Berlin- and Paris-based Salaud Morisset, a leading short film production and distribution outfit, has acquired two feature films for world sales – one selected by Karlovy Vary Film Festival and the other by Locarno Film Festival – as the company accelerates into feature film sales and production.
Salaud Morisset has taken world sales rights on Cyril Aris’ feature documentary “Dancing on the Edge of a Volcano,” which premiered in the main competition at Karlovy Vary this week and received a Special Jury Mention, and Una Gunjak’s fiction feature “Excursion,” just announced as the opener of Locarno Film Festival’s Filmmakers of the Present section. Salaud Morisset, which is also a co-producer on “Excursion,” aims to continue fostering synergies between its production and sales operations as it commits to a full slate of feature projects.
Salaud Morisset will also continue handling selected shorts and represents international rights for “Dammi” by Yann Demange (“Blade,” “Top Boy,” “Lovecraft Country”), starring Riz Ahmed. “Dammi” is also headed to Locarno, where the film will be screened at the Piazza Grande on the fest’s opening night, and Ahmed’s career impact will be honored with the fest’s Excellence Award. “Dammi” is produced by AMI Paris and Vixens in co-production with Wayward Films.
Salaud Morisset was founded by François Morisset in 2012, and quickly established a reputation in the short film sector as a producer, distributor and awards campaigner. Its track record with shorts includes an Oscar in the live action short film category for Guy Nattiv’s “Skin” in 2019, as well as several nominations in the Oscars’ live action short category, and a European Film Award. It has also represented sales for recent shorts by major directors such as Jonathan Glazer (“The Fall,” “Strasbourg 1518”) and Yorgos Lanthimos (“Nimic”).
Salaud Morisset has also been instrumental in spreading the word about new talent, working on shorts that helped break the careers of directors such as Molly Manning Walker (“How to Have Sex”), Ali Asgari (“Terrestrial Verses”) and Wei Shujun (“only the River Flows”) – all of whom had films in Cannes’ official selection this year. Other notable directors in Morisset’s back catalog include Ladj Ly, whose short film “Les Miserables” Salaud Morisset handled before Ly went on to direct the feature version.
Morisset also boasts long standing relationships with other A-list talent through shorts. The company worked with Oscar Isaac on Elvira Lind’s Oscar nominated short “The Letter Room” and with Tom Holland on the short “Last Call,” which premiered in Tribeca. Morisset regularly keeps in touch with the big four talent agencies. He was invited to join AMPAS in 2021 and currently serves on the Short Film and Feature Animation Executive committee.
Morisset’s previous experience in feature films includes time with the German distribution company DCM Film Distribution, where he started in acquisitions in 2012, ultimately becoming head of finance and part of the DCM’s management board, taking an active role in the acquisition and distribution of titles such as “Moonlight,” “I, Tonya” and “Carol.”
On the production side, Salaud Morisset has produced over a dozen short films and has production executives in Paris and Berlin.
Gunjak’s “Excursion,” co-produced through the Paris arm, is their first finished feature film.
Their upcoming slate includes projects in development by several other directors whose award-winning short films they handled, such as Georgi M. Unkovski, whose short “Sticker” Salaud Morisset brought to Sundance, and Damian Kocur, whose first feature “Bread and Salt” premiered in Venice’s Horizons section last year. Salaud Morisset is also on board to co-produce Gunjak’s next feature film.
As his company prepares for a busy summer and commits to the big leap from shorts to features, Morisset shared his vision for the company with PvNew: “Our philosophy is to focus on upcoming directors and very contemporary stories. We like it when those stories have a positive angle. With our selective approach, only a few films a year, we’ve built strong long-lasting relationships with our talents through shorts, so it makes perfect sense at this point to support them with the same energy and high standards on their feature films.
“In recent years, we also actively supported our community of directors in their transition to features by leveraging our expertise, contacts with producers, sales agents, and talent agencies. Now we are making it official and jumping into these projects with them ourselves. This collaborative approach is the foundation for how and which projects we decide to board.”
Salaud Morisset’s strengths also include relationships with key distributors, having sold short films as well as multi-film packages to A24, Netflix, HBO, Showtime, the BBC, MUBI, Disney+, Canal+ and Criterion, among others. Salaud Morisset’s large team – a staff of 11 spread between Berlin and Paris – ensures that the company can maximize exposure and revenue for each film.
NEW ACQUISITIONS AND KICKOFF OF FEATURE SALES SLATE
“Dancing on the Edge of a Volcano” is the second feature documentary directed by Cyril Aris. The film begins in the aftermath of the catastrophic explosion of Aug. 4, 2020 in Beirut, where a film crew is facing a serious dilemma: Should they defy the chaos and move forward with the shooting of their film or surrender to the multiple crises that are spreading all over the country? “Dancing on the Edge of a Volcano” captures their relentless battle to keep making cinema in a shattered city.
The Germany/Lebanon co-production is produced by Katharina Weser for Reynard Films and Myriam Sassine for Abbout Productions.
Aris’ debut feature documentary, “The Swing” (2018) also premiered at the Karlovy Vary Film Festival, going on to win awards in Rome, El-Gouna and London. His last fiction short film, “The President’s Visit” (2017), premiered at the Toronto Film Festival.
Aris studied at Columbia University in New York, and has taught Film at Columbia, NHSI at Northwestern University and Barnard College.
Aris is also known as the editor of “Costa Brava, Lebanon” (2021), directed by Mounia Akl, which premiered at the 78th Venice Film Festival, won the NETPAC award at Toronto and the audience award at the BFI London Film Festival.
Morisset noted: “I’ve been a great admirer of Cyril Aris’ works since I discovered ‘The President’s Visit’ at Toronto. I was blown away by ‘Dancing on the Edge of a Volcano,’ its portrait of Lebanon and its vision of the powerful resilience of humanity and of art.”
“Excursion” is the debut feature film by Una Gunjak, the Sarajevo born director best known for her short film “The Chicken,” winner of the European Film Award for Best European Short in 2014, among more than 60 international awards. “The Chicken” premiered at Cannes Critics’ Week, before screening at festivals such as Sundance, Palm Springs where it won Best Short, and New York’s New Directors/New Films. Gunjak is a graduate of the U.K.’s National Film & TV School.
“Excursion” is set in Gunjak’s hometown of Sarajevo, where a teenager seeking validation claims that she had sex for the first time during a game of “truth or dare” among middle schoolers. Trapped in her own lie, she invents a pregnancy and becomes the center of a controversy that spirals out of control.
“Excursion” is a Bosnia/Croatia/Serbia/France Norway/Qatar co-production produced by SCCA/pro.ba (Amra Bakšić Čamo, Adis Đapo), Nukleus film (Siniša JURIČIĆ), Baš Čelik (Jelena Mitrovic), Salaud Morisset (François Morisset), and Mer Film (Gary Cranner).
Morisset added: “Una Gunjak’s short ‘The Chicken’ was a breakthrough for us almost 10 years ago. Her debut feature ‘Excursion’ explores how peer pressure sends a young woman down a spiral of lies. It questions how the collective influences the way young people today approach love and intimacy. ‘Excursion’ confirms that Una Gunjak is one of the most promising and insightful talents of her generation.”
