“Make the Movie Sexy”: International Trade Representatives Talk Market Wish Lists | News

Films with local “charm” that work within a genre framework and not just drama are the qualities the market is looking for, a group of international sales agents said at the BFI London Film Festival today (October 14).

“Local specificity that gives a story a nuance, a charm, a distinctiveness that is still within a genre framework and still universally accessible,” were the factors the market supported, said Sophie Green, head of acquisitions and development in the UK Bankside Films.

“Everyone is really committed to ‘local for global,'” she added.

Green cited Jim Archer as an example Brian and Charlesfor which Bankside sold the US rights to Focus Features after its premiere at Sundance 2022. “Very small, couldn’t be more quirky, set in rural Wales on a damp rural farm… It was full of humor but also felt different and interesting. That Welsh and mockumentary aspect gave it enough differentiation without it feeling too local or too restrictive.”

kneecap was another film from a local film with a global reach. The biopic about an Irish-language hip-hop band from Belfast that few outside the island of Ireland had heard of before premiered at Sundance earlier this year and passed the £2 million mark at the UK and Irish box office.

“We are all watching the success of kneecapsaid Madeleine Tangney, Sales Manager at Visit Films. The US team has a project called “ Skintownbased on an Irish novel by Ciaran McMenamin.

“It’s two teenagers who are best friends near the end of ‘The Troubles,’ but there are also a lot of universal elements,” Tangney suggested. “We definitely have concerns that if something feels hyperlocal, it won’t translate well.”

Tangney says this kneecap The effect fascinates buyers. “When I talk to buyers about it [Skintown], kneecapThe success leads them to believe that this will be well received. But how is this different from kneecap?”

Down, but not out

Drama remains a battle. “The big takeaway from the market right now is: anything but drama,” said Green. “This is doubled down everywhere we go. And of course you have to take that with caution, because yes [it can work] But if you get a wonderful festival premiere and it’s well-reviewed, you have to get there first.”

“During Covid and after, people gravitated toward escapism,” Tangney noted. “They don’t want to go to the theater and see a movie that reminds them of the problems they already face in their everyday lives. That was a harder sell.”

But drama isn’t dead. Bankside still has about “eight or nine” dramas on the schedule, Green said, but to work they need to be “comedy, feel good, be life-affirming and have positive messages.” It cannot be a reflection of the society in which it is too dark, too hard, too real.”

“Drama is at the core of independent cinema,” said Sata Cissokho, acquisitions director at French agent Memento International. “It was challenging and forced us to diversify our offering. So we have dramas that we have always worked on because that is what we do as independent companies, but we also bring genre films and comedies to the market.”

A successful festival world premiere with awards is more important than ever, says Virginie Devesa, founder of Paris-based Alpha Violet, which represents the Sundance Grand Jury Prize Sujowhich is also screening at the BFI London Film Festival. “Basically make the film sexy and it will sell,” she said.

The BFI London Film Festival runs until October 20th.