Paris-based Wide House is reuniting with French filmmaker Claire Simon on her upcoming documentaries Young Solitude and The Village.
The documentary specialist is kicking-off sales on Young Solitude, which will be the first work to come to fruition, at this week’s Unifrance Rendez-vous with French Cinema in Paris.
It captures a group of 16 to 18-year-old teenagers at a high school in a Paris suburb as they chat about their personal history, family, passions, aspirations and sense of loneliness as they approach adulthood.
The film is produced by Paris-based Sophie Dulac Distribution which will also handle the French release.
The sales collaboration continues an on-going relationship between Wide House and Simon, known for her up-close, observational works capturing the human drama in the ordinary.
The company will also continue sales on the director’s last film The Graduation, following the tough admissions process to get into France’s prestigious film school La Fémis, at the Rendez-vous.
“We’re very proud to continue this journey with Claire on this new film as well as The Village,” said Wide House head of sales Elise Cochin.
The Village, she reveals, follows life in village of Lussas in the South of France, which is also known in the French documentary industry as the location of the annual meeting, the États généraux du film documentaire.
It has been another high profile 12 months for Wide House as the international sales agent of Raoul Peck’s Oscar-nominated I Am Not Your Negro, which is also nominated in the documentary category of this year’s Baftas.
May 68 doc
Further new titles being launched by Wide House at the Rendez-vous include Mai 68, La Belle Ouvrage by filmmaker Jean-Luc Magneron, the father of the founding chief of Wide House’s sister company Wide Management Loic Magneron, who is the producer on the work.
The documentary, available in 52-minute and 117-minute versions, shows rare footage shot by Magneron during the May 1968 riots in Paris.
Wide House highlights the interviews in the piece which give rare insight into the mood on the streets during the protests and remaining “poignantly” relevant today. Most of the footage has never been shown before.
The documentary is being released as France marks the 50th anniversary of the 1968 strikes and protests uniting students, factory workers and artists across the country calling for social and political change and which left a lasting legacy on French society and politics to this day.
Montessori sales
Other titles on the Wide House Rendez-vous slate include French director Alexandre Mourot’s Let The Child Be The Guide exploring the merits of the Montessori education system in the 21st century through a portrait of young children attending France’s oldest school using the method.
The company has already sealed deals to Milan-based documentary specialist Just Wanted as well as to Taiwan (Joint Entertainment), Japan (Bio Inc./Doma Inc) and Thailand (Documentary Club).
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