MFI boards Nana & Simon's Sundance-bound 'My Happy Family'

Memento Films International (MFI) has taken on world sales of Nana Ekvtimishvili and Simon Gross’s second feature My Happy Family ahead of its world premiere at the Sundance Film Festival in January.

The Paris-based sales company previously handled the directorial duo’s critically-acclaimed and award-winning work In Bloom.

Set against the backdrop of Ekvtimishvili’s native Georgia, the film stars big screen debutant La Shugliashvili as a literature teacher in her 50s who decides to move out of her chaotic, crowded flat in Tbilisi inhabited by several generations of her family.

The move sparks a questioning of the balance between personal freedom and family relationships.

“This is an amazing portrait of a woman looking for her place in society and the correct distance to speak out about things, which were hidden for too long,” commented MFI managing director Emilie Georges.

“It’s super modern and Nina & Simon’s cinema finds an even greater resonance with today’s world. Their flair for group scenes, musical moments and sequence shots is astonishing.”

Georgia-born Ekvtimishvili and German director Gross have been collaborating since the latter’s 2007 directorial debut Fata Morgana, on which they co-wrote the script.

Their first joint work In Bloom travelled to more than 100 festivals world-wide and was Georgia’s best foreign language film submission in 2014.

My Happy Family is a co-production between Germany’s augenschein Film Produktion, Georgian Polare Film and Paris-based Arizona Productions.

The film world premieres in Sundance’s World Dramatic Competition.