist. Signe embarks on a desperate quest to regain her status and attract attention by creating a new persona at all costs.
The movie was acquired for France (Tandem), Benelux (Cherry Pickers), Japan (The Klockworx Co., Ltd), Latin America (Cine Canibal), Hungary (Vertigo), Poland (Aurora), Czech Republic and Slovakia (FilmEurope), Baltics (Estin Films) and Taiwan (Hooray Films). Memento International is also fielding offers from U.S. and U.K. buyers.
Borgli previously directed the short films “Former Cult Member Hears Music for the First Time” and “Eer,” which played at Sundance.
“Sick of Myself” was produced by Andrea Berentsen Ottmar and Dyveke Bjørkly Graver at Oslo Pictures, the banner behind Joachim Trier’s Oscar-nominated “The Worst Person in the World.” Sweden-based Garage Film International and Film i Väst co-produced it.
Mathieu Delaunay, Memento Films International’s head of sales, said “It felt good to feel the energy and adrenaline of the market back.” Delaunay added that buyers are still drawn to “powerful stories and strong cinematic propositions.”
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