FROM NORTH AMERICA

Mandate International will begin pre-sales on Drew Barrymore's comedy Whip It! starring Ellen Page as a beauty pageant regular who finds her true calling when she joins a female roller-derby team. The slate also includes the animated tale Alpha And Omega starring Justin Long and Hayden Panettiere as bickering wolves who find their way home after being kidnapped. Lionsgate holds US and UK rights.

Summit International arrives with Terrence Malick's upcoming family drama Tree Of Life, to star Sean Penn and Brad Pitt. The Weinstein Company International will be tempting buyers with Shanghai, Mikael Hafstrom's Second World War drama starring John Cusack, Gong Li and Ken Watanabe, now shooting in London. MGM will release in North America on December 26.

Katapult has The Caller, a neo-noir tale directed by Richard Ledes, starring Elliott Gould and Frank Langella (see review, p46), and the torrid family drama Death In Love, starring Josh Lucas and Jacqueline Bisset.

IM Global will introduce buyers to the martial-arts revenge tale Bunraku, starring Josh Hartnett, Demi Moore, Woody Harrelson and Japanese stars Gackt Camui and Shun Sugata (see People, p12). Guy Moshe wrote and is directing the Snoot Entertainment production. Paramount Vantage will commence sales on its big Sundance pick-up American Teen, Nanette Burstein's documentary on high-school life in Indiana. A July 25 release in North America is scheduled.

The Film Department will begin pre-sales on Bart Freundlich's romantic comedy The Rebound, starring Catherine Zeta-Jones and Justin Bartha, and Law Abiding Citizen, a thriller with Gerard Butler about a prosecutor who tries to thwart a psychotic killer.

Lakeshore expects to do strong business on the Fame remake with MGM, directed by choreographer Kevin Tancharoen. Voltage Pictures will pre-sell action title Hybrid, about a car with strange powers, directed by Eric Valette and starring Oded Fehr and Shannon Beckner.

Cinema Management Group will be in town to discuss Under Still Waters, a thriller about a troubled young couple in a lakeside mansion. Lake Bell will star alongside Jason Clarke and Clifton Collins Jr.

The Film Sales Company has co-directors Hunter Hill and Perry Moore's family drama Lake City, starring Sissy Spacek (see review, p46), and the thriller Victim directed by Matt Eskandari and Michael A Pierce. GreeneStreet Films International is showcasing The Invisible Woman, a sci-fi film about a woman facing financial ruin who turns to an unlikely ally. JJ Abrams is to produce and Matt Reeves (Cloverfield) will direct.

Kimmel International will present Katherine Dieckmann's Motherhood, a comedy with Uma Thurman and Minnie Driver about a Manhattan mother who must overcome huge obstacles to stage her daughter's sixth birthday party. Unified Pictures will be pitching Bob Funk, a completed comedy starring Rachael Leigh Cook, Eddie Jemison and Stephen Root, about a drunk who tries to put his life back together.

Lightning Entertainment has Sean Faris starring in Ryan Little's sports drama Forever Strong, which sales chief Richard Guardian describes as Dead Poets Society meets Friday Night Lights. Shoreline Entertainment will hope to attract buyers with heist movie High Life, starring Timothy Olyphant (Hitman) and the fast-rising Joe Anderson (Across The Universe).

UK company Velvet Octopus will commence pre-sales on S Darko, a follow-up to Donnie Darko, directed by Chris Fisher. Fox holds North American rights.

Inferno Distribution will commence sales on Unfinished Country, with 21 star Jim Sturgess as a brilliant medical student who secures a residency at a tough and possibly immoral hospital. Inferno's line-up also includes alien abduction sci-fi thriller Revelation, which James McTeigue will direct.

Canadian outfit Max Films International will sell Charles Biname's The American Trap, a true story about Montreal criminal Lucien Rivard, who had international connections to the assassination of JFK. The film stars Quebecois stalwart Remy Girard, who appeared in The Barbarian Invasions.

Odd Lot International will commence sales on The Open Road starring Justin Timberlake, Jeff Bridges and Kate Mara. Wim Wenders serves as executive producer and visual consultant on this story, directed by Michael Meredith, of a young man who tries to reconnect with his famous father. New sales arm Bold Films International will be talking up the thriller Jack, from Sleeping With The Enemy director Joseph Ruben, about a doctor who revives and falls for an amnesiac.

FROM EUROPE

From Italy, Matteo Garrone's Competition title Gomorra, an expose of the Neapolitan Mafia, tops the Fandango Portabello slate. Other titles, all in post, include Ferzan Ozpetek's comedy A Perfect Day and novelist-turned-director Alessandro Baricco's English-language drama Lecture 21, starring Noah Taylor, John Hurt and Clive Russell.

