Films Boutique, the Berlin-based company behind “Pacifiction” and “The Burdened,” has come on board three international movies slated for the Cannes Film Festival. These include a pair of films set for Cannes’ Un Certain Regard, “Terrestrial Verses” and “The Buriti Flower,” as well as “Tiger Stripes” which will bow at Critics’ Week.
“Terrestrial Verses,” directed by Alireza Khatami and Ali Asgari, is the sole Iranian film premiering in the Official Selection. The movie marks the first collaboration between these two critically acclaimed directors.
Khatami previously wrote and directed “Oblivion Verses” which won best screenplay and the Fipresci prizes at Venice in 2017. Asgari, meanwhile, previously directed “Until Tomorrow” which premiered at Berlin last year, and presented two shorts at Cannes, “More Than Two Hours” in 2013 et“Il Silenzio”in 2016.
While the plot remains under wrap, the film’s title is a reference to a poet by famed Iranian Poet Forugh Farrokhzad.
Gabor Greiner, Films Boutique’s COO, said “‘Terrestrial Verses’ is one of the strongest films we have seen this year.”
“The Buriti Flower,” is a timely Brazilian movie co-directed by João Salaviza and Renée Nader Messora. The movie reteams Salaviza and Messora whose 2018 movie “The Dead and The Others” won the Jury Special Award at Un Certain Regard. “The Buriti Flower” also portrays the Krahô indigenous community featured in “The Dead and The Others.”
Set in the heard of the Brazilian forest and lensed in 16mm, the movie tells three periods of the history of indigenous people through the eyes of a young girl, Patpro. The Krahô community never stop inventing new forms of resistance and continue being guided by their ancestral rites, as well as their love of nature, in spite of being being tirelessly persecuted.
“’The Buriti Flower’ is a hopeful story especially in the context of Brazilian recent history, where the indigenous communities are gaining visibility as well as political representation,” said Jean-Christophe Simon at Films Boutique, adding that it’s a “also a very important film showing the ongoing fight to preserve the nature and the rainforest”.
The film is coming out at an important time since Brazil’s new president, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, has appointed indigenous leader Sonia Guajajara (who also appears in the film) as the first minister of the newly created ministry of indigenous affairs.
“The Buriti Flower” will be released by Ad Vitam in France, Embaúba Filmes in Brazil, and in Portugal by Desforra Apache. The movie was produced by Karõ Filmes in Portugal and Entre Filmes in Brazil.
Films Boutique will also turn up at Critics Week, the Cannes sidebar dedicated to first and second films, with “Tiger Stripes,” the debut feature of Malaysian director Amanda Nell Eu.
The film tells the story of Zaffan, a 12 year-old girl who discovers a terrifying secret about her body. Ostracized by her community, Zaffan fights back, learning that in order to be free she must embrace the body she feared, emerging as a proud, strong woman.
“Tiger Stripes” stars Zafreen Zairizal, Deena Ezral and Piqa. It was produced by Foo Fei Ling, Patrick Mao Huang, Fran Borgia, Juliette Lepoutre, Pierre Menahem, Jonas Weydemann, Ellen Havenith and Yulia Evina Bhara. The movie will be released in France by Jour2Fete.
“We’re excited to present an extremely diverse line-up in Cannes. The films are dealing with important political topics of our time but they are also aiming to reach an audience who has an appetite for discoveries and to see entertaining films,” said Simon.
“The talent of our filmmakers is to start from topics rooted in the communities they live in to tell unique stories with an appeal for international audiences. The three films also have pretty clear marketing angles and hooks for distributors,” Simon continued.
Films Boutique will also host a raft of market screenings for its recent Berlinale titles, notably “The Klezmer Project ” directed by Leandro Koch and Paloma Schachmann which won best first film; “Zhang Lu’s “The Shadowless Tower,” Tibor Bánóczki and Sarolta Szabó’s animated feature “White Plastic Sky,” as well as Amr Gamal’s “The Burdened,” Claire Simon’s “Our Body” and Jessica Woodworth’s “Luka.”
