Ahead of this year’s American Film Market (AFM), European distributor, Newen Connect has announced a raft of international sales for FUNNY BIRDS, the Marco La Via and Hanna Ladoul heart-warming comedy drama about three generations of women and their last chance for reconciliation.
Sales to date have been confirmed in nine markets, including Australia & New Zealand (Kismet Movies); Austria (Filmladen); Bulgaria (Beta Film); Germany (Filmwelt); Middle East (Grand Entertainment); Spain (Selecta Vision); Switzerland (Pathé Films); and Ukraine (Svoe Kino), with global airlines sales confirmed via Ricochet. In France, the title is being released by of UGC Distribution and TF1 Studio.
Alice Damiani, SVP International Film Sales, Newen Connect said: “With a stellar cast that includes French cinema royalty and the industry’s most exciting female talents, FUNNY BIRDS tackles with understated charm the importance of family and relationships. The pedigree of those in front of the camera is matched by those behind it. They have masterfully succeeded in putting together a project that is both spellbinding and uplifting and which has already garnered a great deal of interest amongst film buyers. We’re excited to screen FUNNY BIRDS at AFM, and I am sure we will have even more buyers wanting to take this film to audiences in their markets.”
Written and directed by Marco La Via and Hanna Ladoul (ANYWHERE WITH YOU – 2018 Cannes Film Festival – ACID selection) FUNNY BIRDS stars Academy Award nominee Andrea Riseborough (TO LESLIE, AMSTERDAM, BIRDMAN, THE BATTLE OF THE SEXES, NOCTURNAL ANIMALS); Catherine Deneuve (THE MIDWIFE, STANDING TALL, 8 WOMEN, BEAUTY OF THE DAY); and Morgan Saylor (Homeland, Being Charlie, Anywhere with You).
Charlie (Saylor) returns from boarding school to take care of her sick mother Laura (Riseborough), owner of a small organic egg farm in the New Jersey countryside. It’s a struggle to look after her mom, run the farm on her own and keep up with her studies. Their day-to-day life on the farm, already strained by years of unspoken resentment, is turned upside down when Laura’s mother Solange (Deneuve) shows up unannounced! Solange is an eccentric French feminist who left America many years ago. She’s never had much of a relationship with her daughter. Laura’s sudden illness motivates her to reconnect. But can these three women, opposite in so many ways, learn to live together? To combat the unexpected bird flu epidemic that threatens the farm, they must rise above conflict. Only love and laughter can heal old wounds and help them to accept each other’s differences.
FUNNY BIRDS is produced by Julien Madon (THROUGH THE FIRE, DALIDA, MACADAM STORIES, THE ASSAULT); Aimée Buidine (BROTHERS BY BLOOD); Melita Toscan Du Plantier (IN THE FADE); Raphaël Gindre (ANYWHERE WITH YOU) and boasts Martin Scorsese as Executive Producer. The title is being co-produced by TF1 Studio.