Intramovies will be in Cannes with Andrea Molaioli's thriller The Girl By The Lake, a commercial and critical success in Italy, and four other local hits produced by Cattleya: Claudio Cupellini's romantic comedy Chocolate Lessons; Cristina Comencini's interracial love story Black And White; Silvio Muccino's Tell Me About Love; and Sergio Rubini's art thriller At A Glance.

Adriana Chiesa Enterprises will bring Medusa's The Man Who Loves, directed by Maria Sole Tognazzi and starring Monica Bellucci and Kseniya Rappoport, and Paolo Virzi's Call Centre.

Spanish outfit Imagina Sales is promoting Sexykiller, a co-production between Warner Bros Spain, Mediapro and Antena 3, about a medical student on a murderous rampage. Production company Rodar Y Rodar will be taking its own titles to Cannes, including two by director Guillem Morales: Julia's Eyes, about a woman who is going blind, and The Intruder, a co-production with the UK's See-Saw Films. Rodar Y Rodar also has The Homecoming, the directorial debut of The Orphanage writer Sergio G Sanchez. All are set to shoot in Spain this year.

DeAPlaneta will be selling Ferran Audi's debut feature The Frost, a Spanish-Nordic co-production now in production about a couple's marriage falling apart after the death of their son. Bibi Andersson stars with Aitana Sanchez-Gijon and Trond Espen Seim.

Latido Films will have a selection of films at the market, including Who's Next directed by Manuel Gutierrez Aragon, about the battles between Basque terrorists and the police in the 1990s. And Sogepaq will offer romantic comedy 8 Citas from directors Peris Romano and Rodrigo Sorogoyen, starring Raul Arevalo, Maria Ballesteros and Belen Rueda.

In addition to Fortissimo Films' titles in official selection, the Dutch-Hong Kong company's slate includes recent pick-ups Chevolution, a documentary about Alberto Korda's photograph of Che Guevara, and Captain Abu Raed from Jordanian film-maker Amin Matalqa, which won Sundance's world cinema audience award. Fortissimo is also selling Majid Majidi's The Song Of Sparrows and Martin Scorsese's as-yet-untitled Bob Marley documentary.

From Hungary, Hungaricom will offer international buyers Tamas Kemenyffy's comedy Fluke and Gabor Csupo's animation Immigrants, voiced by former Will & Grace star Eric McCormack.

Germany's Beta Cinema will be presenting Thomas Roth's biopic Falco - Quit Living On Dreams. Telepool will bring Mike Marzuk's Summer, a teenage rom-com that went to the top of the German box office for distributor Walt Disney in April. New sales outfit M-Appeal is lining up Niels Laupert's debut feature Seven Days Sunday, based on a true story of two teenagers who commit murder for a bet.

HanWay is selling Triage, the new feature by Danis Tanovic, director of the Oscar-winning No Man's Land. Colin Farrell will play a photojournalist returning from a dangerous assignment to find his best friend has gone missing while on the same story. The film will shoot on location in Ireland and at the Ciudad de la Luz studios in Spain. Rai Cinema and Canal Plus have already boarded Triage for Italy and France.

FRANCE

Gaumont will be in Cannes with J.C.V.D., a mixture of reality and fiction starring Jean-Claude Van Damme, which has been building buzz on internet forums. Wild Bunch is selling Competition title My Magic from Singapore director Eric Khoo and James Toback's documentary Tyson, while new outfit Elle Driver is bringing Juan Carlos Medina's thriller The Insensibles starring Tomas Lemarquis.

Films Distribution will take a new approach to the market by screening a reel of 17 teasers and trailers of completed and upcoming titles, including Vincent Garenq's Babylove, produced by Christophe Rossignon, and Affaire De Famille, a thriller by Claus Drexel, starring Andre Dussollier and Miou-Miou.

Orly Films and Coach 14 have teamed to sell three titles from producer Jean-Louis Livi: Un Homme Et Son Chien, directed by Francis Huster and starring Jean-Paul Belmondo and Hafsia Herzi; Alain Resnais' Les Herbes Folles with Mathieu Amalric; and Je Suis Heureux Que Ma Mere Soit Vivante, directed by Claude and Nathan Miller. Coach 14 is also handling Blood Appears, a Critics' Week competitor from Pablo Fendrik whose film The Mugger was also in the section last year.

