Post by The Ultimate Nullifier on May 24, 2014 7:32:53 GMT -6
variety.com/2014/film/finance/cohen-media-group-takes-cannes-competition-player-timbuktu-1201191182/
CANNES – Cohen Media Group has acquired U.S. rights to Abderrahmane Sissako’s Cannes Competition entry “Timbuktu.”
Set in a village outside Timbuktu, after the jihadist occupation of northern Mali in 2012, “Timbuktu” turns of a Kidane, a goat and cattle herder and father of a family who accidently kills a man, and is subjected to punishment according to the fundamentalists’ interpretation of sharia law.
Playing early in competition, “Timbuktu” received mostly upbeat reviews, Variety, in one of the most positive, calling the film “a stunningly shot condemnation of intolerance and its annihilation of diversity, told in a way that clearly denounces without resorting to cardboard perpetrators.” Negotiated by industry vet John Kochman, CMG exec VP, and Camille Neel, head of international sales at Paris-based Le Pacte, the U.S deal was announced Saturday midday, as anticipation builds up to Saturday evening’s Cannes competition awards ceremony.
“’Timbuktu’ is a movie that finds the raw, emotional heart in a political conflict and holds it up to the light,” said Kochman.
He added: “Abderrahmane Sissako’s calm, objective eye paints characters who are all-too-real performing acts both heroic and hard to understand. He truly is one of Africa’s great filmmakers and Timbuktu is a masterpiece of storytelling, filmmaking, and human compassion. We are proud to be bringing it to a wider audience in America.”
CANNES – Cohen Media Group has acquired U.S. rights to Abderrahmane Sissako’s Cannes Competition entry “Timbuktu.”
Set in a village outside Timbuktu, after the jihadist occupation of northern Mali in 2012, “Timbuktu” turns of a Kidane, a goat and cattle herder and father of a family who accidently kills a man, and is subjected to punishment according to the fundamentalists’ interpretation of sharia law.
Playing early in competition, “Timbuktu” received mostly upbeat reviews, Variety, in one of the most positive, calling the film “a stunningly shot condemnation of intolerance and its annihilation of diversity, told in a way that clearly denounces without resorting to cardboard perpetrators.” Negotiated by industry vet John Kochman, CMG exec VP, and Camille Neel, head of international sales at Paris-based Le Pacte, the U.S deal was announced Saturday midday, as anticipation builds up to Saturday evening’s Cannes competition awards ceremony.
“’Timbuktu’ is a movie that finds the raw, emotional heart in a political conflict and holds it up to the light,” said Kochman.
He added: “Abderrahmane Sissako’s calm, objective eye paints characters who are all-too-real performing acts both heroic and hard to understand. He truly is one of Africa’s great filmmakers and Timbuktu is a masterpiece of storytelling, filmmaking, and human compassion. We are proud to be bringing it to a wider audience in America.”