MPM Film picks up Venice titles Mold and A Month in Thailand

MPM Film has picked up international sales on Turkish Ali Aydin’s Mold (Küf) and Romanian Paul Negoescu’s A Month in Thailand ahead of their premieres at the Venice Film Festival.

In a first deal, the French company has already sold Mold to Nanni Moretti and Luigi Musini’s distribution company Sacher Distribuzione for Italy.

“The company’s exquisite taste will definitely give the film a chance to stand out in Venice,” said Pierre Menahem, who brokered the deal for MPM Film with Alessandra Thiele of Rome-based Sacher.

Inspired by real events in Turkey, Mold revolves around a father’s quest to discover the fate of his son who disappeared 18 years previously after police arrested him for anti-government activities.

The picture is a Turkish-German co-production involving Istanbul-based Motiva Film, Yeni Sinemacilar and Hamburg and Berlin-based Beleza Film. It is Aydin’s first feature.

Also a first film, Negoescu’s A Month in Thailand revolves around a bunch of young wealthy Romanians.

Set against the backdrop of New Year’s Eve in Bucharest, it follows a young man as he starts a hedonistic odyssey across clubs and parties in search of real love.

Producer Ada Solomon of Bucharest-based Hi Film bills the picture as “most likely the Romanian feature with the youngest cast and crew in the history of post communist Romanian cinema.”

Negoescu previously won praise for his shorts including Derby and Renovation, which were nominated for European Film Academy Awards.

Both Mold and A Month in Thailand will compete for the Lion of the Future Award as well as the Critics’ Week Audience Award at Venice.

MPM Film will also be at Toronto with its recent acquisition Jem Cohen’s Museum Hours, due to make its North American premiere in the Contemporary World Cinema section, and Willam Vega’s La Sirga, which will screen in the Discovery sidebar.

Paris-based production company MPM Film was founded by Marie-Pierre Macia and Juliette Lepoutre in 2007.

Former Celluloid Dreams sales exec Pierre Menahem joined forces with the company last August to launch an international co-productions and sales operation aimed at five to six new films a year.

Other titles to date include Nana and Historias.