Pyramide International has two new films dealing with the personal struggles of adapting to a changing world. Nes En 68 from directors Olivier Ducastel and Jacques Martineau stars Laetitia Casta and Yannick Renier, while Stephane Giusti's Made In Italy boasts Gilbert Melki, Amira Casar and Caterina Murino. It is also handling Nuri Bilge Ceylan's Competition title 3 Monkeys along with Un Certain Regard film Salt Of This Sea by Annemarie Jacir.

Bac Films will present two new animated projects: urban comedy Round Da Way and the CGI title Jasper. And Celluloid Dreams will also bring an animation project, Mia & The Miggo, directed by Jacques-Remy Girerd, as well as psychological thriller The Mark Of An Angel from Safy Nebbou.

UK

Pathe Pictures International will screen a promo of Stephen Frears' First World War love story Cheri, now shooting with a screenplay from Christopher Hampton. The cast includes Michelle Pfeiffer, Kathy Bates and Rupert Friend. The company also has a promo for UK-France co-production The Illusionist (working title) from animator Sylvain Chomet (The Triplets Of Belleville), which is based on a story by Jacques Tati.

Swipe Films will showcase Mike Figgis' Love Live Long, an erotic love story about rich Europeans driving fast cars across the continent, starring Sophie Winkleman and Daniel Lapaine.

Sony Pictures Worldwide Acquisitions Group has taken English-speaking rights to Moon, now in post after a UK shoot, starring Sam Rockwell as a man isolated on a moon base. Independent is handling sales on other territories.

Omega Entertainment has Philip Ridley's Heartless, a UK horror project gearing up to shoot and starring man-of-the-moment Jim Sturgess, who stars in 21. Nascent outfit Protagonist Pictures enters its first official market with Vito Rocco's completed comedy Faintheart, Alexis Dos Santos' Unmade Beds, Nicolas Winding Refn's Bronson and Tom Shankland's The Day all in post. And it has Rupert Wyatt's New Mexico-set The Trail - the follow-up to his Sundance hit The Escapist - in development. It will also open sales on BBC Films' hotly anticipated In The Loop, a political satire from Armando Iannucci, to star James Gandolfini (see People, p14).

Velvet Octopus has a $5m genre project to shoot in August, Cockneys Vs Zombies. Matthias Hoene will direct.

The Film Consultancy Partners and High Point Media Group have joined forces to handle international sales for Mary McGuckian's Inconceivable, the third film in the director's 'amorality' trilogy. Set in a Las Vegas infertility clinic, it stars Andie MacDowell and Jennifer Tilly.

Un Certain Regard opener Hunger, directed by Steve McQueen, was formerly repped by Becker and is now sold via Icon International.

Celluloid Dreams has Duane Hopkins' feature debut, Better Things, in Critics' Week.

FROM ASIA

From Japan, Death Note hit-makers Nippon Television (NTV) will unveil a strong 2008 slate, including K-20, starring pan-Asian talent Takeshi Kaneshiro in the tale of a phantom-like master thief who does battle in a Japan reminiscent of Gotham City. The film also stars Takako Matsu of Hero fame.

Gaga launches Climber's High, a big-budget thriller based on the 1985 crash of Japan Airlines flight 123, one of the worst air disasters in history. It is directed by Masato Harada and stars Shin'ichi Tsutsumi.

Thailand's Five Star will hold a market screening of black-magic horror Art Of The Devil 3, a recent box-office hit in Thailand. It will also sell Adsajun Sattagovit's horror Soul's Code, and Wisit Sasanatieng's eagerly anticipated Red Eagle which is in pre-production.

GMM Thai Hub (GTH) will debut new portmanteau horror 4bia, directed by horror gurus Parkpoom Wongpoom, Banjong Pisanthanakun, Paween Purijitpanya and Yongyoot Thongkongtoon; teenage comedy Hormones from director Songyos Sugmakanan, Thailand's top grossing film so far this year; and Chatchai Yodsaranee's psychological thriller The 8th Day.

Mono Films will bring Happy Birthday, a romantic drama that reunites Me Myself director Pongpat Wachirabunjong with his cast Ananda Everingham and Chayanan Manomaisantiphap; teenage love drama Miss You, Two, which is in post-production; and comedy ICU Ghost Of Fine Arts.

After making its market debut at last year's Cannes, Indonesia's MD Pictures will this year launch a market screening of Hanung Bramantyo's The Verses Of Love, which touches on the controversial issue of polygamy and is already a record-breaking hit in Indonesia. The company will also promote Teddy Soeriaatmadja's romantic comedy My Name Is Dick.

