Paris-based Charades has sold Laurent Tirard’s Oh My Goodness! (Juste Ciel!) to a slew of territories and will kick off sales on several all-new titles at Unifrance’s annual Rendez-Vous in Paris (January 11-17, 2023) including Jérémy Clapin’s Meanwhile On Earth (see first look image, above).
Charades will host the first market screening for buyers of Oh My Goodness! after selling the anticipated title from veteran filmmaker Tirard (The Speech, Return Of The Hero, Up For Love) to Prokino in Germany, Selecta Vision in Spain, I Wonder in Italy, Cineart in Benelux, Praesens in Switzerland, Thim Films in Austria, ADS in Hungary, Bohemia for the Czech Republic and Slovakia, Eden in Israel, Scene and Sound in South Korea and Falcon in Indonesia.
The ensemble comedy starring Valérie Bonneton, Camille Chamoux and Claire Nadeau follows a group of nuns living in a small convent in the French countryside who enter a major cycling race hoping to win a cash prize to renovate a run-down retirement home in their village. The film is produced by Les Films sur Mesure, Tirard’s joint production company with Olivia Lagache, and co-produced by M6 Films with pre-sales to Canal+ and Cine+. It is headed for theatrical release in France via Le Pacte on February 15, 2023.
Returning filmmakers
Charades has boarded sales on Rémi Bezançon’s Paint It Gold (Un Coup de Maître) starring Vincent Macaigne, Bouli Lanners and Bastien Ughetto and produced by Mandarin et Compagnie, Kinovista, Scope Pictures and Proximus.
A remake of Gaston Duprat’s 2018 title Mi Obra Maestra, Paint It Gold follows a Parisian art gallery owner working with a longtime friend and radical painter. When the latter finds himself in an existential crisis of “painters block,” the former develops a master plan to save both of their careers. Zinc will release the film in France. Bezançon is the filmmaker behind French titles such as Love Is In The Air (2005), The First Day Of The Rest Of Your Life (2007), A Happy Event (2010) and Our Futures (2014) and more recently The Mystery Of Henri Pick (2018). Charades will show a promo reel of the upcoming title to buyers at the market
Charades will also kick off sales for Katell Quillévéré’s Le Temps d’Aimer starring Anais Demoustier and Vincent Lacoste. The story set in Normandy in 1947 follows a waitress and young mother and a wealthy student whose paths collide as both attempt to run from their past.
Quillévéré co-created and directed Netflix and Arte musical series The World of Tomorrow (Le Monde de Demain) about the birth of the French hip hop movement in the 1980s that took the top prize at the 2022 Series Mania. She also directed 2015 film Heal The Living and 2013’s Suzanne.
Le Temps d’Aimer is produced by Les Films Pelléas and Les Films du Bélier in co-production with Gaumont, France 2 Cinéma, Frakas productions, Pictanovo Hauts-de-France, Proximus, VOO, Be TV and Belgian TV group RTBF.
Charades will also be serving buyers a promo reel of Chiara Malta and Sébastien Laudenbach’s animated family film Chicken For Linda! The film stars Laetitia Dosch and Clotilde Hesme in a story about a mother who feels guilty for punishing her daughter and tries to make it up to her by making her favourite chicken dish, but runs into a series of obstacles along the way. Chicken For Linda! is produced by Dolce Vita Films and Miyu Productions.
New voices
Charades has also bolstered its slate with a series of first features including Giacomo Abbruzzese’s Disco Boy that follows the intertwining stories of a French Foreign Legion fighter and a man in a village in the Niger Delta fighting oil companies which kidnaps French nationals. The film is produced by Films Grand Huit, Dugong Films, Panache Productions & La Compagnie Cinématographique. The film is produced by Films Grand Huit, Dugong Films and Donten & Lacroix. Charades will unveil the first trailer for the film at the market.
Noé Debré’s A Good Jewish Boy stars Agnès Jaoui and Michael Zindel about a mother and son who find themselves the last Jewish residents in town and contemplate their future. The film is produced by Moonshaker. Debré co-wrote Tom McCarthy’s Stillwater and Jacques Audiard’s Dheepan.
Jérémy Clapin’s Meanwhile On Earth (Pendant Ce temps Sur Terre) follows a 23 year-old girl mourning the loss of her older brother who disappeared during a space mission. Three years after the tragedy, she is contacted by an unknown life form claiming to be able to bring him safely back to earth. Clapin is the filmmaker behind animated title I Lost My Body that premiered at Cannes’ Critics’ Week and was nominated for a Best Animated Feature Oscar.
Meanwhile On Earth is produced by One World Films alongside France 3 Cinéma, Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes Cinéma, Carcadice and U Media.
Charades will also continue sales on Baya Kasmi’s second feature The (In)famous Youssef Salem starring Ramzy Bedia, Noémie Lvovsky and Vimala Pons in a story about a Maghrebi novelist who grapples with the pros and cons of overnight success after publishing a book about his family.
Charades was founded in 2018 by a trio of industry veterans – former head of international sales at Wild Bunch Carole Baraton, former deputy head of international sales at Gaumont Yohann Comte and former VP of international sales at Studiocanal Pierre Mazars. Recent titles include Charlotte Wells’ Aftersun, Cannes’ Forever Young and Tchaikovsky’s Wife, and Venice premiere Amanda.
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