Several more films by/about women have found distribution deals at the “seller’s market” in Cannes. Among them are:
— Anne Hathaway’s romantic drama Song One. Kate Barker-Froyland’s feature debut isn’t playing at the Croisette, but the Sundance favorite was sold there. Hathaway plays an archaeologist whose musician brother falls into a coma after a car accident; her character then develops a relationship with her brother’s favorite crooner. (Read Women and Hollywood’s interview with Barker-Froyland about Song One.) [Deadline]
— Brie Larson’s dramatic thriller Room. Based on the Booker Prize-nominated novel by Emma Donoghue, the film focuses on the abduction of a five-year-old boy and his mother (Larson), turning on the gradual realization that the kidnapper is an old tormentor from the mother’s past. Donoghue’s critically acclaimed novel has so far sold 2 million copies. [THR]
— The father-daughter drama La Meraviglie, one of only two women-directed films in competition at Cannes. The second feature from Alice Rohrwacher, La Meraviglie centers on the conflict between a traditional father in the country and a media-dazzled daughter who dreams of the life she sees on TV. Monica Bellucci co-stars. Rights were secured for France and Latin America. [Variety]
— The Critics Week pick Self Made, an exploration of the Israeli-Palestinian border. Helmed by Shira Geffen, whose feature debut Jellyfish won the Camera d’Or prize in 2007 (Cannes’ honor for best first film), Self Made looks at the lives of two women — one Israeli, the other Palestinian — who end up living each other’s lives after a mix-up at a checkpoint station. [Variety]