Ascension Pictures from Singapore will screen Pearry Reginald Teo's The Gene Generation, starring Bai Ling and Faye Dunaway. The Vintage Film will present Michael Wang's The Carrot Cake Conversations, which is scheduled for an October release in Singapore, and The Autumn Garden, while Cubix and Kosmic will promote four new animations: D'Beginning, Bubblegum Crisis, 13 Killers and The Dissolve, all in development.

India's UTV Motion Pictures will present Ashutosh Gowariker's costume drama Jodhaa Akbar, which has already been sold to several territories, including the US, UK and Germany, and Aamir Khan's story about a dyslexic boy, Taare Zameen Par, which has also been sold to leading territories.

IDream Independent Pictures is pinning hopes on the fable-like Tahaan - A Boy With A Grenade, directed by Santosh Sivan. Meanwhile The Indian Film Company/Studio 18 is looking at presales for Dev Benegal's Road Movie, and for Little Zizou, the directorial debut of Sooni Taraporevala, a long-time associate writer on Mira Nair's films.

Taiwan's Joint Entertainment is handling Boi Kwong's Singaporean action drama The Days, about two brothers in a gang. Three Dots Entertainment brings Invitation Only, Taiwan's first modern slasher horror, directed by Kevin Ko.

HONG KONG AND CHINA

Media Asia is screening a new version of Peter Ho-sun Chan's The Warlords, which has been re-edited for international markets. The Asian version was a huge hit across the region last December.

Emperor Motion Pictures (EMP), Mandarin Films and Universe Films Distribution all have slates headed by action titles in production. EMP has Benny Chan's Connected, a reworking of New Line's action thriller Cellular, while Mandarin recently started shooting Ip Man, a biopic of Bruce Lee's kung-fu master, directed by Wilson Yip and starring Donnie Yen and Simon Yam. The Pang brothers are shooting Universe's The Storm Warriors (aka The Storm Riders II) in Thailand, with a cast headed by Aaron Kwok and Ekin Cheng.

Sundream Motion Pictures is selling Zhang Yibai's Lost Indulgence, which recently premiered at the Tribeca film festival, while Mei Ah's slate is headed by Jingle Ma's action romance Butterfly Lovers, starring Wu Chun and Charlene Choi. Hong Kong distributor Golden Scene is stepping up its sales activity with three edgy titles from local directors, including Lawrence Lau's well-received City Without Baseball.

Golden Network Asia has an increasingly pan-Asian slate that includes Korean extreme thriller The Truck, Chinese action titles Wushu and An Empress And The Warriors and Thai titles Fireball and The Scout.

Beijing-based JA Media is selling Tsui Hark's romantic comedy She Ain't Mean and Stanley Kwan's musical He Is, He Isn't, set to star Aaron Kwok and Charlene Choi.

SOUTH KOREA

Fine Cut/Cineclick Asia is selling Argentinian director Pablo Trapero's Competition film Leonera (a South Korea-Argentina co-production); Na Hong-jin's Midnight Screenings title The Chaser, which Warner Bros has picked up for a remake; and Yoon Jong-bin's Beastie Boys, set in the world of host bars. Showeast has Jeon Soo-il's Himalaya, starring Choi Min-shik as a Korean returning the remains of a Nepalese labourer to his family.

Sponge Entertainment has Zhang Lu's drama Chongqing. Studio 2.0 has Viva! Love in which a landlady falls for her daughter's fiance. Showbox has Kim Ki-duk's Dream, starring Joe Odagiri and Lee Na-young. CJ Entertainment has Kim Jee-woon's western The Good, The Bad And The Weird, which is screening in the festival out of competition, with leading Korean stars Song Kang-ho, Lee Byung-hun and Jung Woo-sung.

FROM LATIN AMERICA

Germany's Bavaria Film International will be selling Argentinian director Daniel Burman's sixth feature Empty Nest, about a couple left alone for the first time after their children move out of the house. Argentinian stars Oscar Martinez and Cecilia Roth head the cast.

Le Pacte will sell Amat Escalante's second feature Los Bastardos, produced by Mantarraya, about two young Mexican men who face a moral dilemma after crossing the border into the US. It is screening in Un Certain Regard. Imcine will showcase Rodrigo Pla's period drama Desert Insight, Walter Doehner's immigration drama Teo's Trip and Emilio Portes' Meet The Head Of Juan Perez.

From Brazil, Gullane Filmes will present two projects in pre-production: Bricante, set in north-east Brazil and directed by acclaimed cinematographer Walter Carvalho, whose credits include Central Station, and Rice And Beans from director Katia Lund, who co-directed City Of God, about the reunion of two childhood friends, one a drug dealer in the favelas, the other a playboy.