Jane Austen Wrecked My Life

Source: Photo credit © Les Films du Veyrier & Sciapode

(L-R): Charlie Anson and Camille Rutherford in ‘Jane Austen Wrecked My Life’

The Bureau Sales has closed multiple sales on French romantic comedy and Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) Centrepiece selection Jane Austen Wrecked My Life .

Sony Pictures Classics swooped on North America and select territories earlier in the festival. 

Writer/director Laura Piani’s debut feature has sold to Australia and New Zealand (Hi Gloss Entertainment), Germany, Austria and Switzerland (Splendid Film), Scandinavia (Scanbox), Spain (La Aventura Cine), Greece (Cinobo), Benelux (Vertigo Films Distribution) and CIS (Provzglyad).

Sony Pictures Classics acquired rights last week for North America, Latin America, the Middle East, Eastern Europe and worldwide airlines on the modern riff based on the titular English novelist’s romantic classic.

Anatomy Of A Fall’s Camille Rutherford stars as an aspiring writer working at a Parisian bookstore who heads to the Jane Austen Writers’ Residency in England where life and literature collide as she attempts to finish her novel and get her sentimental life on track.

Pablo Pauly, Charlie Anson and Annabelle Lengronne also star in the film which includes a cameo from Frederick Wiseman playing a poet. It is produced by Gabrielle Dumon for Sciapode and Les Films du Veyrier.

Financiers include French broadcasters Canal+ and Ciné+, regional funds Pictanovo (Région Hauts-de-France) and Région Ile-de-France, Sofica Indéfilms 12, French distributor Paname Distribution, and worldwide sales agent The Bureau Sales.

“International distributors have described the film as a delightful and refreshing modern romantic comedy, skilfully combining French charm with a touch of British elegance, which appeals to audiences while maintaining its auteur’s signature style,” said The Bureau’s head of sales Clementine Hugot.