Cannes

According to an article in "The Hollywood Reporter: The Cannes Daily," this years Cannes Marche du Film was a quiet one, with limited headline grabbing deals. Between buyers being more selective and sellers working to create profits in a difficult economy, deals are taking longer to be worked out. Typical big North American buyers such as IFC Films, Phase 4 Films and Sony Pictures Classics went through Tuesday without making any deals. Newcomers Red Flag Releasing and Oscilloscope Laboratories have still yet to buy. David Fenkel from Oscilloscope explains, "There will be plenty of deals over the next month. It is a quieter year but that's not because there aren't good films." In addition there may be less excitement in the Marche due to less "substantial" titles compared to past years. Other explanations stem from changes in the industry that have made Cannes less of a necessity to create domestic deals, as well as many non-US companies making early deals, before Cannes. Some of these pre-Cannes deals included SPC's (who is still considering Mike Leigh's "Another Year") early deal for "Tarmara Drewe" and CAA who sold Doug Liman's "Fair Game."

Despite the slow sales and less headlines, market deals are still occurring and according to Nathanael Karmitz, CEO of MK2, international sales are looking positive. For newcomer Olive Films, the festival has been a busy time for them, picking up the following films: Danish film "R;" package deal with German company The Match Factory which included Semih Kaplanoglu's "Yusuf Trilogy": "Yumurta" (Egg), "Sut" (Milk) and "Bal" (Honey); Claudia Llosa's "The Milk Sorrow;" and "Me Too" from directors Alvaro Pastor and Antonio Naharro.

Other deals at this year's Marche du Film include:

MK2 won pre-sales for Walter Salles' "On the Road"

Germany's Telepool sold "Cargo," "The Door," "Mein Kampf," and "When We Leave" to Canada's Mongrel ("Cargo" and "The Door"), France's Seven Sept ("Cargo" and "Mein Kampf") and to Scandinavia's CCV. 

"Little Big Soldier," Jakie Chans newest movie, has been sold to U.K.'s Shadow Box Media, Italy's One Movie SRL, France's Metropolitan Filmexport, Benelux's Splendid Film and Japan's Presidio. 

Shadowbox, One Movie, and various Middle East and Asian buyers purchased Chan's production "The Break-Up Artist."

Shadowbox also gained rights to Chan's "Cambodia Landmine," "Tiger Mountain," and "Manhattan."

-Rebecca Sokoloff