– The German-French sales outfit presents a slate led by the latest feature by Tiago Guedes and the new documentary by Alexander Murphy, alongside a strong roster of market titles
Aquí by Tiago Guedes
German-French international sales agent Films Boutique is returning to the Cannes Film Festival with a diverse line-up that foregrounds two high-profile selections: a Cannes Première title and a Critics’ Week world premiere. The slate is rounded off by a series of market screenings taking place throughout the Marché du Film (13–21 May).
Heading the line-up is Aquí by Portuguese filmmaker Tiago Guedes (Remains of the Wind, The Domain), selected in the Cannes Première section. Drawing inspiration from the “Jesus Trilogy” by Nobel Prize-winning author J.M. Coetzee, the film is set in a new land where everyone receives a new name and begins again without a past. Simón takes responsibility for David, a child he meets while crossing into this new life, and, driven by an inexplicable conviction, sets out to find the boy’s mother, even though David remembers nothing about her. When he recognises Inés as the right woman, she accepts the role, and an unlikely bond forms between them. While society imposes rigid rules and treats difference as a threat, David resists being shaped, standing instead for imagination and freedom. The cast includes Manolo Solo (The Good Boss, Close Your Eyes) and Patricia López Arnaiz (Sundays, 20,000 Species of Bees).
Also playing a prominent role in the slate is Tin Castle, the latest documentary by Alexander Murphy (Goodbye Sisters), which will celebrate its world premiere in Critics’ Week. The film centres on the O’Reilly family, who live in a rundown trailer on a long-forgotten rural road. Pa’, Lisa and their ten children weather the seasons in their fragile “tin castle”, heirs to a way of life on borrowed time. As the threat of eviction looms, their precarious balance begins to falter; yet they remain steadfast in their traditions, offering a tender portrait of resilience on the margins.
Among the market titles is Soumsoum, the Night of the Stars by Mahamat-Saleh Haroun, following its Berlinale Competition premiere, I Understand Your Displeasure by Kilian Armando Friedrich, which premiered in Berlinale Panorama, and in the documentary field, Mariinka by Pieter-Jan De Pue, which opened CPH:DOX.
Alex Camilleri’s Zejtune, which world-premiered in Göteborg and will now compete at the Tribeca Film Festival, is also part of the line-up. The film follows a woman returning to Malta to sell inherited land, only to reconnect with her roots through an encounter with an elderly folk singer. Also featured is Hot Water, the debut feature by Ramzi Bashour, a road movie charting the evolving relationship between an American teenager and his Lebanese mother as they journey west after his expulsion from school.
Completing the slate is a secret film selected for the Cannes Classics section, which will be unveiled during the Marché du Film through a series of private screenings.
