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TIFF 2011 Buyer’s Club: #12. Marjane Satrapi and Vincent Paronnaud’s Chicken with Plums
While their first film was easily "translatable" (it helps when you make a popular animated film), in the currently unfriendly market, subtitled foreign films are definitely not priority. I'm hedging my bet on this one saying that it might just get picked up in Venice before it sets foot in Toronto.
TIFF 2011 Buyer’s Club: #13. Darrell J. Roodt’s Winnie
The love and hate rapport for let's say a Margaret Thatcher will draw more interest, but will folks care about the wife of Mandela? She has won Oscar (Dreamgirls) but does singer/actress Jennifer Hudson have her own fanbase? My thinking is yes, and it would an helped if Oprah still had her show as we know they'd be doing the press circuit rounds starting there. A strong critical mention during TIFF will be crucial.
TIFF 2011 Buyer’s Club: #14. Luc Besson’s The Lady
North American rights should be sold on this title well before it opens the 6th edition of the Rom Film Festival. The major concern (selling point) here won't be performance -- Yeoh probably does more than play the part, she probably is the the part, but the minor drawback is the film's runtime which clocks in over the two hour mark. If the performance does get huge critical support it'll be interesting to see if this receives a quick 2011 theatrcial run.
TIFF 2011 Buyer’s Club: #15. Fred Schepisi’s The Eye of the Storm
There is already a built in demo for this and it starts with what you can read on the label: starring Academy Award winning (The King's Speech) Geoffrey Rush, Judy Davis and Charlotte Rampling. Enough said.
TIFF 2011 Buyer’s Club: #16. Andrea Arnold’s Wuthering Heights
Might be the version that doesn't sit well with fans - but those truly looking for a different variation (this begins with the chosen actor to play Heathcliff) might just get what they've asked for. Should go for 7 figures, should be critically lauded and should once again prove that art-house can totally redefine the classics.
