– The French sales agent will be pinning its hopes on Manuela Martelli’s The Meltdown in Un Certain Regard and on Lila Pinell’s Shana in the Directors’ Fortnight
The Meltdown by Manuela Martelli
At the Marché du Film (12-20 May) of the 79th Cannes Film Festival, the international sales department of French company Les Films du Losange fully intends to capitalise on two sophomore features helmed by female directors who have already trodden the Croisette.
The first of them, The Meltdown by Chile’s Manuela Martelli, will be unveiled in the Official Selection, in Un Certain Regard. Having risen to prominence in the 2022 Directors’ Fortnight with 1976, the filmmaker is back with a story she wrote that takes place in Chile in 1992. The country is still scarred by years of dictatorship. Staying at her grandparents’ remote hotel near an Andean ski resort, nine-year-old Inès befriends 15-year-old Hanna, a German skier. When Hanna vanishes without a trace, the search for her exposes hidden truths. Standing out among the cast are Maya O’Rourke, Maia Rae Domagala, Saskia Rosendahl, Jakub Gierszal, Paulina Urrutia and Mauricio Pešutić. Production duties (see the interview with Alejandra Garcia) were handled by Chilean firms Ronda Cine and Wood Producciones, together with the USA’s Cinema Inutile. Co-producing companies involved were Spain’s Elastica Films, Mexico’s Piano and Chile’s Fundación Río. It is also worth noting the involvement of Benjamín Echazarreta (Gloria, A Fantastic Woman) as DoP.
In the Directors’ Fortnight, Alice Lesort’s team will have high hopes for Shana by France’s Lila Pinell (see the article). Having taken part in ACID at Cannes in 2017 with Kiss and Cry (a film she co-directed with Chloé Mahieu), the helmer has written a story revolving around Shana, who navigates the trials and tribulations of everyday life with boundless energy and the support of her group of friends. When her grandmother passes away, she inherits a ring that is supposed to protect her from bad luck. Shana certainly needs this helping hand, especially since her toxic partner has been released from prison, and her misfortunes are piling up. Toplining the film is Eva Huault, who is flanked by Noémie Lvovsky, Inès Gherib, Anaïs Monah, Bettina de Van, Sékouba Doucouré, Solal Bouloudnine and Sarah Benabdallah. Handling production are Emmanuel Chaumet for Ecce Films and Charles Gillibert for CG Cinéma, with France 2 Cinéma serving as a co-producer.
These two features will be distributed in French theatres by Les Films du Losange, which will also be negotiating deals at the Marché du Film for two tantalising upcoming titles: Out of This World by Spaniard Albert Serra (who has decided to take his time to edit the movie) and The First Taste of Loneliness by China’s Gu Xiaogang (who rose to fame in the 2019 Critics’ Week with Dwelling in the Fuchun Mountains), which is currently in post-production.
(Translated from French)
