Toronto, Canada – September 9, 2011 – Sundance Selects announced today from the 2011 Toronto International Film Festival that the company is acquiring North American rights to Christophe Honoré’s BELOVED. The film, with a screenplay also by Honoré, stars Catherine Deneuve, Chiara Mastroianni, Ludivine Sagnier, Louis Garrel, Paul Schneider and Milos Forman and was produced by Why Not Productions, France 2 Cinéma, Sixteen Films, Negativ with the Participation of Canal + France.
BELOVED was the closing night film of the 2011 Cannes Film Festival and will be a Gala Presentation at the 2011 Toronto International Film Festival. This marks the fifth film Sundance Selects have done with Honoré. The previously partnered on DANS PARIS, LOVE SONGS, LA BELLE PERSONNE, and MAKING PLANS FOR LENA.
Starring Catherine Deneuve and (her real-life daughter) Chiara Mastroianni, this sly and exquisitely romantic musical drama from (Love Songs, Dans Paris) spans over three decades as it follows a mother and daughter’s misadventures in love. In the ‘60s, Madeleine (Ludivine Sagnier) leaves Paris to re-join her Czech husband Jaromil (Rasha Bukvic) in Prague, but his infidelities and the arrival of Russian tanks in the city lead her back to France. Thirty years later we follow the romance of Madeleine’s daughter, Vera, who falls in love with a musician in London who is incapable of devoting himself to her. Meanwhile in Paris, a re-married Madeleine (Deneuve) has rekindled her love affair with Jaromil (Milos Forman). Louis Garreland Paul Schneider also star in this light-hearted but ultimately moving exploration of the changing nature of relationships, with music by Alex Beaupain.
Jonathan Sehring, President of Sundance Selects, said: "BELOVED is a one-of-a-kind film featuring some of the world’s great actors including the phenomenal pairing of Catherine Deneuve, her daughter Chiara Mastroianni and Ludivine Sagnier. Christophe Honore has made his most accomplished film filled with the joy of cinema. We’re happy to be working with him for the 5th time and with Pascal Caucheteaux and Why Not Productions and believe this will be his most successful film."
The deal for the film was negotiated by Arianna Bocco, Senior Vice President of Acquisitions & Productions for Sundance Selects with Hengameh Panahi of Celluloid Dreams on behalf of the filmmakers.
In its first year, Sundance Selects films included: Herzog’s CAVE OF FORGOTTEN DREAMS, Sundance Film Festival Audience Award winner BUCK and Abbas Kiraostami’s CERTIFIED COPY for which Juliette Binoche won the Best Actress award at Cannes. The new label will also present 7 films at the upcoming Toronto International Film Festival including Wim Wender’s PINA, Joshua Marston’s Berlin Silver Bear winner THE FORGIVENESS OF BLOOD and the Dardennes’ Cannes Grand Prix winner THE KID WITH A BIKE. Other upcoming releases include SXSW Audience Award winner WEEKEND, Sundance award winner THE BLACK POWER MIXTAPES 1967-1975 and Cannes Jury Prize winner POLISS.
Sundance Selects is a sister division to IFC Films and IFC Midnight, and is owned and operated by AMC Networks, Inc.
About Sundance Selects:
Established in 2009 and based in New York City, Sundance Selects is a leading U.S. distributor of prestige films focusing on American independents, documentaries and world cinema. Its unique distribution model makes independent prestige films available to a national audience by releasing them in theaters as well as on cable’s Video On Demand (VOD) platform, reaching nearly 50 million homes. Some of the company’s successes include Abbas Kiarostami’s CERTIFIED COPY starring Juliette Binoche, Sundance audience award-winner BUCK, Academy Award® winner Errol Morris’documentary TABLOID, and Werner Herzog’s 3D documentary CAVE OF FORGOTTEN DREAMS, which at $4.9 million and counting has become the company’s biggest grossing success since MY BIG FAT GREEK WEDDING. Upcoming Sundance Selects releases include Sundance award-winning THE BLACK POWER MIXTAPE: 1967-1974, SXSW award-winner WEEKEND, director Wim Wenders’ 3D PINA, Cannes Grand Prix winner THE KID WITH A BIKE directed by the Dardennes brothers, and Maiwenn’s Cannes Prix du Jury winner POLISS. Sundance Selects is a sister division to IFC Films and IFC Midnight, and is owned and operated by AMC Networks, Inc.